Department of Communication and Applied Behavioural Science

CABS News

Royal Military Academy Sandhurst

Deep Culture

Sensor The ability to shape the thoughts and actions of those one leads and to understand the attitudes and behaviours of others is central to effective leadership. In order to support the Young Officer of the British Army on first appointment, the Communication and Applied Behavioural Science (CABS) Department at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst Commissioning Course provides insight into • motivation • group dynamics • problem-solving and decisionmaking • self-development and development of others • personal command style • persuasion and influence • negotiation

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n this issue of Sensor we are delighted to publish Robert A Rubenstein’s paper on the importance to the military of taking cultural dimensions into account while still retaining one’s critical faculties and retaining operational effectiveness. The CABS leadership conference that was advertised in our previous issue has been postponed to September 2015. With an eye to future operational requirements, a major RMAS syllabus review is currently taking place and is likely to be implemented in late 2014, so the conference organisers have decided to wait until the dust has settled. This is an exciting time for CABS as new paths and opportunities open up, and we expect the 2015 leadership conference to be even larger and more stimulating as a result! Sensor welcomes submissions from the wider academic community. Please contact the editor at [email protected].

• leading and supporting soldiers

Welcome to new lecturers The CABS Department has recently welcomed two new members of staff, Ann Stow MSc CPsychol and Anthea Lemmon MSc CPsychol.

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Issue 3 | January 2014

Emotional Intelligence

CABS Ubique

Book Reviews

The bulletin of the

Department of Communication and Applied Behavioural Science Ann joins us from DSTL where she researched and advised on influence and communication on operations, something very much in line with the CABS course content. She now intends to pursue some new research interests and is looking at a number of options that would support officer requirements for education as the British Army moves to contingent operations; for example, skills requirements and social psychology-based approaches to leadership and interacting with groups. Anthea has joined CABS from the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) where she was a learning and development consultant tasked with identifying the skills required in DECC, a small but very specialist department. Previously she had worked for the Deputy Chief of Defence Staff Personnel and Training, developing and managing tri-service research, including the Armed Forces Continuous Attitude Survey. She has spent many years researching at the strategic level, and her move to Sandhurst now brings her into the world of adult learning and teaching. She is keen to start work on a PhD.

Coaching consultant CABS lecturer Anita Morgan has passed the assessment for the Coaching Consultant registry under the Civil Service Learning (CSL) banner.

CSL offer all government staff the opportunity of Coaching and Mentoring services and, in addition to her role in CABS, Anita will be joining the team of consultants known as the “Coaches in Government network” who seek to support the development of staff in wider government.

And a farewell CABS is sad to be saying goodbye (or, we hope, au revoir) to its longest-serving member, Dr Matthew Bennett MA FSA RHistS, who has retired after 30 years of service to Sandhurst. However, having laid down the mantle of Deputy Head of Department we suspect he will be working harder than ever as he pursues his passion for medieval history. Veteran of many a battlefield tour and expert on the subject of the longbow, Matthew has been the CABS specialist in cultural theory and application, and was awarded an Adjutant General’s commendation for the many years he devoted to the welfare of Overseas Cadets at Sandhurst. He has also been an active member of the CABS Ubique team and over the last few years has taught CABS topics in many countries. We know he intends to maintain his international academic reputation by continuing to publish and speak at conferences. E que faran oimais armas ni fort tornei espes?

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Responding to the Manipulation of Culture as a Political Tool Robert A. Rubinstein The Maxwell School of Syracuse University, USA [email protected] During the last decade and half, culture has returned as a category of analysis in public policy and international affairs, and also as a consideration in military operations. Leaders have come to recognize that understanding and respecting the cultural contexts within which they work can be critical to their success. Military leaders recognize this as true whether they are working in an interagency setting, trying to be optimally effective in joint and combined operations, or dealing with local populations in peacekeeping or counter insurgency situations. Recognizing the value of respecting the culture of local populations has begun to enter the grammar of military discourse. Examples of how such respect cultural differences make for operational success are held up as exemplars of wise leadership. For instance the order issued in April, 2003 by Lt Col Chris Hughes to the 2nd Battalion of the 327th Infantry Regiment to “take a knee” when they encountered a crowd as they entered Najaf is widely cited as an example of the value of how cultural understanding, and in Col Hughes’s case an appreciation of the meaning of ‘restraint,’ increased operational effectiveness. For those who are concerned with culture as a professional field of study, this development is welcome. Yet, like language learners who over-generalize grammatical rules when they first encounter them, one must be careful not to over-generalize what respecting other cultures can do for us. Indeed, there are


