Leadership of Cyber Warriors: Enduring Principles and New Directions

摘要

Leadership is a core competency of the officers, warrant officers, and non-commissioned officers across the military services. A principle tenant of leadership is competence in the domain of operations. However, until recently, the defense of computer networks and the conduct of network warfare were treated as ancillary functions by the military services. The increasing cyber warfare threat against the United States, the creation of United States Cyber Command and the designation of cyberspace as a warfighting domain now necessitate study of the attributes of successful cyber warfare leaders and the leadership techniques required to successfully lead cyber warriors. In particular, we must develop an understanding of where traditional kinetic leadership paradigms succeed, where they fail, and where new techniques must be adopted. Leadership is not a one size fits all endeavor. The capabilities and characteristics of the leader and the led and the missions proposed, combined with the impact of the operational environment, all merge to create a complex dynamic where capable leaders will adapt and succeed and less capable leaders will fail. We argue that successfully leading cyber warriors takes a different type of leader, one who is comfortable in the inherently technical cyber domain, appreciates technical expertise, and understands the personality types, creativity, culture, motivations, and intellectual capability of cyber warriors. The emergence of a new warfighting paradigm and the need to adapt is not unique to the cyber domain. Leaders are products of their development processes, which sometimes becomes out of date. Colonels and General Officers of today's Army came through the ranks facing a Cold War threat.