When the new platoon leader meets the old squad leader
■ Special correspondent of The People's Liberation Army Daily, Liao Xiaobin, Chen Kunfeng, special correspondent, and Special correspondent Zhao Xin
From military academies to troops, many newly graduated platoon commanders lack grass-roots experience, coupled with their lack of ability and quality, and often have problems such as difficulty in carrying out work in daily management and command training.
The squad leader is the "main backbone" of the squad and plays a role in the construction of the grass-roots level. If the new platoon leader wants to gain a firm foothold in the platoon, he must first get the cooperation and recognition of the old squad leader. How can the new platoon leaders handle the relationship with the old squad leader and find their role positioning? The first step of taking the "beginning of the official" is indeed a lot of "doorways."
The new platoon leader gave orders why there was no old squad leader
The new platoon commander conducts five kilometers of armed cross-country training. Photo by Zhu Jie
Three years ago, Cai Xinwei graduated from military school and came to a brigade of the 73rd Group Army.
"When I was in military school, I heard that if you want to play the 'first three feet' well in the next company, you must first pass the old squad leader." On the first day of the next company, Cai Xinwei saw the "majesty" of the old squad leader.
On that day, the organization of the platoon roll call, the squad leader commented, everyone was upright. When Cai Xinwei commented, many people's military posture was loose. This annoyed Cai Xinwei.
"I always thought that the platoon leader was the leader of a platoon, and at that moment I felt that the status of the platoon leader was not as high as that of the squad leader." That night, Cai Xinwei could not sleep.
However, this is just the beginning.
The next day, the company asked each platoon to go out on business to clean up the environment, and Cai Xinwei's arrangement was not as good as the old squad leader's arrangement. This incident once again made Cai Xinwei feel that in front of the "big mountain" of the old squad leader, he seemed to be insufficient energy. For the next step of work, Cai Xinwei became a little unconfident.
In a similar situation, Jing Guanglei, who is also the new platoon leader, was also deeply touched.
Jing Guanglei participated in the company training for the first time, and the training course was battlefield rescue combination practice. Just after walking onto the training ground, the squad leader Chen Chaolin challenged him in front of the whole platoon: "I heard that our platoon leader was a 'top student' when he was in the military academy, and today I want to compete with the platoon leader to see the style of the top man of the military academy." ”
"Compare to who is afraid of whom!" Although he had not practiced battlefield rescue combination practice before, at the instigation of the soldiers, Jing Guanglei still chose to harden his scalp.
"Go!" With the order of the referee, Chen Chaolin skillfully lay down and kicked his legs, using both hands and feet, flexible and fast, and quickly reached the end. Look at Jing Guanglei again, because of the lack of skill, uncoordinated movements, just halfway up the climb is already exhausted, limping "moving" to the end...
After experiencing this incident, Jing Guanglei felt that this was the old squad leader deliberately "getting off the horse" for himself, the purpose was to let himself recognize the "high and low seats" in the platoon.
Worried that the old squad leader would throw the problem again, Jing Guanglei finally chose the "ostrich-style" avoidance. Because he clearly knows that once he and the old squad leader compete, it will be more difficult to get a foothold in the platoon. After all, the "old" of the old squad leader is not only in seniority, but also in personal connections and experience, and once the old squad leader does not cooperate with the "picker", he has neither a foundation nor is he familiar with the grass-roots troops, which will undoubtedly make things worse.
In fact, there are many new platoon commanders like Cai Xinwei and Jing Guanglei in the grass-roots company. When they first took office, they were full of passion and thought about how to kick the "first three feet" and be a good soldier, but when some of their practices were not recognized by the old squad leader, they were often easily lost and overwhelmed.
Why doesn't the new platoon leader speak well of the old squad leader? Is it to compete with the old squad leader for a high or low, or to familiarize yourself with the situation in the platoon before you say it? These problems have confused many new platoon leaders.
Is it the old squad leader who deliberately competes with the new platoon leader?
The new platoon commander conducts staff operations training. Photo by Zhang You
The new platoon leader is difficult to stand on, and the squad leader seems to have become the biggest "obstacle". Could it be that the old squad leader deliberately competed with the new platoon leader?
The answer is clearly no. One more person to share the affairs and one more person to plan decisions can reduce the burden on the squad leader, so why not enjoy it for them?
Why doesn't the old squad leader let go of the new platoon leader? Talking about this topic, Wang Xingya, the fourth-level sergeant major, expressed his concerns.