situations where the desire to respect others’ cultures can be problematic. Last year I received a call from a member of a state medical board seeking cultural advice for an approaching hearing. She told me that she was to hear an appeal from a physician whose license had earlier been suspended. They were now considering either permanently revoking his license or returning to him full privileges. The case was simple. Several of the physician’s female patients had complained that he had kissed and fondled them during their physical examinations. The physician was appealing on cultural grounds. He is from Afghanistan and received his training there. He did not deny what the women reported. In fact, he insisted that he had done exactly as the women described because this was what was culturally expected of him. The caller was genuinely nonplussed; how could she reconcile her desire to respect other cultures and her duty as a member of the medical board. Her puzzlement and the resulting question were understandable and admirable. Yet they presupposed that every claim of cultural difference is equally valid. They are not. In the case about which she was calling, the doctor was using culture in a self-consciously, cynical way. The patterns of behaviour that he described as following from his cultural predispositions were in fact so far outside of the cultural norms of Afghanistan society that they were the opposite of respectful. Indeed, as another physician from Afghanistan commented to me, “I wouldn’t do that to my patients if I hoped to live.” The difficulty was that the caller had so over-generalized the importance of respecting cultural differences that she was reluctant to question the legitimacy of the claim being asserted

Responding to the Manipulation of Culture as a Political Tool

by the physician to get his license back. Similarly, military leaders sometimes confront situations in which cultural claims are advanced as reasons why they should or should not take particular actions. For example, especially, in peacekeeping or counter insurgency settings where good relations between troops and local communities (and with nongovernmental organizations or United Nations agencies) are operationally important, military leaders need to evaluate critically cultural claims. Perhaps paradoxically in such settings over-generalizing cultural respect can endanger operational effectiveness. Cultural claims can be advanced to block a unit’s ability to effectively carry out its operational responsibilities. Free movement through an area of operation might be blocked by appeals to culture: ‘Moving your troops through this private area violates our culture.’’ Or, the collection of critical situational information from the local population might be thwarted by cultural appeals: ‘Those questions are offensive; don’t take photographs here because it is insulting,’ for example. A military leader who over-generalizes the principle of respecting other cultures can find their effectiveness reduced. Worse, their entire operational planning might be manipulated by interlocutors who use cultural claims as cynical, political tools. However, respectful engagement with other cultures should not require the suspension of one’s critical faculties. Equipping leaders to exercise appropriate critical analysis when they meet obstacles that are “cultural” in nature depends very much on how they are trained to understand culture in the first place.

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Too frequently military cultural training involves the delivery of ‘just enough’ cultural information. For example, it might only include what I call ‘Traveller’s Advice,” a simple list of what to do and what not to do, along with some basic orientation to the language, dress, food, manners and other relatively superficial aspects of culture. Sometimes this training moves beyond the static information found in Traveller’s Advice, and offers a dimensional analysis of different cultures. This prepares the learner to see members of different cultures as acting as they do because of preferences for different ways of behaving on a number of ‘dimensions of culture,’ such as the way they deal with ambiguity, hierarchy, collectivism, narrative style, use of context, and so forth. Like Traveller’s Advice, dimensional analyses of culture leaves one unprepared to exercise the critical facility needed to evaluate the legitimacy of cultural claims. Rather than being helpful when the cultural objection is raise, these approaches to culture training constitute culture as an opaque object. These approaches to cultural training leave the culture learner with the kind of knowledge that a language learner has when they have memorized core sentences, or grammatical categories, leaving them vulnerable to the mistake of over-generalization.

Deep Culture


models that are available to the people with whom they are interacting. This resulting cultural understanding will be dynamic, critical and respectful, but not slavishly tied to the idea that all cultural claims are legitimate or to be respected equally.

