Executive Leadership: Requisite Skills and Developmental Processes for Three- and Four-Star Assignments

by Patricia A. Harris and Kenneth W. Lucas

U.S. Army Research Institute for the Behavioral and Social Sciences

March 1991

This report describes the investigation of work and skill requirements for three- and four-star general officers. It is based on content analysis of tape-recorded interviews of eight of the then-available four star general officers in the U.S. Army. This work was part of a larger project designed to test Stratified Systems Theory application to military organization and processes. Interviews were intended to learn the nature of three- and four-star assignments, career paths, and developmental patterns. Requisite skills included consensus building, envisioning, climate setting, self-evaluation, sharing frames of reference, risk taking, and dealing with uncertainty. Implications for executive development are described in terms of level-specific organizational and individual requirements.

 

Major organizations and consulting firms that provide Requisite Organization-based services

A global association of academics, managers, and consultants that focuses on spreading RO implementation practices and encouraging their use
Dr. Gerry Kraines, the firms principal, combines Harry Levinson's leadership frameworks with Elliott Jaques's Requisite Organization. He worked closely with Jaques over many years, has trained more managers in these methods than anyone else in the field, and has developed a comprehensive RO-based software for client firms.
Ron Capelle is unique in his multiple professional certifications, his implementation of RO concepts through well designed organization development methods, and his research documenting the effectiveness of his firm's interventions
Former RO-experienced CEO, Ron Harding, provides coaching to CEOs of start-ups and small and medium-size companies that are exploring their own use of RO concepts.  His role is limited, temporary and coordinated with the RO-based consultant working with the organization
Founded by Gillian Stamp, one of Jaques's colleagues at Brunel, the firm modified Jaques;s work-levels, developed the Career Path Appreciation method, and has grown to several hundred certified assessors in aligned consulting firms world-wide recently expanding to include organization design
Requisite Organization International Institute distributes Elliott Jaques's books, papers, and videos and provides RO-based training to client organizations