In many of my presentations and coaching engagements, I always seem to come back to Commander’s Intent when discussing Servant Leadership. After wrapping a call, I shared a link to an excellent article discussing this concept and how to apply it. Here’s an excerpt from the article about Commander’s Intent and its origin, followed by a link to the full article “What Is ‘Commander’s Intent’?” by Josh Kaufman.
“Commander’s Intent originated on the battlefield. If a general tells a field commander precisely how to capture a hill and the situation changes, the field commander is forced to return to the general for new orders, which is very slow and inefficient. If the general explains the strategy to the field commander and explains why that particular hill is important and how it will support the overall strategy, the field commander is free to use their knowledge of the Goal and fresh intelligence to act in a new way that supports the original intent.”
Other articles if you’d like to learn more:
- Manage Uncertainty with Commander’s Intent by Chad Storlie, November 03, 2010
- Intent (military) from Wikipedia
- Commander’s Intent Defined by Capt Michael L. Ettore, Posted on August 08,2019, Article Date Apr 01, 1993
- Commander’s Intent and Concept of Operations by Maj. Richard Dempsey, U.S. Army, and Maj. Jonathan M. Chavous, U.S. Army
- Mission command requires sharp commander’s intent by Gen. Gustave “Gus” Perna, November 4, 2019
