1. Team Leader Training The Chief’s Briefing
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2. The Chief’s Briefing
For several years, Joe has led ARI research in an important niche area of training. Next month, his unit chief is briefing a group of senior Army officers at TRADOC, and he has been tasked to prep the briefing materials. As part of this effort, his chief is checking in with him every few days to see how things are going and asking for drafts of the materials – sometimes asking for major changes to materials he has developed. As the chief has no direct experience with this line of research, Joe feels he should be giving the briefing and have a great say in the specifics of the charts. He is clearly the expert in this area and he feels that the chief should defer to him to ensure that the technical aspects of the briefing are correct.

3. Q1. Why do you believe the chief is behaving this way?
Question & Answer Session
Q1. Why do you believe the chief is behaving this way?

4. Q2. What type of pressures might the chief be under?
Question & Answer Session
Q2. What type of pressures might the chief be under?

5. Q3. How would you deal with the situation if you were Joe?
Question & Answer Session
Q3. How would you deal with the situation if you were Joe?

6. Lessons Learned, Slide 1 of 3
There are several questions Joe should ask himself:
Are his chief’s comments about content specifics, or are they about simplifying the presentation to make it more to-the-point for the Army with fewer details on psychology?
Is he critiquing the organization and flow, or the technical merit?
Are the suggestions the same ones he made when you prepared charts to brief a Captain on the topic the other day? What might be different about briefing higher ranking Army staff?
What can you learn and use from the feedback you’ve been given?
Are the findings being distorted or exaggerated by the chief or just simplified?
Think about the chief’s motivation. Realize that he could have a high-ranking officer contacting him at any time asking about the project status. Also realize that he is giving the briefing and may have strong concerns related to fully understanding exactly what he will be saying. ARI’s reputation is very much on the line in this situation. If Joe considers this perspective, his chief’s behavior will probably make a lot more sense to him.

7. Lessons Learned, Slide 2 of 3
Joe should ask the chief to explain why the comments/feedback he’s giving are a concern to him. Joe should get at the underlying reason so he can learn from the situation. He should try to concentrate more on the task at hand than his emotion as he might be misperceiving your chief’s feedback. He may ultimately choose to address the situation in some way, such as discussing his concerns with the chief. Alternatively, his improved appreciation of the chief’s situation may render his behavior more tolerable; he may decide it’s best to let this one go. Joe should think about the briefing from the perspective of the TRADOC officers. Why would they be interested in the research? What decisions do they have to make? How will they try to apply the findings? They may not have the same interest in psychological issues that he does; they may not be particularly interested in the methods. They may have different reasons to believe or doubt the message distinct from the statistical analysis.

8. Lessons Learned, Slide 3 of 3
Try to imagine how things look from others’ perspectives. Put yourself in others’ shoes. Think about what concerns and circumstances may be driving their behavior. It’s not always all about you.
Look at the big picture. Were there common threads in the feedback Joe got from his chief? Does the chief have a lot more experience than Joe in briefing senior Army staff? What are the things he’s seen in the past to cause briefings to go down an unintended path that need to be avoided in this briefing? Be receptive to and learn from feedback.
Themes
Breadth of Vision; Perspective Taking