Concepts
in SCA Combat Leadership
Introduction: This is
the first in a series of talks designed to provide SCA melee combat leaders
with skills and tools to effectively lead fighters on and off the field. These
talks were put together as a collaborative effort by the instructors. All of
whom are founding members of the Pentamere Free Company and have a long history
of melee experience. Each brings unique skills and perspective from mundane
military and business leadership background to the series. Each of these talks
stands on its own, however each does borrow concepts from the predecessors in
the series. All previous material is available on line at the Pentamere Free
Company website www.pentamerefreecompany.com
The specific
purpose of this lecture is to outline the duties and responsibilities inherent
to company level command and to provide some specific tools to accomplish them.
These responsibilities include organization, motivation, training and field
command of the unit. This class is intended to provide a basic overview of
leadership of small SCA melee units.
The class is geared toward those who are currently in a small unit
leadership position and wish to improve their skills or those who are
interested in such positions.
Instructors: Lord William Campion (Keith Larson)
THL
Sgt. Iain Ruadh MacFhionnghain (Tony Craft)
Sgt.
Renaude Delunay (David Denomme)
Instructor’s
background:
Lord William has been fighting as
an SCA melee fighter since 1987 and has fought in 11 Pennsic wars and numerous
smaller melee events. He has held
positions ranging from new shieldman to Company commander, with unit sizes
ranging from 2 to 24 heavy fighters. In
his mundane life, Keith Larson P.A.-C. has for 6 years, helped train and lead
code teams for the Cardiac Cath Lab at Harper University Hospital in Detroit,
MI.
Sgt. Iain
has been fighting as an SCA melee fighter since 1986 and has lived in and
fought for five kingdoms in numerous wars, ranging from Pennsic to An Tir/West
War. He has held positions ranging from
new shieldman to Baronial Militia Commander with units sizes ranging from 2 to
30 heavy fighters. In his mundane
life, Tony Craft spent 12 years with the U.S. Army and held positions ranging from
Platoon Sergeant to Drug Suppression Team Chief. As a Military Police NCO, he has had real world melee combat
experience during the 1994 Cuban Refugee Riots in Panama and numerous bar
brawls throughout his military career.
Sergeant
Renaude has been an authorized fighter in the SCA since 1987 and has fought in
13 Pennsic wars as well as numerous smaller melee events. Renaude remains active by training melee
fighters and teaching at the Royal University of the Midrealm sessions. Recognized for his battlefield contributions
to the Midrealm Army he was appointed to the Order of the Red Company during
the reign of Dag Thorgrimsson and Elayna Lilley. In his mundane life David Denomme is a student completing a
Master of Business degree at the University of Michigan. He interested in adapting the principles of
business communication, leadership, and organization to SCA melee combat in
order to strengthen the Army of the Middle Kingdom.
Compare Business vs. Military vs. SCA leadership:
We need to point out that SCA melee combat is a competitive
sport made up of volunteers. This fact
has a major impact on your leadership techniques.
Business –
As a leader, have ability to reward and punish based on monetary system.
Military –
As a leader, have ability to reward and punish with a wider range (up to and
including death).
SCA – As a leader, you are limited in punishment
and rewards.
In business & Military it’s a top down mandate of
command via Government or business owners, in SCA it’s reverse. Leaders are limited to only the amount of
authority the troops allow you to have over them.
The Five
Sources of Power:
Power is the
ability to influence the actions of others.
(1)
Legitimate; a leader assigned by a recognized authority.
(2)
Reward; Leader has the perceived
ability to reward the trooper.
(3)
Coercive; Leader has the perceived
ability to punish the trooper.
(4)
Referent; the trooper wants to emulate or
be more like the leader.
(5)
Expert; leader has a perceived
knowledge or expertise.
A leader often will have more than one source of power. For
example: to a green troop a midlevel commander may have varying levels of all
5, To a veteran troop they may only have 2, perhaps legitimate (appointed by
the crown) and expert (person known for their years of melee fighting).
HOW DO
YOU BECOME A LEADER IN THE SCA?
Most SCA leaders are bubble
leaders … meaning they floated to the top.
Bubble leaders are chosen by default from the group, which is to be
lead, without any formal choosing process.
TYPE OF
LEADERS:
Formal Leaders; those who are chosen by a
formal process of election or appointment.
Internally Delegated: A leader formally
selected from within a group.
Externally Delegated: A leader appointed
by a recognized authority outside of a group.
Informal Leaders: those who recognized as leaders
of a group without being formally selected.
Bubble/Natural
Leader: A leader who rose to the top through some combination of
personal traits (charisma, aggressiveness, dominant personality, bully etc.)
Technical
Leader: A leader who is recognized for their perceived skills or
knowledge (Duke/Knight, “Old Dogs”, Red Company)
TYPE OF
LEADERSHIP STYLES:
(1)
Directive: A leader who makes their
decision and communicates it to the group. He may or may not seek input from
subordinates after the decision is made. This style tends to give specific
instructions and close supervision. (Hands on leader.)
(2)
Participatory: A leader who seeks input from
his subordinates then makes the decision.
In this way a leader draws on his units knowledge and experience while
still retaining final decision making authority.
(3)
Delegative: Assign tasks and
responsibilities to subordinates and allow them the autonomy to accomplish
sub-missions or objectives on their own.
A good
leader can use multiple styles depending on the situation and mission. They may have one as a forte, but can change
as the situation dictates. If you are
leading a relatively green unit a more directive style is appropriate. With a
more veteran unit, a delegative style may work better.
Almost all effective SCA Combat Leadership takes place off the field.
(1)
Determine what is
expected of your unit.
(2)
Determine who your
immediate leader is and what he expects of you.
(3)
Determine the level
of competence, strengths and weaknesses of your subordinates, or in some cases,
who your subordinates are.
(4)
Identify your
outside resources.
(1)
Know yourself: What
are your strengths, weaknesses and motivations?
(2)
Know your troops: What are their strengths, weaknesses,
motivations and jobs within the unit?
(3)
Know your job.
(4)
Know human nature.
These are long-term goals for the
individual leader to continuously work on.
Communication:
(1) Maximum # of people to
effectively battlefield communicate with is 3 to 5.
(2) Keep your troops informed and
involved (tell them why – operant conditioning).
(3) Praise in public and
criticize in private.
(4) “Private … what’s the plan?”
Test chain of communication.
(5) After giving a person a directive have them
repeat it back to you. Do the same when you receive a directive to be sure you
have understood clearly what your leader wants accomplished.
Tools and
Advice:
(1)
A good leader is also a good subordinant. Support the
leader above you.
(2)
You have an obligation to be tactfully candid with your
leader when you feel they are in error.
(3)
Train your replacement.
(4)
Plan on troops moving up and out.
(5)
Authority verses Responsibility; authority can delegated,
responsibility cannot.
(6)
Five part operation order; who, what, where, when and why.
(7)After Action Review
a.
Have the troops describe what happened.
b.
Have the troops explain what they felt went wrong with the
action.
c.
Have the troop explain what they felt went right.
d.
Have troops explain how to do it correctly next time.
e.
Perform the task again as soon as possible.
Recommended Reading:
FM 22-100 Military Leadership, U.S.
Army
Robert E. Lee on Leadership: Executive Lessons in
Character, Courage, and Vision, H.W. Crocker III
Small Unit Leadership, A Commonsense Approach, Col.
Dandridge M. Malone, U.S.A. (Ret.)
Social Psychology, 7th Edition, David G.
Myers