Robert A. Rubinstein is professor of anthropology and international relations at the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs at Syracuse University, where from 19942005 he directed the Program on the Analysis and Resolution of Conflicts. He has a PhD in Anthropology and an MsPH in community health sciences. His research in Egypt, Mexico, Belize and the United States has been supported by many foundations, including the Ford Foundation, the United States

In contrast, military leaders – and, in contemporary contexts that includes the ‘strategic corporal – need to understand culture in a more generative way. I call the kind of cultural understanding for the generative engagement with culture, Deep Culture. Understanding Deep Cultural differences means seeing culture as one of the ways in which people give meaning to their experiences, order their social and physical environments and solve problems they confront daily. To do this people in any society have access to a discrete cultural models. Their collective action results from the ways in which these cultural models. When confronted with claims that “culture” requires or prohibits particular actions, a leader must be ready to evaluate those claims against an understanding of the deep cultural


Responding to the Manipulation of Culture as a Political Tool

CABS Ubique

Book Reviews

Institute of Peace, and the Wenner-Gren Foundation for Anthropological Research. He focuses on the dynamics of peacekeeping, stability operations, post-conflict reconstruction, conflict management, health consequences of violent conflict, and structural violence and health. Rubinstein is the author or editor of 9 books, including Peacekeeping Under Fire: Culture and Intervention, Practicing Military Anthropology: Beyond Expectations and Traditional Boundaries, Dangerous Liaisons: Anthropologists and the National Security State. He has published more than 100 articles and chapters. Rubinstein is the recipient of the American Anthropological Association’s Robert B. Textor and Family Prize for Excellence in Anticipatory Anthropology. From 1999-2013 he was a member of the board of directors of the Ploughshares Fund.

This image was released by the © United States Marine Corps 100221-M-6770H-040

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Emotional intelligence, brinkmanship and tactics An extract from “Abraham Lincoln: Lessons in Leadership” by CABS lecturer John Kennedy, demonstrating the importance of Emotional Intelligence for aspiring leaders.

In some quarters, conventional wisdom holds that emotional intelligence (EI) is a relatively recent behavioural model epitomised and made popular by Daniel Goleman’s book ‘Emotional Intelligence’1. However, it is generally accepted that Thorndike’s use of the term ‘social intelligence’2 and Payne’s use of the actual words, ‘emotional intelligence’3, importantly predate Goleman’s exposition of the concept. Moreover, the work of Salovey and Mayer4 was a significant contribution to the field; and again, pre-dated the contentions of Goleman. Despite the considerable contributions of the EI proponents, critics such as the eminent academic and theorist Hans Eysenck confidently assert that EI (and especially as espoused by Goleman) is not a form of intelligence at all, “[Goleman] exemplifies more clearly than most the fundamental absurdity of the tendency to class almost any type of behaviour as an ‘intelligence’ … Goleman admits that they might well be uncorrelated, and in any case if we cannot measure them, how do we know they are related?” 5 Although it is difficult to argue with Eysenck’s logical criticisms of EI in relation to the lack of concrete measures, in the same year (2000) that Eysenck delivered his rebuke, Carson and Birkenmeir6 were developing measurements of EI. These measurements consisted of five key factors: empathic response (the ability to understand the emotional makeup of others), mood regulation (the ability to control or redirect disruptive impulses and moods), interpersonal skill (the ability to manage


relationships and build networks) and internal motivation (a passion for work that transcends purely extrinsic rewards). Consequently, whether one views EI in terms of a set of abilities or the more neutral concept of ‘emotional perceptiveness’ such approaches enable an understanding of how exceptional leaders throughout history appreciated the important role that emotions play. As the following comment by General Sir Archibald Wavell confirms, such an appreciation, particularly in relation to their followers, was essential in determining a leader’s strategy, tactics and ultimately, the difference between victory and defeat. “Field Marshal Allenby never quite realised that men are governed through the emotions rather than through the intelligence.” 7 It is a fact of life that possession of a high IQ does not in itself guarantee success. For example, many individuals can be quite brilliant academically, but in social and interpersonal terms, somewhat of a disaster. Therefore, proponents of EI maintain that conventional measurements of intelligence are too narrow; and consequently, there are wider aspects of EI that determine how successful we are in life. In short, it is claimed that EI provides a more realistic way of understanding and assessing people’s behaviours, leadership styles, attitudes, interpersonal skills and potential. According to conventional EI models, there are two main aspects of EI: understanding yourself (your goals, behaviour and how you react to others and events), and understanding others (appreciating their feelings and how they may respond to events). As figure 1 depicts, there are also important sub-sets of EI.