Three years ago, Wang Xingya's platoon had a new platoon leader. Before the new platoon leader could stand firm, he laid out a new rule: every day before the lunch break and after the roll call, a roll call and comment should be organized.
However, what the new platoon commander did not know was that the soldiers' lunch break was very short, and he often used it to talk about some trivial things, and the time from late roll call to lights out was not long, and each procrastinating comment often made many soldiers unable to take a bath, and the soldiers in the platoon complained.
"Many new platoon leaders have just taken office and are busy kicking out the 'first three feet', they have low eyes and arrogant hearts, they always feel that they are the leader of a platoon, wishful thinking to carry out some unrealistic work, and even individual platoon leaders have a lot of official shelves." With such a platoon leader, how can we rest assured that the affairs of the entire platoon will be entrusted to him? After experiencing this incident, Wang Xingya has always been grumpy about the new platoon leader's "random playing of the piano".
At the grass-roots level, there are indeed quite a few high-quality old squad leaders, and the whole platoon is in order under their management, while some new platoon leaders unrealistically "insert a foot horizontally" often disrupt the normal order in the platoon.
The squad leader Wang Guo had encountered this kind of thing. The platoon stipulates that several weaker fighters get up half an hour early every day and run in the morning, but after the new platoon leader arrives, in order to let the soldiers have enough sleep and to leave a good impression on the soldiers, this rule was canceled. Because of this, Wang Guo fought with the new platoon leader.
"It's almost the end of the year, and a few soldiers who are not up to standard in physical fitness are usually not self-disciplined enough, and the year-end examination cannot drag down the hind legs of the whole platoon because of them." As the "elder" of the platoon, Wang Guo led the team to win the "advanced platoon" year after year, and he did not want the entire platoon to go downhill because of the intervention of the new platoon leader.
The squad leaders are not at ease with the new platoon leader and do not let go, in addition to worrying that some new platoon leaders "can't play the piano and play the piano", they are also worried that some new platoon leaders "drop the chain at a critical moment".
Soon after the new platoon commander Xu Xingjian took office, the company commander asked him to take two recruits to arrange the sports shooting range. Although Xu Xingjian was full of promises, he was dumbfounded when he arrived at the scene: how to set up obstacles, where to set up the starting line and the shooting line, how to allocate support personnel... A series of questions overwhelmed Xu Xingjian.
Seeing that the company was about to be brought to the training ground, the whole preparation work was not in place. Fortunately, the old squad leader Huang Zhijian had expected and rushed to the rescue in advance, and did not affect the training of the whole company.
Therefore, in Huang Zhijian's view, there is also a reason why he is not at ease with the new platoon leader and does not let go.
The 3 types of new platoon leaders "encounter" differently
The new platoon leader conducts drawing training. Photo by Qin Peng
"Meddling in the management of the squad is easy to cause conflicts with the old squad leader, no matter what, then who will listen to themselves after that?" Whenever there is a management contradiction, many new platoon leaders are always hovering between "management and indifference".
Some new platoon leaders obstruct their own faces and, in order to establish their own majesty, choose to "confront" the old squad leader; some new platoon leaders choose to blindly compromise and resign themselves to it, seeking "a bunch of harmony" in a way that pleases the old squad leader. As a result, the work is more difficult to carry out, not to say, it is difficult to be accepted and convinced by the soldiers, and it is not pleasing to the top and the bottom.
Obviously, hard-hitting confrontation and unprincipled compromise are not advisable, and they will be far more and more distant from the recognition of the old squad leader and the acceptance of the soldiers. So, what kind of new platoon leader is what the old squad leader and soldiers are looking forward to?
The survey found that it is difficult to be recognized by the old squad leaders, often some new platoon leaders who do not have grassroots resumes, but the new platoon leaders who are promoted to work and study can quickly carry out their work and grasp the initiative. Why?
Kong Lingtao had just stepped into the post of platoon leader, and led the whole platoon to successfully complete a major task entrusted by his superiors. In the platoon, not only did the soldiers obey his leadership, but even the old squad leader asked him for instructions and reports at the first time, which even many old platoon leaders who had been rooted in the grassroots for many years lamented that they were inferior.
When asked by other new platoon commanders about the "secret" of leading the soldiers, Kong Lingtao said: "In fact, there is no 'secret' to speak of. Before I was admitted to the school, I was a soldier in my own unit, and I knew both the soldiers around me and the surrounding environment, and the work was carried out smoothly. ”
Compared with Kong Lingtao, a young cadet who graduated from the military academy, Zheng Shengwen, who served as a new platoon leader, was not so smooth.
