Yell With Your Pen

The military is a high-paced, ever-changing entity that values precision and agility. When mistakes do occur, corrective action needs to take place, and improvements made. At basic training, I recall drill sergeants scolding soldiers for not properly shining their boots to a lustrous black and for not getting creases out of the green, woolen blankets on the bunks. Seemingly meant to inspire precision and attention to detail, an outsider would find the drill sergeants’ incessant screaming to be obnoxious or unnecessary. The skills and lessons learned from quick, loud, adrenaline-filled rhetoric forms memories quickly in a new trainee. However, as a leader, beyond initial, indoctrinating training, I found the actual act of yelling at others to be a counter-productive, demoralizing, and energy-wasted method of learning.

There are a multitude of ways to communicate intent for change. Some try to associate a physical act with a message. For example, I have seen NCOs make soldiers arrive to formation an hour early for a week after being habitually tardy. Another method to communicate change is through body language. Some leaders express their dissatisfaction with a subordinate’s plan by sitting back in their chair during a presentation, arms crossed, lips pursed, head tilted. The message might be felt that the boss does not approve, but what needs to be changed is unknowing. Other, more extreme, uncontrolled measures include yelling and insulting. Like my own children who seem to go deaf upon the first decibel of anger, so, too, do service members.

With the few exceptions of safety and missions related to life and death, communication that strives for change must come in the form of the written word. When giving feedback, especially of the negative tone, verbal counseling is only as good as the written words that follow. I have learned that verbal warnings or counselings have a short impact. Either the member forgets and repeats the unwanted behavior or denies the conversation ever happened. A paper trail must follow engagements that have an ounce of possibility to progress negatively.

Not only does a written form (i.e. email, text, or memo, etc.) start the calendar following a behavior’s trend, but it is a tangible reminder to the person who conducted the behavior. A document can follow the member and remind them of the unwanted behavior, how to correct it, and what happens if not fixed. I’ve been told by those who have received such counseling that they read and re-read what I had written, reflected upon it, and thought about it some more. Without anything to see what is real, the afflicted person is left to recall what they think they heard and worse, left to translate their emotions into some sort of actionable plan for change on their own.

I have heard the struggles from leaders at varying levels who lament that they hate paperwork and that they would rather enact physical “punishment” quickly to engage change. Ironically, the unfavorable behavior strikes again and again, thus creating even more paperwork than if the time investment was made up front. Moreso, the culture of the organization is usually impacted as the team continually observes unhealthy behavior that continues without consequence.

As noxious as it seems to put pen to paper for infractions, even if minor in a moment of time, leaders must consider if the behavior has the possibility of continuing toward a path of disciplinary action. A leader must determine early-on in a situation how to spend their time. A leader must decide if the 15 minute time investment to correct and educate in an email is worth it, versus spending weeks to months processing more dire actions after the fact.