Military Review English Edition July-August 2014 | Page 74

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performers up to the moment the ax falls. Sometimes,
however, unseen forces are at work, and the victim and
bystanders are taken unaware.
The military is a hierarchal organization that can
suffer from the same self-serving behaviors that often
afflict any bureaucracy. The motives of the senior official who pulls the plug may be courageous and commendable, or they may be craven and contemptible.
The decision is often a judgment call. It may be made
under pressure of outside influences. The dismissal of
anyone of strategic rank can push disruptive ripples
throughout the institution, so we should explore the
process by which the authority arrives at the unhappy decision. Effective leaders must fully understand
this decision-making process and the necessary
follow-up from the perspectives of their own office
and the person who is relieved. Relief is a necessary
and inevitable tool of leadership that must be applied
judiciously and effectively. Moreover, its user must
accept personal accountability for the decision. Relief
can even be used creatively.
Getting the chop is a gut-wrenching experience,
and so is wielding the ax. Therefore, for readers who
have never been fired, this article will try to involve
you in the emotions of getting canned, by including
you as the subject of a fictional scenario based on
historical events. How would you handle either side
of the desk? Some of either character’s actions leading
up to the firing might have been less than noble. How
might anyone’s professional compass become perverted? How can a hierarchical organization prevent
corrupt and corrupting behavior? Is corruption among
those who wield power inevitable?
You have been called into the presence of your
immediate senior, who says—
I am relieving you from command, immediately,
and sending you home. Since this meeting and conversation are not being recorded, I can be starkly frank
about why. This may surprise you. Sit down; your knees
look wobbly.
I want to make it clear that there is no allegation
of moral turpitude. There have been several instances
when your conduct has been below standard, and I
have tried hard to work with you to help you improve
so it pains me to give up on you, but I must. This
dismissal is due, in reality, to your poor performance
as a leader. Aside from that, the recent exposure on

Benjamin Franklin Butler, U.S. representative from Massachusetts
(1870-1880). A general during the Civil War, Butler was relieved of
duty by Gen. Ulysses S. Grant for his incompetent leadership.

social media of your unprofessional behavior would be
sufficient grounds for termination. That public exposure means I cannot delay because I cannot cover up
your failures, and it gives me the opportunity to make
a highly visible change by firing you. This will show
everyone that I am clearly in charge and leading. It
does not make the bad news better, but it relieves some
stress and satisfies the public.
No doubt, you will feel humiliated and angry because
I am crushing your dream of a long military career and
a place in the history books. Remember, though, that
when you accepted the authority of command and the
deference that comes with it, you also accepted the risk
of blame and disgrace for failure. Your troops are risking
wounds or worse in combat while you only have risked
your reputation. Stalin’s commissars may have given a
failed general a pistol and a single bullet to do what must
be done, and a defeated Roman commander may have
sought an honorable death fighting in the front rank, but
that is not the American way. I don’t want you to be a
damned fool about this and harm yourself.
July-August 2014  MILITARY REVIEW