Emotional Intelligence, brinkmanship and tactics

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If one accepts the useful criteria established by Carson, Carson and Birkenmeir (empathetic response, mood regulation, interpersonal skill, internal motivation and self-awareness) then scarcely a day passed when Lincoln did not practise these to a significant degree. As documented in this paper, relationships with his cabinet, his generals, the common soldier, politicians and the general public attest to his intuitive grasp of how others felt about key issues and how they were likely to react to events. Almost daily, the events of the civil war caused Lincoln deep despondency. And in addition to regulating this, he also had to adjudicate between, and raise the mood of, an increasingly fractious cabinet. Lincoln was also intensely self-aware, and indeed, self-critical. He regularly dwelt upon and related to others, his personal failings: “As a general rule, I abstain from reading the reports of attacks upon myself, wishing not to be provoked by that which I can not properly offer an answer.”8

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(Speech on Reconstruction, Washington, DC, April 11th, 1865 -Lincoln’s last public speech) Even a brief examination of Lincoln’s life confirms his internal motivation to succeed. This motivation of course, was to be greatly strengthened by a more powerful external motivator: the maintenance of the Union and the end to the increasingly destructive civil war. Nevertheless, there were many occasions when Lincoln, despite his considerable emotional perceptiveness, decided that ‘right’ and integrity were more important that how others were likely to respond to his actions or decisions. Perhaps the best example of Lincoln’s emotional intelligence, brinkmanship and ‘tactical ability’ was his response to the key issue of slavery. Criticisms of Lincoln’s stand on slavery can be seen to lie in a number of key areas. Firstly, that he did not want to abolish it, he merely argued against its extension; secondly, the comments he made in reply to Senator Douglas during the seven key debates previously outlined; thirdly, the contention by critics that Lincoln’s proclamation of January 1863 was just a cynical ploy to fill the depleted ranks of the Union army. The argument that Lincoln was just against the extension of slavery, and not slavery as such, appeared to receive support from a number of his acts and comments over the years; not least, his comments in his letter to Horace Greeley in August 1862, “If I could save the Union without freeing any slave, I would do it, and if I could save it by freeing all the slaves I would do it; and if I could save it by freeing some and leaving others alone I would also do that. What I do about slavery and the colored race, I do because I believe it helps to save the Union”.9 There can be no doubt that the end of slavery is inextricably linked to the survival of the Union; if the Union falls, then the cause of emancipation also falls. Therefore, this is not just an example of Lincoln’s EI, it is also an affirmation of a core belief and a political reality.


Deep Culture


As with many critics in general, those who condemn Lincoln’s motives regarding emancipation are very selective where evidence is concerned. For example, many neglect to mention Lincoln’s final comments to Greeley, “…and I intend no modification of my oft-expressed personal wish that all men every where could be free” (ibid) Lincoln’s behaviour in relation to slavery during the Civil War, as well as before, also brought criticism. For instance, he countermanded the orders of General Fremont who freed slaves in Missouri, and did the same where General Hunter was concerned. Lincoln’s rationale was simple: on one hand, he had to advance the cause of emancipation, on the other, he had to proceed in such a way that he did not cause more states to secede. In this respect, border states like Maryland, Missouri and Kentucky were critical; Kentucky especially so, because of its strategic position on the Ohio River. This meant that in order to move forward on emancipation, he had at times to move backwards to assuage the concerns of key audiences such as the Border States and key Union military figures. This was because there were real concerns that many Union officers would resign their commissions if emancipation were advanced too quickly. Furthermore, Lincoln was aware that many Northerners were against emancipation. Lincoln’s judgement proved correct – the border states stayed in the Union. Like all exceptional leaders then, Lincoln had the emotional intelligence and skill to balance opposing forces without alienating them or compromising his integrity. During the Lincoln-Douglas debates, Lincoln had scored many important points, but in return, Douglas had Lincoln ‘on the ropes’ on more than one occasion. Firstly, Douglas accused Lincoln of believing that blacks and whites were intellectually equal; secondly, he accused Lincoln of supporting marriage between blacks and whites; thirdly, he asserted that Lincoln wanted full political and social rights for all blacks. In his answer


