TLS7: The Leader’s SMARTbook, 7th Ed. is the seventh edition of The Leader’s SMARTbook, completely updated for 2023. TLS7 focuses on gaining the human advantage and leadership as a dynamic of combat power (FM 3-0, 2022), developing leaders, and training, the most important thing the Army does to prepare for operations. Topics and chapters include Army leadership and the profession (ADP 7-0); developing leaders (FM 6-22); counseling, coaching, and mentoring (ATP 6-22.1); Army team building (ATP 6-22.6); training to fight and win (ADP 7-0 / FM 7-0 / FM 7-22); planning & preparation: training guidance, meetings, schedules, briefs; executing training events and exercises, holistic health & fitness (H2F); training evaluations, assessments, and after action reviews.
Download a free PDF sample and learn more at:TLS7: The Leader’s SMARTbook, 7th Ed. (Leadership as a Dynamic of Combat Power)
Intro: Leadership as a Dynamic of Combat Power (FM 3-0)
Combat power is the total means of destructive and disruptive force that a military unit/formation can apply against an enemy at a given time. It is the ability to fight.
Leadership is the most essential dynamic of combat power. Leadership is the activity of influencing people by providing purpose, direction, and motivation to accomplish the mission and improve the organization. It is the multiplying and unifying dynamic of combat power, and it represents the qualitative difference between units.
The human dimension encompasses people and the interaction between individuals and groups, how they understand information and events, make decisions, generate will, and act within an operational environment. The will to act and fight emerges from the complex interrelationship of culture, emotion, and behavior. A human advantage occurs when a force holds the initiative in terms of training, morale, perception, and will.
Chap 1: Army Leadership & Profession (ADP 6-22 w/Chg 1)
War is a lethal clash of wills and an inherently human endeavor that requires perseverance, sacrifice, and tenacity. Enduring the physical hardship, danger, and uncertainty of combat requires an Army that is professionally committed and guided by an ethic that motivates and guides its forces in the conduct of missions, performance of duty, and all aspects of life. Leadership is the activity of influencing people by providing purpose, direction, and motivation to accomplish the mission and improve the organization. Leadership as an element of combat power, coupled with information, unifies the warfighting functions.
Chap 2: Developing Leaders (FM 6-22)
Army leaders are the competitive advantage the Army possesses that neither technology nor advanced weaponry and platforms can replace. Developing leaders is a complex and complicated undertaking because it is primarily a human endeavor—requiring constant involvement, assessment, and refinement. Today’s Army demands trained and ready units with agile, proficient leaders. Practices include recruiting, accessions, training (including coaching, teaching, mentoring, fostering and advocating self-development), education, assigning, promoting, broadening, and retaining the best leaders, while challenging them over time with greater responsibility, authority, and accountability.
Chap 3: Counseling, Coaching, Mentoring (FM 6-22 / ATP 6-22.1)
Leaders have three principal ways of developing others. They can provide knowledge and feedback through counseling, coaching, and mentoring. Counseling is central to leader development. Good counseling focuses on the subordinate’s performance and issues with an eye toward tomorrow’s plans and solutions. Coaching is a development technique used for a skill, task, or specific behaviors. While a mentor or counselor generally has more experience than the person being supported does, coaching relies primarily on teaching and guiding to bring out and enhance the capabilities already present. To help leaders acquire the necessary abilities, the Army relies on a leader development system that compresses and accelerates development of professional expertise, maturity, and conceptual and team-building skills. Mentoring is a developmental tool that can effectively support many of these learning objectives.
Chap 4: Team Building (ATP 6-22.6)
The Army relies on effective teams to perform tasks, achieve objectives, and accomplish missions. Building and maintaining teams that operate effectively is essential. Team building is a continuous process of enabling a group of people to reach their goals and improve their effectiveness through leadership and various exercises, activities, and techniques.
Chap 5: Training to Fight & Win (FM 7-0 / ADP 7-0)
The Army trains to fight and win. To do this, the Army trains by developing proficiencies in mission-essential tasks, weapon systems, and the effective integration and employment of both. These components of training readiness provide the backbone to the development of unit readiness—the Army’s first priority.
Chap 6: Planning & Preparation (FM 7-0)
Planning in the training management cycle aligns prioritized training tasks with resources over time. The commander plans training one echelon down and ensures training two echelons down is evaluated. Commanders establish the unit’s training battle rhythm to integrate and synchronize training activities, meetings, briefings, conferences, and reports.
Chap 7: Executing Training (FM 7-0 / FM 7-22 H2F)
Execution is the implementation of the long-range training guidance. It is the deliberate and purposeful accomplishment of each training event’s training objectives. Executing increasingly challenging training events to the prescribed standard builds the training proficiency required to achieve designated mission-essential task proficiency levels. It also develops increasingly capable, confident and lethal Soldiers, leaders, and units.
Chap 8: Evaluation & Assessment (FM 7-0)
All training is evaluated. Evaluation is the observation of performance measured against standards. The commander relies heavily on evaluation results when assessing proficiency. Evaluations can be executed using internal or external assets. The evaluation of training occurs during the execution phase of training events as well as during the planning and preparation phases as leaders continually find ways to improve unit tactics, techniques, and procedures. Additionally, leaders use evaluations as opportunities to coach and mentor subordinates.
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