Manpower

by Lincoln C. Andrews

Subordination means that everyone shall continually recognize the fact that each individual in his own office has his own particular responsibilities and privileges, and that these must be observed by all both above and below him. Particularly must each superior take pains always to recognize the rights and responsibilities of his subordinates and to give full play to their powers in the proper exercise of the functions of their grades. If the superintendent saw a man going wrong he would properly correct the foreman, not the man himself; if he was so fortunate as to see something praiseworthy he would commend the foreman, or at least be sure that the foreman was present and shared the praise. This makes the men realize that the foreman is held responsible for their work, good or bad, that he is really their leader, thus strengthening his authority over them. It also shows the foreman that superior authority recognized him as the boss and holds him responsible for results, thus developing his initiative, his legitimate pride of office, and his keen interest in the performance of his men.

While for the sake of this psychological effect these minor corrections and commendations are thus made in the presence of the men involved, if the foreman needs serious correction for mistaken policy, slackness, poor judgment, anything which corrected in the hearing of his men would necessarily lower their respect for him, he should be corrected in private and given the opportunity to win the added respect of his men by appearing to make the correction on his own initiative. Where the subordinate does not respond to these methods, he is lacking in the essentials of teamwork and leadership and not up to his job.

To prevent friction, the function of each of these steps in subordination from the chief down to his men in the ranks should be well defined, and thoroughly understood by all members of the entire force. And as these steps form the quick, sure means of transmitting the will of the chief to his men, so in the ideal case they would be the equally sure means of transmitting to the chief the sentiment, opinions, and suggestions of his men. In any case these steps form the rungs of the ladder by which any man may aspire to climb to advancement in the organization, and there should be an ever present atmosphere of encouragement for every man who will strive to fit himself to do the work of the man next above him. Such an atmosphere frees in the man the instincts of ambition and construction and thus promotes interest, inventiveness and constructive criticism and suggestion.

Teamwork.—The meaning of teamwork and its importance to the success of an undertaking are easily understood, but its practical application to our daily affairs is not always so easily brought about. Too often selfish interests seem to stand in the way, and it is necessary in some way to make the interests of the team appear of greater importance to the individual than his own. It can generally be shown that the greater success of each is dependent on the success of the whole, and if the leader always gives merit where it is due, he should be able to establish this understanding. It should help the leader, particularly in getting this spirit of co-operation into his men, if he realizes how this too is one of the great laws of nature. Bishop Brent says "Bible history—and for that matter all history—begins with a garden and closes with a city." This is because the developments of progress necessarily depend on the co-operative efforts of mankind, and thus force men to live and work together. It is true that progress results from the development of the individual; but not in isolation. He must work in close relations with his fellows. A man can do little alone, but in combination men perform miracles of achievement. So they have got to work together, have got to practice the give and take of common membership in community living, and of common responsibility for accomplishing the progress of the race. This means fellowship and teamwork all along the line. It means that each man has a part to play and is entitled to respect and consideration in accordance with how he plays it rather than what it is; and it means that no man is entitled to consider solely his own selfish interests, but must faithfully play his part in the team with his fellows. Our ideals of fairness and decency in work and play are built on this foundation.

Good teamwork assures two states of mind in the individual which are most helpful for efficient work. No matter in what isolation or obscurity the individual has to work he feels sure that his work is a necessary and important part of the whole and that it will receive due appreciation; and he is also borne up by feeling sure that each of his fellows is doing his own part with equal faithfulness and likewise counting on him to do his. In many phases of work as well as in sport this latter feeling is a great incentive to doing one's best. Teamwork is of course intimately connected with leadership; and will be frequently mentioned in discussing the latter.

Command.—It is very important to get a clear conception of the modern theory of command, or way of directing what subordinates shall do. It is important because rather new and not always understood, and particularly because it is the one guiding principle for the leader in all his conduct of office. Command no longer depends solely on the implicit obedience of subordinates, but gets its best results from developing in them the two essential qualities of loyalty and intelligent initiative, and then trusting them to play their part in the proposed work. This is a development of the last half century, an intelligent response to changed conditions. It is based on the modern development of the individual as a responsible unit in the social and political community, and more particularly on the fact that the bigness of modern-time enterprises makes impracticable the older-time dictatorial control by a single head. Implicit obedience to exact orders can be successful only when the man who gives the order is on the spot and fully acquainted with the existing conditions at the time, and this is impossible for all the details of large enterprises. The "I order, you obey" and the "you're not paid to think" stuff is entirely inadequate for big affairs, where opportunities for subordinates to do good work must constantly occur beyond the vision of the big chief and go unimproved if the subordinate has to wait for the chief's instructions before acting, and where circumstances will often have arisen without the chief's knowledge which would make it disadvantageous to carry out certain instructions which he had given.

So modern command recognizes that the man who is on the spot is in the best position to judge what to do, and that if he has been properly instructed, we will get better results from his acting on his own judgment than from his blindly obeying orders. Sad as it is for romance the man who to-day led a "Charge of the Light Brigade" would be considered stupid, and probably relieved as unfit for command. Subordinates are now required to know what is going on about them, and to use intelligent judgment. Positive orders are of course as rigidly obeyed as ever, but they are not given unless the superior is on the spot in person and knows all the conditions. In the general case the subordinate is instructed as to the plan of action and the part he is to play in it, and then expected to carry on to the best advantage. For this purpose army training is now designed, not only to cultivate the man's exact obedience to positive orders, but even more to develop his powers of observation and analysis so he may sense conditions; his powers of reason so he may arrive at a logical decision as to what should be done; and his strength of character so he may willingly accept and cheerfully bear the full responsibility of acting on his own initiative. Can anyone find a better formula for training to play one's part in any of life's activities!

This system of command is thoroughly in keeping with the democratic character, and is eminently adapted for use in civil undertakings. The keynote for any successful management is the development and use of loyalty and intelligent initiative in subordinates. Initiative without loyalty would be dangerous, but from the combination flow the big results.

Discipline.—The discipline of any group is the direct responsibility of its particular leader. Many men shrink from this responsibility through distaste for administering discipline as they understand it. And the old ideas of discipline based on fear and punishments are indeed calculated to be repugnant to any democrat of sensibilities. But let him once understand what discipline really is, and how the highest type of discipline is brought about through employing the better qualities of mankind, and his responsibility for it may then become a matter of keen interest and satisfaction.

It will make an understanding of discipline much easier to realize how common a thing it is in everyday life. It is perhaps the most common, for it controls us in practically all our personal affairs. Even the cave man has to observe the discipline imposed by the laws of nature; while civilized man must bow more or less cheerfully to social and community regulations ranging in seriousness from some convention as to wearing his hat up to the Eighteenth Constitutional Amendment. We are always the objects of some discipline; that of the home, of school, church, office, the hotel or the street car. The decent man and the happy one is he who accepts this discipline cheerfully—or else flees from the strictures of community living. How absurd therefore is the common conception that army discipline is such a unique affair, and that to be a disciplinarian is necessarily so difficult. In fact the most perfect example of real efficient discipline, and the example most worthy our emulation, is the discipline which a wise father inspires in his son. Here we see the unswerving loyalty, quick, cheerful obedience, and readiness to fight for the honor of his chief that are the characteristics of good discipline and the sure rewards of good leadership.