Zheng Shengwen found that compared with military schools, grassroots companies have great differences in management mode and training methods, especially in the training of professional skills, many subjects they have never dabbled in when they were in military schools, and even their own training cannot pass. Although the old squad leader gave up his command position to him many times during training, Zheng Shengwen did not dare to take over for a while.
Zheng Shengwen, who did not accept defeat, started from scratch and secretly worked hard. Relying on the solid basic skills he laid in military school, especially his physical strengths, he plunged into the training ground and strengthened his skills day and night. Soon, Zheng Shengwen thoroughly studied professional skills such as climbing, capturing prisoners, and fighting, and participated in the quarterly assessment organized by the company for the first time, and Zheng Shengwen overwhelmed many veterans with the third place in comprehensive results. The excellent strength made the old squad leader look at the new platoon leader with admiration and his attitude was greatly improved.
Cao Zhiyun is a national defense student trained by local colleges and universities, and after serving at the grassroots level, he found that many aspects of the grassroots level are basically blank for him. the scalp, it is inevitable to appear foreign.
"Captain Cao, today you will direct everyone to sing." One day before dinner, the class leader Li Bo suddenly made this suggestion, which made Cao Zhiyun, who had never directed singing, helpless. Nervousness and uneasiness made Cao Zhiyun frequently make mistakes even in the running position, and because the sound was too small when starting the tune, many fighters were reluctant to open their mouths to sing. In just one song time, Cao Zhiyun sweated profusely, and the whispers of the soldiers in the field made him feel self-conscious.
"In the final analysis, the ability and quality are the strength of the soldiers." Today, Cao Zhiyun, who has made up for the shortcomings, lamented that in the past, due to his lack of ability and quality, he did not dare to speak, did not dare to manage, and even did not have the confidence to issue a password.
Learn the tricks of swimming in the frequent choking water
The phenomenon of new platoon leaders frequently "choking on water" in front of the old squad leaders is not uncommon at the grassroots level. For many cadres who have already taken up higher leadership positions, how do they deal with them as "people who have come over"?
"In my opinion, to be a good platoon leader is first of all to be a good soldier." When Gao Jian, chief of the security section of the brigade, was appointed as the new platoon commander, his military quality was not outstanding, and his work was frequently frustrated, but in order to narrow the distance between himself and the soldiers, he took the initiative to hang up the rank of a column soldier, and asked to stand guard with the new recruits, play grass and help cooks, clean the canteen, and the first person to run out on business every time was him. Gradually, the low-key sincerity of the high key impressed the old squad leader in the platoon, and they were willing to assist and cooperate with the new platoon leader who was down-to-earth and hardworking.
"Warriors are generally more simple-minded, and those who can get their approval are often people who can share their hardships and hardships with them." Company commander Liu Xiaoyuan has been named an "excellent grassroots cadre" many times in recent years, and when he first became a platoon leader, he also made a lot of jokes. Later, in a cross-regional exercise organized by a superior unit, Liu Xiaoyuan not only helped his weak comrades-in-arms to share the weight of their bodies throughout the whole process by virtue of his good physical strength, but also took the initiative to contract 3 shifts of sentries at night, so that the rest of the soldiers had more rest time. After the drill, Liu Xiaoyuan found that his bedding had been moved from the original upper bunk to the lower bunk by the soldiers.
Soon after he became a platoon leader, he was affectionately known as the "warm-hearted platoon leader" by the soldiers. Sergeant Miao Jian is a squad leader in the back row of Wanhou, and after a conversation, he learned that Miao Jianjian's grandmother was seriously ill and was hospitalized, but he could not take any more vacations according to regulations because he had taken a year-round vacation. After understanding the situation, wanhou contacted the leaders of the organs for the first time to report the situation, and at the same time did ideological work for Miao Jiankang. Under his multi-party coordination, Miao Jiankang's application for leave was approved by the leaders of the organ, and finally returned home to accompany his grandmother as he wished.
"In my opinion, the new platoon leader has to go into the water to 'flutter', and learn the skill of swimming in the water when he chokes frequently." Tang Shanji, director of the brigade's political work department, believes that the new platoon leader has embarked on the post of leading soldiers, and the post and ability must match, and if he cannot be recognized by the squad leader and the soldiers, it can only mean that he is still far from a qualified platoon leader in terms of ability and quality, and needs to be tempered more.
