In this case I will share what I believe right doesn't look like. In 2010 I attended the Italian Joint Services Staff College in Rome. While the course had many admirable aspects I was amazed by the lack of institutionalized (systematized) leadership. There were leaders present but they were the exception not the rule. They were what we in the US. Army calls "emergent leaders". These are leaders who, despite no formal training, institutionalized leader development, and institutional innovation develop and demonstrate leadership skill on their own.
I found it strange that the Italians have no word for leadership. About the closest word is Capo (which means Captain), but they view a Capo as more of a manager in my opinion. A Capo is not supposed to take initiative. He is supposed to do only what he is told. The Italians use the word "lider" which they took from the English word "leader" pronounced the same but written with the Latin i instead of e. In my opinion institutional leadership is not well understood in the Italian officer corps. That is to say, they don't devote any real resources to building leadership traits into their institutions nor do they systematically innovate leadership. That is to say, I never witnessed any effort to redefine leadership paradigms to suite modern times. So in the Italian military and I suspect the government and much of greater Italian society much the same way it did during the Cold War which ended almost 25 years ago. To be fair we, in the US military suffered (and continue to some degree) from the same condition until 9/11/01.
I find it difficult to criticize my Italian friends' but strongly believe we, as brothers in arms, need to get at some of these underpinnings if we are going to move forward.
This is a video of a riot that occurred in Rome on 10 December 2010 in the vicinity of Piazza Venezia (incidentally where Mussolini delivered many of his famous speeches and where I walked daily on my way to the Colosseo Metro stop heading to and from school). During the spring and summer there were weekly riots and it wasn't fun traversing them…
Back to the video.. We were in the school coffee bar when this (and several more videos) aired. In fact I was sitting next to a Guardia di Finanza (GDF) (Italian Customs Police) Lieutenant Colonel (LTC) and turned and asked him, whats up with that?
He and the other GDF officers were embarrassed and gave no response. I was amazed that a Customs Police unit was tasked to control a riot of this magnitude. I was further shocked that they were deployed in groups of 5-10 into areas where they could not be mutually supported. There were 3-4 thousand rioters out that day. To me this demonstrates a clear lack of competence and absence of leadership. There is simply no excuse to place lives at risk by deploying haphazardly. If leaders care about their men they will take the time to plan and rehearse before deploying. This clearly didn't happen here.
The next day the LTC GDF in my group took to the podium and gave what I considered an amazing presentation. He pulled up the GDF web page and began a speech informing us that they had everything under control. He went on to show this video and small pieces of another that was spliced into it that showed inside the angry mob there was someone who reached into the chaos and pulled some of the Finanzieri (customs policemen) to safety. He played and rewinded the video several times stating that they had people, "inside" the rioting mob.. as a means of managing risk.
I remain amazed that most of my colleagues were satisfied with this lame explanation. I later asked him if anyone was fired and he looked at me as if I was crazy and said "yes.. the lider was fired". I don't believe him. I believe it was swept under the rug. I will acknowledge it was a good move to have the infiltrator in the rioting mob - glad someone was thinking, but this remains another instance of what occurs when leaders are not institutionally trained and mentored.
Leadership is not for everyone. Institutional leadership is about building organizations that stand the test of time because they are able to meet dynamic threats by relying on training. To get there, organizations have to invest resources in building leaders. That is not to say the emergent leader has no place. I believe institutionalized leadership provides a natural home and support network for those gifted with a natural ability. Leaders must create an organizational culture where leadership thrives.
Whoever commanded this GDF unit should not be serving but because of corruption, he is likely doing so right now.. What family will lose a father, brother, or son next?
Nothing in society happens without leadership. It remains the genuine article. It can't be faked or copied and when it is needed and not there it often costs people their lives..
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