Mission Critical Comms

Hi! I’m Adam Netzel. I’ve been a public speaker for over twenty years and training other speakers for more than a decade. After thousands of presentations and hundreds of students, I distilled what I consider the essentials of crafting a message into a book. Read it below, and if you find it useful, consider supporting my work by buying a copy or leaving a review here!

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Peer Leadership

Transitioning from peer to leader is challenging under any circumstances. Stay in any job long enough, and you will find yourself supervising or being supervised by people who were once your peers, or even subordinates. While there is no magic formula for sticking the landing on the move from peer to leader, I have found one common thread that applies to any challenging leader/subordinate relationship: a common problem.

Commissioning through Officer Training School (OTS) after ten years enlisted, I found it surreal that the NCO drill instructors who were my peers 24 hours before I arrived were now shouting at me to stand at attention, deliver reporting statements, and recite regulations correctly or risk receiving demerits. A week before, I was wrapping up my part in new mission planning processes for a multi-million dollar intelligence mission, and now I faced washing out if I didn’t make my bed right.

It would be easy to point to the OTS cadre as a common villain, but that is one of the biggest mistakes I see new leaders make when the peer dynamic first changes: making it about some𝘰𝘯𝘦 instead of some𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨. Some𝘰𝘯𝘦 as a villain works only as long as they remain “villainous,” and only if you can get 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺𝘰𝘯𝘦 to see them that way. A problem, however, will always be a problem, and everyone will always see it that way. It wasn’t us vs the cadre – it was us 𝘢𝘯𝘥 the cadre against the program.

We had a goal: graduate. Cadre had a goal: get us there. Working together was the single most effective way to meet our common objectives. Granted, this was the military, so many of the instructional methods weren’t exactly pleasant. Some instructors seemed to make it their personal mission to make OTS as miserable as possible, to no discernible training benefit other than they liked making others as miserable as they were.

The best instructors, however, recognized they had to make the experience stressful and challenging – but for a purpose. As I once overheard a drill instructor shouting at a cadet, “You could be my boss one day, so I want to make sure you get it right.” That’s a sobering thought.

When transitioning from peer to leader, it is important to unite people around a common problem. You may be worried you don’t have what it takes. Some of your newly-subordinated folks may feel the same. Maybe there is jealousy at being passed over. Lack of confidence in the choice of promotee. Even personal dislike. You can’t control any of that, but you can choose what to rally around: you all have in common that you want to succeed.

Point people in the direction of the problem, trust them to do what they do best, and hold a loose rein. People are generally quick to accept new circumstances, provided they have a way forward. Give it to them, and you’ll be surprised how quickly you can grow into the leadership role you didn’t realize you were suited for.