Vanguard Magazine

www.vanguardcanada.com FEBRUARY/MARCH 2023 13 Operationally effective teams trust each other, express mutual respect, and balance individual expression with the need to work together toward a common goal. Trust is that intangible currency that determines the quality of your relationship with another person. SECURITY Department of National Defence are pre- pared for an ever-evolving threat environ- ment, while also responding to Requests for Federal Assistance from provinces and territories, be it to help recover from natu- ral disasters or deliver COVID-19 surge capacity. Beyond well trained individuals and good leadership enabled by modern equipment, a healthy culture remains the main ingredient to an effective and opera- tionally ready defence. As many of you no doubt already appre- ciate, the CAF is constantly working on its readiness. Here is what we are doing. Service before self We are appealing to those Canadians who want to contribute to something greater than themselves. Western democracies have been increasingly under threat in re- cent years while authoritarian adversaries attempt to exploit fissures in our societies and create divisions. Admittedly, these be- low-the-threshold and hybrid operations would not be able to take root without some legitimacy to the grievances they am- plify and distort to the benefit of their own agendas. This is why it's critically impor- tant that Canada maintains strong, healthy, and honourable defence and security insti- tutions. Not only is it the right thing to do, but it helps to protect us from exploitation by our adversaries. Members of the Canadian Armed Forces proudly serve with distinction on opera- tions at home and abroad. The path for- ward on this trajectory relies on continu- ous improvement, making the most of our long-established learning culture. His- torically our institution has valued compe- tence above all else. While skill will always be critically important, we recognize that character and integrity are equally so – that they are not givens but rather a vital part of our selection criteria and training. The culture evolution underway within DND/ CAF will strengthen the institution overall and better reflect what is meant by service before self by ensuring the institution con- tinues to rest on a solid foundation. Identity The underlying assumption in our recruit- ment for the last century has been that every member is a warrior first and a spe- cialist in their trade second. As a guiding principle this is fine. In practice, this has translated into a psychometric admissions test, the Canadian Forces Aptitude Test, that is culturally biased in its design and a one-size-fits-all physical fitness test. The definition of warrior ultimately needs to expand beyond the historical meaning to include different types of warriors, such as those needed for electronic warfare, cyber, and information operations to name but a few. This one-size-fits-all approach is being re-examined. Leadership Great leaders value the opinions and con- tributions of others, apply emotional in- telligence in decision making, balance confidence with humility, and deliberately create conditions where members of the team can succeed. A comprehensive ap- proach to evolve our culture across all levels is underway. It is a top down, bot- tom up and horizontal approach that cuts across all commands. It requires regular reflection, assessment, and attentive lead- ership to ensure the flexibility required to learn, improve, and evolve in real time. The CAF/DND offers world-class leader- ship development and we will continue to adapt our approaches to increase effective- ness as a learning organization made up of emotionally intelligent, thoughtful, re- sourceful, resilient and ready people. Teamwork Operationally effective teams trust each other, express mutual respect, and bal- ance individual expression with the need to work together toward a common goal. Trust is that intangible currency that deter- mines the quality of your relationship with another person. Psychological safety is the extent to which you trust that you can be your authentic self with those around you. Psychologically safe environments allow people to fully engage by speaking freely and openly in teams focused on a mutually agreed outcome. To create such a foundation for a high- performance workplace, military leaders must first seek to understand before act- ing. Between October 2021 and March 2022, we listened to more than 9,000 De- fence Team members for over 430 hours, including 53 cultural dialogues with mem- bers with lived experience, veterans, and

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