Military leadership psychology: theories, principles, competencies
Authors: Leshchenko Serhii , Prykhodko Ihor 
Published: December 2024

The study deeply analyzes the military leadership phenomenon in the context of current challenges, in particular the russian-Ukrainian war. The essence of the concepts “leadership” and “military leadership” is disclosed, the volume and content of multi-variant definitions of each of these concepts are compared in tabular form. Socio-psychological views on the meaningful-semantic picture of leadership are highlighted, their interference relationships has been revealed and a comparative table of various-scale theoretical constructions (that is, individual epistemological organizations) of understanding comprehension of this phenomenon has been constructed according to the following methodological scheme: g e n e r a l – life situations and behavioral theoretical systems, s p e c i a l – transactional, unpredictable circumstances, the life cycle of leadership, functional-psychosocial and integral-psychological theories, s i n g l e – transformational, force and influence, the great human, personality traits of the leader, emotional, distributed and indirect leadership concept, s p e c i f i c – followers theoretical leadership model. During the reflexive consideration of these theoretical constructions, their essential features in the intellectual projection on the specifics of military service-activity are generalized, in the process of preparing for which and the psycho-content course of which require a well-established actualization and, finally, a complete formation of a special range of personal features-qualities and subject-individual characteristics of the military, which determine his behavior, thoughts and emotions in different life situations that establishes understanding and effective development of leadership as a unique phenomenon, where the intellectual, emotional, social, motivational components of the inner world are intertwined with the civic maturity of the performers, that is, with the level of their education, professional competence, to perform military tasks, the ability to be responsible not only for their behavior, but also for the actions of subordinates, with the desire to work to achieve the goals of the organization’s power structure. It is proved that the role of psycho-individual features in leadership is comprehensive and contains, firstly, such basic characteristics as temperament, character, intelligence, emotional intelligence, motivation and values; secondly, different leadership influence on decision-making, taking into account personal resources and opportunities; thirdly, a certain way of interaction between the leader and the team, depending on his communication skills, ability to motivate and delegate authority; fourthly, the ability of the manager to adapt to rapid changes, especially his flexibility, creativity and openness to the new; fifthly, personal resistance to stress, first of all in a crisis, when the leader must remain calm and confident, which requires a high level of emotional stability and self-regulation. It is reasoned the combination of three approaches or channels for the development of leadership features-properties of military personnel, namely innate (genetic), general-cultural and professional socialization. The central conceptualizations of the research problem field are defined: leadership as a process, social impact, group interaction and as a joint purposeful activity. Conceptual-semantic operation with the terms “leadership” and “military leadership” gives them the instrumental weight of similar in content, but different in volume and systemacy component-by-component relations, worldview concenters. Thus, the first comprehensively describes the diverse context, goals and risks with the optional hierarchical approach, sometimes lack of responsibility and flexible management framework. The second concenter generalizes competent, situational and purely professional approaches, emphasizing the importance of both high consequences of military activity, which can lead to a complete failure of the mission and the loss of subordinate personnel, and a clear hierarchical construction of the life of one or another power unit, which requires discipline from subordinates, absolute responsibility, dignity, self-regulation in the time-space of relevant structural limitations. The p r i n c i p l e s of military leadership of domestic and foreign scientists are considered in detail, their explanatory advantages and interpretation limitations are singled out. At the same time, it is emphasized that the latest achievements in the field of psychology allow the commander to more deeply understand the processes of managing subordinate personnel, to develop effective strategies and models of leadership in a dynamic world, where the professional competence of the soldier plays an important role, which makes it possible for him to perform high-quality service-combat tasks as intended. It is substantiated that military leadership has its own unique features that distinguish it from other types of leadership in the specifics of military service, which requires a high level of discipline, responsibility and ability to make quick decisions in conditions of stress, danger, uncertainty. The exceptional importance of an integrated approach to the study of the military leadership psychology is stressed, covering the analysis of theories, principles and competencies necessary for the personnel to successfully perform the most complex military tasks.