James Thomasson’s transformational leadership drove the successful transition of his organization. As combat operations peaked, during the surge period in Afghanistan for the Global War on Terrorism, there arose a requirement to have additional infantry forces on the ground to drive the priority of counterinsurgency.
Leadership Demonstrated
Thomasson understood this decision came from the highest military leaders and had the approval of the President of the United States. Therefore, he immediately accepted the new mission of transitioning the field artillery group into a repurposed unit that would operate as
James Thomasson,
Senior Strategy Executive & Management Consultant
an infantry task force for the first time. He quickly realized several significant obstacles would have to be overcome centered around two facts: first, the Army hired these individuals to perform tasks as field artillerymen and not infantryman so there would be resistance to change and second, there were only nine months to transform the organization.
Although Thomasson understood and was completely on board with this new mission and transition, not everyone in the company was committed. With limited time and the need to obtain buy-in from the employees, Thomasson developed a solid plan and began to take action. First, he met with local infantry senior managers and reflected on his own experiences and training. Through his dedication, learning, and research, he quickly became the subject matter expert and most proficient individual in his new division. Then, using Kotter’s eight-step model for driving change, he led the organizational shift and restructuring while changing the culture from top to down.
Objective Accomplished
With a coalition of change enthusiasts, Thomasson took advantage and maximized every opportunity to coach, teach, and train his subordinates to succeed in their new operational tasks and mission. Not only was Thomasson’s new division extremely successful in the transition, but it received the toughest missions once in Afghanistan due to the intense and realistic nature of the training Thomasson provided.
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