Leadership Lessons from West Point

Chapter 18. DEVELOPING ORGANIZATIONAL COMMITMENT BY PUTTING PEOPLE FIRST

Todd Woodruff

Commitment and sacrifice are commonplace for U.S. soldiers and their families. More than twenty-five hundred troops have died in Iraq and Afghanistan, and most soldiers can measure the time spent away from their families, friends, and home life in years rather than months or weeks. Compounding these wartime demands are the routine demands of Army life that include unpredictable short- and long-term schedules, physical hardships, frequent moves, housing concerns, detriments to spousal employment, increased need for child care, decreased support from and access to extended families and friends, the absence of the soldier from critical family events, and disruptions ...