CABS Ubique

Book Reviews

to these charges, Lincoln was to demonstrate yet again, his mastery of tactics, verbal dexterity, political brinkmanship and emotional intelligence. In reply to the charge that he found blacks and whites to be equal, Lincoln stated, “he (the negro) is not my equal in many respects – certainly not in color …But in the right to eat the bread without leave of any body else, which his own hand earns, he is my equal, and the equal of Judge Douglas, and the equal of every living man”10. Crucially, Lincoln is not categorically stating that blacks are inferior, he simply concedes the possibility. Moreover, Lincoln implies that even if blacks were inferior, this is not a reason for depriving them of their rights as Americans. The potentially even more damaging charge, that Lincoln supported racial intermarriage, was responded to by Lincoln with even more intellectual versatility, “I protest against the counterfeit logic which concludes that because I do not want a black woman for a slave, I must necessarily want her for a wife”.(ibid) Again, Lincoln’s cleverly stated response allowed him to repudiate the accusation by implying its flawed logic. In another part of the debate, Lincoln consolidates this response by reminding Douglas and the audience, that it was the very nature of slavery which produced the greatest number of mixed race children. The war gave Lincoln the opportunity to extend presidential power to an extent not used by any previous president and he took full advantage of it. Consequently, military necessity became the basis for many of Lincoln’s radical and muchcriticised changes. Whilst he used his innovative Presidential Proclamations for a whole raft of measures, he was particularly skilful when it came to undermining slavery. Hitherto, the Constitution had been used to protect slavery, Lincoln used the proclamations to undermine that protection. By July 1862, with the situation concerning the Border States relatively secure,

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Lincoln indicated his desire to issue an emancipation order. However,24Seward (his Secretary of State) convinced him to wait for a more appropriate time, such as a Union victory. On September 22, after the Battle of Antietam, Lincoln issued his preliminary Proclamation of Emancipation (this was formalised in January 1863). Lincoln’s proclamation of 1863, whilst limited in scope in terms of granting complete freedom to the slaves, contained some key passages, “…And by virtue of the power, and for the purpose of the aforesaid, I do order and declare that all persons held within said designated states, and parts of states, are, and henceforth shall be free…And I further make known, that such persons of suitable condition, will be received into the armed service of the United States to garrison forts, positions, stations and other places, and to man vessels of all sorts in said service…”11 It was of course, a limited sort of freedom since it did not apply to the Border States in the Union, or to secessionist states under Union control. In addition, it was also true that it was designed to replace the increasingly depleted ranks of the Union army. Nevertheless, the emancipation document provided the legal framework for the emancipation of nearly all slaves. Furthermore, black people would be serving in the armed forces of the United States for the first time. Lincoln’s judgement of the emotional response of the vast majority of Union supporters, that it would prove increasingly difficult to deny rights to Negroes in the Union (especially when Negroes had themselves fought for those very rights in the army of the Union), again proved to be correct. Limited as it was, Lincoln’s proclamation was a start. He expelled any remaining doubt about his intentions regarding slavery by seeking a constitutional amendment whereby slavery would be completely banished from the United States. In point of fact, the 13th Amendment to the Constitution became not only a pre-condition for former secessionist states to be readmitted


Deep Culture


to the Union, but a bulwark in the defence of equal rights for all – this is an example of emotional perceptiveness and political nous par excellence. Although criticism of Lincoln’s ambiguous position on slavery is at times valid, what is not perhaps examined too closely is his evolution of thought on the matter; from a position whereby he simply thought that it was morally and politically wrong, to a position where he believed that America would never truly be free unless all slaves were free. The long march for freedom for black people (which would take many, many years and perhaps would never be fully realised) had at last begun. Apart from understandable events such as the death of his sons, Lincoln was invariably in control of his own emotions. It was in the appreciation and understanding of the emotions of others that Lincoln excelled in terms of emotional intelligence; and how his perceptions in this respect dictated actions that were to stand the test of time and guarantee the survival of the Union.

