What can a battle that ended on January 2, 1863, teach us about leading in civilian organizations today?
Two retired U.S. Army colonels in Murfreesboro can answer that question. Jeff Davidson and Tom Isom recently founded the 3E Leadership Alliance, which offers classroom and battlefield seminars on enduring Army leadership lessons demonstrated on the Stones River National Battlefield nearly 160 years ago.
The two colonels enlisted another retired Army colonel who also served in the Army’s Senior Executive Service, Rickey Smith. Smith and Davidson, are Middle Tennessee State University graduates with Davidson recently serving as the Rutherford County Deputy Mayor. Isom, a graduate of the University of Florida, moved to Murfreesboro from a senior staff assignment in South Korea.
The Leadership Alliance includes officers who have commanded from platoon to brigade level and served in staff positions from small unit to Department of the Army. All three have advance degrees in National Security Studies and together have more than 90 years of Army leadership experience to share with participants.
The team offered their insights in a two-day seminar offered just before the Memorial Day weekend to select local leaders from the United Way of Rutherford and Cannon Counties; Habitat for Humanity; Endure Athletic Foundation; and MTSU. Their seminars are modeled on well-proven military leadership training process both colonels experienced and led while serving in the Army; adapting it to be relevant to leaders outside the military.
“There’s a lack of such focused leadership training opportunities in Middle Tennessee,” Smith said. “And to be frank, there’s a lack of awareness as to the importance of the Battle of Stones River.”
The Battle of Stones River, fought from Dec. 31, 1862, to Jan. 2, 1863, in Murfreesboro, was one of the bloodiest conflicts of the Civil War. The battle, which ultimately produced important military and political gains for the Union, had the highest percentage of casualties on both sides. Isom and Davidson work with other retired, senior military officers, as well as local educators, historians, and business leaders to develop an array of customized single- and multi-day programs. The most recent offering, which stretched over a day and a half, began in a classroom at the Rutherford County Chamber of Commerce, where the colonels introduced Army Leadership fundamentals and reviewed the battle’s place and importance in the Civil War.
The seminar moved to the battlefield – and not just the area defined by the National Park Service’s site. The pair took participants to areas of significance that were off the trail, including stops at the Lane Agri-Park, The Grove, and even all the way to McFadden’s Ford.
“We wanted to demonstrate the far-reaching nature of the actual battle compared to the formal limits of the National Battlefield boundaries,” Isom said. Isom said that along with stops within the National Battlefield and Cemetery, the experiences emphasize the relevance of the Battle of Stones River as a leadership laboratory.
Each stop began with a historical review of what happened near that location and how particular leaders’ decisions and actions, or lack thereof, demonstrated a specific competency or attribute of current Army leadership theory. “Our discussions then explored those traits, which allowed participants to discover for themselves the timeless aspects of leadership and how they apply to their current jobs and lives,” Davidson said. One participant said “I did learn a lot and came away with a great deal of new ideas to ponder and a wealth of material for reflection on how I approach leadership.”
Isom said the solemn nature of the battlefield, as well as the wrap-up discussion conducted in the National Cemetery, drove home the serious nature of the lessons learned on this living leadership lab. “We take the time, especially near Memorial Day, to remember and reflect so we can learn from the history and apply the leadership principles today.”
For more information about 3E Leadership Alliance, go to: 3ELA.net.
