Army Major General discusses how to inspire and lead

Army  Maj. Gen. Deborah Kotulich joined host Aileen Black on this week’s Leaders and Legends to discuss how to create a collaborative and productive working environment.

General Kotulich currently serves as the director of the Army Recruiting and Retention Task Force, which was established by the secretary of the Army to integrate and synchronize efforts addressing all issues affecting recruiting and retention.

She also recently served as the chief of staff for Army Support to the Naming Commission, which coordinated and facilitated efforts to rename all Defense Department installations that commemorate the Confederate States of America or any person who served voluntarily with the Confederate States of America.

Kotulich describes herself as a “servant leader” who was using this approach long before it “became a thing.”

A leader’s job, she said, is to  “inspire their team about the mission so they enjoy the work,” and she uses five principles to accomplish that goal:

• The Perrin Principle: Be tactically and technically proficient, physically fit and mentally able.
• The Petersen principle: Visualize the positive and enjoy what you do.
• The Stafford principle: Be value-added. Look for the solution that is needed, not the one that is often assigned. Challenge assumptions and constraints and take reasonable risk.
• The Staats principle: Reward people for jobs well-done. Use frequent and random rewards — everyone likes to be recognized.
• The Kotulich Principle (likely someone else’s already): Get the best of what each player on the team has to give. As a leader, you get a team — your job is to make them the “A” team.

Kotulich said early in her career she worried about being a female leader in a male dominated organization like the Army.  She was especially concerned about being “as fit” as the men training with her.

But she decided to “take that stress off the table and make fitness a way of life.”

Kotulich said she worked with several outstanding leaders early in her career and learned some important lessons.

“It is important to treat everyone equally and create a level playing field.  Find your team’s individual exceptional talent,” she said. “Invest in your team and lead from the front.”

Kotulich admits she also learned “what not to do” in certain situations, but added that she “knew what right looked like” and credits her mentors for showing her the correct path to take on an issue.

There are two kinds of leaders, she said: One that’s staff-led and one that leads the staff.

She prides herself in being the latter and reinforces this point by saying “people will go where they find value. If you want to lead a successful and highly functional organization you need to lead from the front and be active in the mission.”

Kotulich also offered some words of advice for the next generation of leaders who want to join the Army.

“Today’s Army provides so much opportunity,” she said. “We need to show the next generation the value of the service to the nation and the value of the opportunity that today’s Army can provide them.”

She then quoted President John F. Kennedy, who said in his inaugural address:  “Ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country.”

According to Kotulich, “we need to challenge every American to contribute in some way to the public good. Doing good is incredibly satisfying.”

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