CABS Ubique

Book Reviews

5 Eysenck, H.J., Intelligence: A New Look (New Jersey: Transaction Publishers, 2000) p.109 6 Carson, K.D., Carson, P.P., & Birkenmeir, B.J., Measuring emotional intelligence: Development and validation of an instrument, in Journal of Behavioral and Applied Management, Summer/Fall 2000, vol. 2 (1), retrieved from web address: http://www.ibam.com/pubs/jbam/articles/vol2/ article_13.htm, on June 23, 2012 7 Wavell, General Sir Archibald, Allenby: a Study in greatness (London: Harrop, 1940) p. 295 8 Abraham Lincoln: Great Speeches, Appelbaum, S., (Ed.), Dover Thrift Editions (New York: Dover PublicationsInc., 1991) p. 110 9 Lincoln’s letter to Horace Greeley, Aug. 22, 1862, retrieved from web address: http://quod.lib.umich.edu/l/lincoln/lincoln5, on June 23, 2012 10 Extract from Lincoln’s First Debate with Stephen A. Douglas, retrieved from web address: http://quod.lib.umich.edu/l/ lincoln2, on June 23, 2012

(Endnotes) 1 Goleman, D., Emotional Intelligence: why it can matter more than IQ, (Bantam Books, 1995) 2 Thorndike, E. L., Intelligence and its uses, in Sternberg, R.J., (Ed) Handbook of Intelligence, 2nd. Ed. (Cambridge Univ. Press, 2000) pp. 359-379 3 Payne, W.L., A study of emotion: developing emotional intelligence; self integration; relating to fear, pain and desire, in Ciarrocci, J.P., Forgas, J.P., & Mayer, J.D., (Eds) Emotional intelligence in everyday life (Philadelphia: Psychology Press, 2001) pp. 3-24 4 Salovey, P., & Mayer, J.D., Emotional Intelligence. Imagination, Cognition and Personality in Emotional Intelligence: Key Readings on the Mayer and Salovey Model (New York: Dude Publishing, 2007)


11 Extract from the draft of the Final Emancipation Proclamation, Dec. 30, 1862, retrieved from web address: http://quod.lib.umich.edu/l/lincoln/lincoln6, on July 13, 2012

John Kennedy is a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Communication & Applied Behavioural Science at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst. After graduating in psychology he gained a PGCE, an MBA and a diploma in personnel management. He has a certificate in leadership coaching and has attended the coaching course at the Army Staff Leadership School. He is a Fellow of the CIPD, a Fellow of the Institute of Leadership & Management and a Graduate Member of the British Psychological Society.

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Deep Culture


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Travelling Sandhurst Academics What do Sudan, DR Congo, Kosovo, Belize, Jordan, Indonesia and Nepal have in common? They are all countries in which CABS lecturers, in support of Defence Diplomacy, have run short, intensive courses in The Psychology of Leadership or in Media Operations. Ronnie and Janet McCourt recently travelled to Ethiopia to run one such course. Our aim was to encourage our hosts to consider the power of Media Operations as an Influence Activity and to encourage them to reflect on their current policies and practices. For us, one of the unknown factors was the level of English the Ethiopian students would possess (previous experience in other countries suggesting that standards of English would vary, as indeed proved the case here); the other was the prevailing culture and our ability to understand this well enough in order to cater for it. Addis Ababa is a traffic choked African city 7,500 feet above sea level and the thin air, combined with a degree of jet lag and an overnight flight in economy, did take its toll. However, our spirits were buoyed on finding that the teaching facilities at the Ethiopian Army barracks, although basic, were perfectly functional, and on discovering the politeness and receptiveness of our twenty students, a mixture of Civil Servants and Military who varied in rank from Colonel to Private. Our first goal was to elicit from the students the Ethiopian Army’s current approach to Media Operations. Their main effort goes towards producing a weekly hour-long documentary for national television, concentrating on their operations in Darfur and Somalia and important activities at home such as providing essential manpower and expertise in the event of natural disasters. Contact with the International Media is


