I became the command sergeant major of the 10th Mountain Division on March 22, 2020. I was ready to become the best division command sergeant major ever, and I was excited to build and lead the professional development program for senior NCOs at both Fort Drum, New York, and Fort Polk, Louisiana.

The debilitating effect of the coronavirus and my own lack of imagination derailed my hopes of becoming a legend in the realm of leader development. I write much of this with a renewed sense of humility.

I thought I had leader development all figured out and simply had to keep doing the same things that had been well-received and impactful in previous assignments. I struggled to see myself and initially did not solicit feedback from my subordinates. My approach and professional development plan needed a complete redesign.

My initial plan for the 10th Mountain Division mirrored how I approached the professional development of my subordinates since I was a platoon sergeant. I had not changed my approach or even read Army Regulation (AR) 600-100: Army Profession and Leadership Policy, or Department of the Army Pamphlet 600-25: U.S. Army Noncommissioned Officer Professional Development Guide. I suspect many senior NCOs had also been “too busy” to read the Army regulations and educate themselves.

I certainly failed to educate myself, yet possessed a false sense of confidence that I was ready to educate, train and inspire senior NCOs across two Army installations. My approach was flawed from the start.

Infeasible Concept

The 10th Mountain Division’s NCO Professional Development (NCOPD) program initially involved master sergeants and above. This included company, battery and troop first sergeants, operations sergeants major, battalion command sergeants major and brigade command sergeants major. My vision was to execute a two-hour NCOPD event each quarter. A combination of the coronavirus and the division’s operational tempo made my plan infeasible from the start.

The pace of a division is merciless, with combat training center rotations, combat deployments, live fires and administrative events that directly support the readiness of the division’s 19,000-plus soldiers. I found it impossible to bring 300-plus NCOs together for an NCOPD event on a quarterly basis. The division leadership planned, resourced and scheduled these professional development sessions; however, we never got more than 40% of the intended audience together due to competing requirements and organizational missions.

The content of the NCOPD itself was flawed, as I had the grandiose idea to divide the program into tactical discussions and administrative and garrison-type problem sets. The program was not progressive, and the topics did not complement each other. I struggled to measure the effectiveness or impact of our NCOPD.

After personal reflection and mentorship from the XVIII Airborne Corps’ command sergeant major, I concluded that my NCOPD was more about doing something I could boast about than it was about creating a truly impactful, measurable professional development program. AR 600-100 encourages leaders to provide a “deliberate and continuous process of education, training, and experience that prepares Soldiers and Army Civilians of character, competence, and commitment to perform present and future duties in accordance with the Army Ethic.”

Redesign Process

While the coronavirus left a swath of physical suffering and isolation, it also provided me with a period of reflection to redesign the NCOPD program. I began by hitting the books: AR 600-100; Army Doctrine Publication 1: The Army; and ADP 6-22: Army Leadership and the Profession. I also expanded my reading list to non-Army books such as Simon Sinek’s Start with Why: How Great Leaders Inspire Everyone to Take Action and The Infinite Game; Malcolm Gladwell’s Outliers: The Story of Success; and David Epstein’s Range: Why Generalists Triumph in a Specialized World.

After reacquainting myself with doctrine and opening my mind to thoughts and ideas from folks outside the military, I was determined to better understand the 10th Mountain Division. This required logging thousands of miles in my vehicle and on foot, going to every corner of the division to observe and listen. These visits were unannounced and always included lengthy discussions with company, battery and troop first sergeants.

I made five two-day trips to Fort Polk from Fort Drum to avoid flight challenges brought on by the coronavirus. I met with privates and brigade commanders alike, and in the process, I got to really understand the 10th Mountain Division. Armed with this knowledge and information, I developed a new concept and program.

Smaller Groups

First, I decided to limit the audience to staff sergeants major and to battalion and brigade command sergeants major. I directed brigade command sergeants major to create effective professional development programs for master sergeants and first sergeants. Division leaders created a detailed one-week onboarding program for new first sergeants. We redesigned the first sergeant/company commanders course, which I deemed critical to the company leaders’ professional development. I wanted the course material to be a uniform standard across the division.

Following discussions with the sergeant major of the Army and the XVIII Airborne Corps’ command sergeant major, I published a comprehensive memorandum outlining the objectives for the 10th Mountain Division’s NCOPD. More importantly, I synchronized the NCOPD program dates with the division’s long-range calendar. I also scratched the idea of bringing all leaders together at one time. Instead, I conducted individual and small-group sessions with all 84 command sergeants major and sergeants major.

I learned from earlier failures and decided to conduct NCOPD sessions with each battalion-level command sergeant major and their operations sergeant major. I left it up to the battalion command sergeant major whether to include company-level first sergeants based on their availability.

We used physical training time to begin a 120- to 150-minute discussion. I repeated these discussions with different battalion- and squadron-level leaders each Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. This approach helped me really get to know every command sergeant major and sergeant major, and they got to know me. We focused on building cohesive teams through mutual trust, a key Mission Command principle.

Wide-Ranging Discussions

I also changed the content of my professional development program and discarded the idea of speaking about tactical subjects. Although tactical decision-making was within my comfort zone, we concentrated on issues affecting the division and how we could professionally develop leaders to take care of those problems. These discussions ranged from barracks management, to suicide prevention, to retaining the most talented soldiers.

The best example pertained to barracks management and quality of life. Rather than talk about barracks inspections, I spoke about barracks management and emplacing and understanding systems across the enterprise. From my initial walk across the division, I found that over 50% of washers and dryers were not functioning properly, or at all. I understood this as a first sergeant issue, as they “own” the barracks.

In turn, I found that the majority of first sergeants did not know how to provide the quality of life in the barracks that soldiers deserve. I identified a gap of experience and knowledge between the command sergeants major and the first sergeants. Therefore, barracks management and systems became a major part of my professional development focus.

Looking Back

The verdict is out on whether I made an impact, but a few tangibles materialized from my approach. I was able to meet with every command sergeant major and sergeant major in the division each quarter. I got to know every one of them individually, to include their backgrounds, families, wants and desires, and they got to know me.

I was not only able to deliver my NCOPD in a personal manner, but I also was able to coach and mentor every one of the battalion-level sergeants major and above. I also learned a lot about the division and myself in these engagements.

Our barracks and dining facilities improved; however, the division’s greatest outcome was in increased retention numbers. Soldiers with the 10th Mountain Division knew their leaders cared about them.

I am not claiming that NCOPD was the major contributing factor for the 10th Mountain Division going from the bottom division in weekly Army retention reports to No. 3 the day I departed.

 I can claim that the combined efforts of all, and a solid professional development program embraced by leaders in the division, played a tremendous part in retaining superb soldiers in the division.

The biggest lesson I learned was humility. I had to stop believing in my own legend and my rendezvous with destiny.

Instead, I had to take a good look in the mirror, hit the books, reeducate myself, listen to subordinates and develop sustainable, meaningful programs and outcomes that made the division better.

Command Sgt. Maj. Mario Terenas, U.S. Army retired, is deputy director of the Association of the U.S. Army Center for Leadership. He retired from the Army in September following a 32-year career in the infantry, with his final assignment as command sergeant major of the 10th Mountain Division and Fort Drum, New York.