Not long ago, the brigade welcomed a new batch of platoon commanders. In order to consolidate their foundation, the brigade conscientiously organized new platoon commanders to carry out training as soldiers, requiring them to hang up their ranks, strictly implement the "five sames," deeply experience the lives of ordinary soldiers, and make up for the "being a soldier" lesson. At the same time, the new platoon commanders also participated in the training of new cadres organized by the group army, strengthening the basic skills of leading the troops from many aspects, such as ideology and politics, military skills, and discipline in leading the troops, so as to help them become familiar with the grass-roots units as soon as possible, fully adapt to the troops, and be competent for the first post.
At the end of last year, Xiao Lijun, a new platoon commander who had just finished the training of new cadres, actively threw himself into the fiery training of the company after returning to the team. Between trainings, he used his professional expertise to guide the fighters to relax their muscles and teach training injury prevention techniques. Walking off the training ground, Xiao Lijun said with feeling: "Integrating your own strengths into the construction of the company can also narrow the distance between yourself and the soldiers." As long as the new platoon leader is willing to sink into the middle of the soldiers, trust and trust will become the most sincere feedback from the soldiers to them! ”
Learn to "replenish calcium and strengthen energy" in the soldiers
■ Sun Bo
The grass-roots level is the foundation of the work and combat effectiveness of the troops, and the squads and platoons are the "tip of the sword" of combat effectiveness. Whether the "tip of the knife" can be sharpened quickly, swinged, and pierced thoroughly, the backbone of the front-line leading soldiers plays a decisive role.
"The prime minister will rise from the state department, and the fierce general will rise from the pawn." From the orientation of training troops to prepare for war, to the small notice falling, it is closely related to the ability and quality of platoon commanders. Therefore, it is extremely important for the new platoon commander to quickly gain a foothold at the grass-roots level and play a good role as a soldier leader.
New officers take office "three fires," and the new platoon leaders are no exception. Some people are eager to "ignite" the tree Wilson and want to gain a firm foothold in the company as soon as possible, which is understandable, but if they are in a hurry, it will often backfire. "Near the water knows the fish, near the mountain knows the bird sound." Only when the new platoon commanders enter the grass-roots level must be more heartfelt into the grass-roots level, pour out their true feelings, and find out the truth, so that they can take the first step of the "beginning of the official."
As soon as the new platoon leader graduates, he will go to the grass-roots level, just like building a tall building and laying a foundation, the stronger the base, the more stable the tall building. The grassroots is a big stage, after some beatings and tempering, a long point of insight and talent. The new platoon commander has come from the military academy to the grass-roots level, the post has changed, the environment has changed, and it is inevitable that he will encounter difficulties and setbacks of one kind or another. Facing difficulties and having the courage to challenge are indispensable "nutrients" and "ripening agents" on the road to growth.
The grassroots is a "compulsory course", and the soldier is a "must read". The new platoon commander must learn to "replenish calcium and strengthen energy" in the soldiers' pile, put down the shelf, throw himself down, treat the company as a home, and regard his comrades-in-arms as relatives. The moment the hearts of officers and soldiers resonate, you become a good platoon leader in the minds of your comrades-in-arms.
Compared with the new platoon leader, the old squad leader is familiar with the grassroots level and has rich management experience. Getting along with them day and night, both comrades in arms and partners, requires the new platoon leader to win the respect and trust of the old squad leader through sincere and down-to-earth character, humble and low-key posture, flexibility and principled management art. It is necessary to give full play to the backbone role of the old squad leader, but also to give full play to their own special advantages, adhere to principles, and dare to take responsibility, so as to unite as one, think in one place, and work hard to make a difference.
The "bumps and bumps" of the new platoon commander "at the beginning of the official" are normal, and no one is a natural soldier who will be used to the top when he takes office and will do a good job as soon as he takes office. The organization should let go of them more, actively create conditions for them, provide opportunities, help them go into the water more "fluttering" and then find the trick of swimming; people who come over should also help them more, can not seek full blame, and can not rush to achieve, give them more tolerance and care, timely lean up, pull the handle, and help them grow into talents.
It can be said that when a stubble of new row grows solidly at the grassroots level, the big tree at the grassroots level will flourish.
(This article was published in the 5th edition of the People's Liberation Army Daily on January 22, 2021)
Source: China Military Network