CABS Ubique

currently discouraged but, having explored the British Armed Forces’ approach to the Media, our students did a good job of developing an Ethiopian Army Narrative and Key Messages and we hope they will be able to draw on the fruits of their labours as their Army expands its international operations. They also came away with some insight into how Media interest can sometimes be useful rather than something necessarily to be avoided. By the end, initial reserve had given way to overt enthusiasm as the students began to perceive that we were not there to impose our beliefs on them but to encourage them to refresh and develop their own media policies and activities. Student feedback also indicated a high degree of satisfaction with some teaching methods that were new to them. They were exceptionally courteous and generous hosts and we very much enjoyed taking part in the famous Ethiopian coffee ceremony with them on several occasions. We gained a new perspective on East Africa and made a lot of new friends – our one, single regret is that we did not have time to see more of this fascinating and beautiful country. Ronnie McCourt

Students enjoyed some lively lessons

Roasting beans over an open fire in the Ethiopian coffee ceremony

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Book Reviews Misleadership John Rayment, Jonathan Smith Published by Gower UK, in 2011 Rayment and Smith’s concept of Misleadership encompasses four types of leadership: missing, misguided, misinformed and Machiavellian. They examine the behaviour of both leader and follower in each category and pursue the notion that leaders are often given the opportunity to lead because followers are deceived into believing that the leader is actually effective. Missing leadership is, in essence, a behaviour caused by the absence of effective leadership due to the leader fearing ostracism or rejection from the group they lead. Followers then face total confusion about who they should report to. Missing leadership is linked to poor problem solving and decision making. Misguided leaders fail to challenge assumptions and think critically, perhaps because the prevailing culture ensures an ingrained attitude towards maintaining the status quo, resulting in a failure to be an individual and lead. The authors have developed a model for assessing an organisation’s “Global Fitness” which includes a spiritual dimension, allowing ethical considerations to inform leaders’ decisions. Ethical decision making is not new but this is one of few texts which consider the


Book Reviews

spiritual context of an organisation and its values as being of importance to effective leadership. Misinformed leadership is seen in leaders who make decisions from an uninformed basis, or lack the wisdom to understand information and/or execute leadership competence. The authors suggest that such leaders are prevalent in current society and misinformed leadership may have wide-ranging effects going beyond the organisation into wider society. Followers should challenge the assumptions made by misinformed leaders, so that outdated paradigms are exposed and upgraded. Machiavellian leadership, the authors contend, is the only form of misleadership used intentionally to exploit others for personal gain. It can be used by individuals or strategic leadership teams, using skilful techniques and behaviours intended to deceive others and maximise benefits to themselves. Such leaders are advised to ‘change their thinking’ in order to ‘reverse their Embedded Value Cycle’, but this assumes that they would willingly embrace change; without a personal incentive to do so, doubtless many Machiavellians would struggle with this. One cannot read this text without beginning to ponder the misleadership of successful world leaders and their impact on society. However, aside from one model created by the authors, the book presents little that is new. The causes of individual categories of misleadership are blurred across boundaries, perhaps causing confusion, but the case studies are carefully analysed and helpful. Some leaders may be unwilling to absorb unpleasant truths about their leadership, but Misleadership may be beneficial to future ethical leaders. Anita Morgan

Military Ethics Stephen Coleman 2013, Oxford University Press. This book is written as a guide for military personnel, facing ethical dilemmas brought about by the complexities of modern warfare. It challenges individuals to think about the way they and their commanders act, during war and peacekeeping missions, when dealing with other actors in theatre to achieve mission objectives. The author was keenly inspired to write this book, after reading ‘The Petraeus Letter’, sent to all US troops by General Petraeus, who acknowledged that treatment of Iraqis had fallen below the standards expected of American soldiers. The text discusses Ethical theories and provides conclusive reasons why such theories can be difficult to practice in complex environments. The issue of Virtue-based theory is raised and although fairly simplistic and easy to grasp, he argues that its application presents further challenges to military commanders, who may be biased towards individualised values, rather than those of their respective organisation, when making ethical decisions. While Coleman contends that most armies drill soldiers to adhere to values of integrity in war, such training cannot produce clones of moral virtue but seeks to raise awareness of individual responsibility to do the right thing. But Coleman is keen to point out that by drilling soldiers on army values, the result is often individualised perspectives on what is understood by: loyalty; ethical treatment; moral courage etc. So

