March 19, 2024
by Stephen T. Messenger
One of my favorite places to be as the Garrison Commander of Fort McCoy is manning the front gate. A few times a year, I’ll spend a morning standing with the police officers at the main entry to scan ID cards and say good morning.
I’ll try to pick the coldest, rainiest day or the first day back from a major holiday, just to see conditions at their worst. I hang out with the officers and see the challenges or frustrations they face.
Also, saying hi to morning patrons gives me a chance to thank and engage with them for about 15 seconds each. This small interaction provides huge insight into the pulse of the installation. You can learn a lot by seeing just about every person who arrives and if they’re excited to be at work or wishing they were somewhere else.
Placing your boots in the trenches builds relationships, expands understanding, and helps make decisions.
Trench Warfare
Soldiers digging trenches can be traced back to the Civil War but are commonly associated with the hellish environment of World War I France and Belgium. They were used primarily on the Western Front with German forces facing off against the combined armies of the French, British, and Americans.
These long, narrow trenches were dug to protect troops from machine guns, artillery, poison gas, and relentless attacks from the ground, yet they exposed soldiers to a host of other issues. Infantry units would occupy them for weeks at a time exposed not only to enemy assaults, but disease, germs, trench foot, and shell shock from constant bombardment.
This brutal environment resulted in units that suffered problem after problem and needed purpose, direction, and motivation every single day. Leaders had to make tough decisions on when and where to attack and assess the combat effectiveness of these struggling units.
The only way leaders could understand their forces was to be in the trenches. Here, they could see the true picture on the ground. By walking the lines and talking with their soldiers, leaders could effectively command their units to fight and win.
Today’s Trenches
Thankfully, our organizational trenches today aren’t filled with disease and death. But they still contain people who are working hard to complete the mission, benefit the team, and sometimes just survive.
We all have trenches, be it the assembly line, nurse’s ward, maintenance team, warehouse, or a slew of other areas under our influence. Each one has dedicated people who face their own trials and tribulations, making the best with what they have, and doing great things without us knowing it.
It’s our job to get in the trenches and understand the true picture on the ground.
Overcover Boss
I enjoy the show Undercover Boss. In this series, the CEO or senior leader of a company puts on a professional Hollywood disguise and pretends to be an entry level employee in their company. Invariably, they find amazing people doing great things along with divisive supervisors who are tainting their company.
They observe, learn, and understand what it’s like in the trenches of their company. They see the good, bad, and ugly, connect with people, and gain insight into how their decisions in an ivory tower affect junior employees.
In the end, the boss presents some of their stellar employees with a bonus or incentive and occasionally gives a counterproductive employee a pink slip. Without them being in the trenches, they would have no idea of the actions that are being taken on the ground.
Your Personal Trench Line
We all have trenches in our lives. It’s where the action is happening, and it is critical that leaders understand the challenges faced in the hardest parts of the organization.
Without a prime-time television show, going secretly undercover is a terrible idea – but scheduling time on the calendar to spend time with others is a fantastic practice.
I love learning the tasks others do and doing it with them. I’ll routinely schedule time to walk the ground and perform their job. I once visited a wastewater treatment plant that managed the water supply on the installation. I had no idea the enormity of the job.
Four fantastic people managed the program which required water testing 365 days per year. At least one person was in every weekend and holiday while I was with my family. They kept water moving for thousands of residents. They managed the process from taking water out of the ground, cleaning, testing, sending it to residents, collecting, discharging back into the ground, and everything in between. Finally, I found myself literally in the trenches with a shovel pulling out all the trash that people flushed down their toilet.
In this process, I learned three things:
- There are great people doing important jobs with little recognition. I’ll never know this until I go and meet them where they are. It was amazing to hear their backgrounds and why they continue to work in those positions.
- Presence matters. Me taking the time to walk the ground meant a lot to others. Being present with people shows you care, are interested in improving their trench lines, and are open to new ideas and improvements. The conversation spurred several insights that I would have never considered otherwise.
- Finally, the information I received allowed me to make better decisions about the organization. The challenges I witnessed helped me think about resourcing, budgetary, and manpower choices that have secondary and tertiary effects. Being on the ground allowed me to see the big picture.
Trench Warfare
Battles are won and lost in the trenches. If you don’t know what’s happening in those trench lines, and are making decisions in the blind, they may not have the impact you desire.
Leaders get dirty and jump in the trenches. This allows you to build relationships, gain insights, and make decisions that have impact.
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This website is a personal blog and all writings, podcasts, opinions, and posts are the authors’ own and do not represent the views of the United States Army nor any other organization. Podcast music credit in this audio file is to: “Alex Productions – Legends” is under a Creative Commons license (CC BY 3.0). / @alexproductionsnocopyright
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