11 February 2008: Ego crisis management

Teamwork is essential to success. That's more than just a cliche. Egos can get in the way of teamwork. When a Brigade Combat Team redeploys it should be a win for everyone involved. There are so many moving pieces that have to be orchestrated. My team plays such an integral role in the entire process. We really don't have time for big egos. Unfortunately, they exist. The military is full of huge egos. I frequently have to spend time engaged in ego crisis management. The crisis normally happens when we are helping a unit and someone in the unit's chain-of-command perceives our assistance as stepping into "his lane". I had to engage in ego crisis management all afternoon.

The old MND-B was an awesome crew to work with. They absolutely loved my team because of how much time and effort we saved them. They gave us complete leeway to assist the BCT's within their area of responsibility. We jumped around from BCT to BCT, squaring away eight of them for their respective redeployments. The old MND-B - 1st Cavalry Division - left back in December. Now we're dealing with the biggest egos on the block - 4th Infantry Division. Somehow, they've got it in their mind that my team works for them and that we can't even fart without their approval. In the meantime, their BCT's are clamoring for our help. We don't ever turn them away. The safe, timely redeployment of the Brigade Combat Team is our mission. In that regard, we've been driving on business as usual. Well......those crazies from 4th ID.

Right after lunch I got an e-mail from my unit in Kuwait. The G4 at MND-B was calling, claiming he'd been unable to get hold of me. He had a problem with how my team was conducting business. I had just sent the guy a cordial e-mail not two days prior. All he had to do was answer and I'd have been right over. I had my NCOIC pick me up and we rushed on over to see what was up. It was a non-issue. He was mad because we'd been helping his BCT's without coordinating things with him first. I explained that he was talking in the wrong direction. His BCT's have been coming to us and leaving him out of the loop. I told him that if he wanted to centralize his process for utilizing the services of my team he'd have to have the discussion with the mobility warrants at the brigade level. I don't care how the scheduling takes place, so long as the BCT's receive our help in a timely fashion. The whole episode was a good example of someone's ego feathers getting rubbed the wrong way because he felt left out of the loop.

Problem solved again. My latest episode of ego crisis management had a happy ending. It will stay happy until someone else's ego gets ruffled. It's inevitable - this is the Army and we are in a war.