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that soldiers may embrace the value of loyalty (to their platoon) and overlook unethical behaviours, rather than report on their ‘buddies’, and risk alienation from other troops. The question to be raised in this instance lies with the conception of ethical theory and whether the soldier was doing the right thing, for the right reason?.. or not. Additionally, other variables are reviewed which influence ethical behaviours from a military perspective, including ethical responsibility, the power and authority exercised by commanders, yet underpinned by the demand to follow and issue legitimate, ethical orders. The problem with this, is that in following orders unquestioningly, the military commander may be guilty of acting unethically and hence, wrangling with ethics is a challenge in the chaos of active theatres. The author has endeavoured to discuss ethics from the macro to micro perspective and explains the ethics of Just War theory and the conduct of war, using various case studies to illustrate points being developed, in relation to traditional and modern warfare. Coleman challenges his reader to analyse ‘what-if ?’ scenarios and to think about how they (or their army) may act in a similar situation, actively engaging the reader through well-discussed arguments and solutions. So it would not be unusual to confront the following questions: “Is it ethically right to shoot a child soldier, aiming a shotgun at you, or a member of your platoon?” and, “How do you define what is meant by, ‘ethically right’?” Moreover, the reader guided towards the issue of cultural values, and whether it is ethical to judge the values of another culture, by one’s own standards and values? This is an excellent book for anyone wanting to understand ethical considerations in chaotic war environments, and why governments or individuals fail to do the right thing, under pressure. The book is well laid out, with a logic solid structure and a developed writing style which incorporates sophisticated arguments, yet challenges the reader to reach their own


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conclusions. In this regard the book would also be useful to serving soldiers, as a reminder of the personal dilemmas they face and the psychological bias they must manage, in order to think and act ethically. Anita Morgan

The Yes Book – the art of better negotiation Clive Rich 2013, Random House Soldiers are taught to close with the enemy and to kill him – if this act is legal and necessary. Killing people, is for most of us, not a natural act and so soldiers have to be trained to be aggressive and to kill. It may be that this training overflows into other areas of a soldier’s life and that a common default attitude is to adopt an “I must win and you must lose” approach to conflicts and disagreements. Outside the battlefield, sometimes this attitude brings success, more often it does not. As the author of this excellent book argues, the world has changed and it now much more integrated that it was. It is a world where collaboration is more valued than competition. Collaboration requires skilled negotiators. Negotiation requires those involved to recognise each other’s interests and to be prepared to compromise to some extent. Even on the battlefield this line of thinking is becoming more common as soldiers emphasise “courageous restraint” and the importance of influence strategies to win hearts and minds and to support overall strategy.

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has lots of informative stories to tell to illustrate his arguments. He provides a framework for negotiation that is practical and very useful. One early argument of his is especially revealing. He commissioned research across business and the public sector in the UK and found that very little attention is given to negotiation. Fewer than 50% or respondents said that when preparing for a deal that they considered key aspects of the negotiation such as what the other side could give as concessions. Around a half of respondents said that they just acted on impulse when negotiating rather than preparing for the deal in advance. This leads the author to the conclusion that the UK is losing around £17 billion a year due to ineffective negotiation. If so, this is a staggering figure. To help remedy this book provides a useful practical framework for negotiation and lots of advice on different strategies for dealing with opponents such as the “good cop, bad cop” or the play it tough person. Or, indeed, the passive disorganised person who is equally difficult to negotiate with. His advice about looking for clues in the psychology of your opponent, and in your own, are particularly valuable as are strategies for dealing with people who use arguments such as “That is not fair”. Attention is also given to practical issues such as choice of venue, dress, lighting etc. Overall, this is an extremely useful book that could change the way the reader does life and, who knows, provide accelerated promotion for an Army officer! Stephen Deakin

The author is a barrister who specialises in commercial negotiations. He has clearly had a lot of practice at these and he

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● Knowing and understanding your emotions ● Managing your emotions in a variety of contexts

Key Aspects of

● Motivating yourself ● Recognising and understanding other people’s emotions ● Managing relationships (ie managing the emotions of others)

Leadership

Fig 1 Aspects of Emotional Intelligence