Abstract:

Today’s world can be characterized by two divergent tendencies: tendency to globalization, to acceptance of the fact that our world is closely interconnected, and the tendency to maintain the diversity, the individuality. The Connective Leadership Model represents a leadership model designed for the era marked by the tensions between the two tendencies: interdependence and diversity, and for helping organizations and their leaders to succeed in the ever-changing world of today, to stimulate innovation and to deal with crises.

The Connective Leadership Model identifies nine leadership behavioral styles used by leaders to accomplish their goals. Although the model and its assessment tools has been used during the last 30 years in many organizations all over the world, it has never been used extensively in the military environment.

The aim of the article is to inform about the experience of implementation of the Connective Leadership method in the career development training of Czech Army officers while presenting the results of a survey conducted among training courses graduates in order to confirm the practicality of the method use in the military environment.

The article describes the connective leadership method and its use in training, which took place during the years 2019-2020, and the results of two questionnaire surveys aimed at determining the applicability of the method in leading people in the military. The first survey took place immediately after the first experience of using the method, the second one after the return of the trainees to their workplace. The results of the questionnaire surveys confirmed the assumption that the method can be used not only in a civilian but also in a military environment, that the course graduates use the method in their work and that it contributes to the development of their leadership abilities. Both surveys also disclosed in what real-life situations military leaders and commanders use the method.

Keywords:

Connective leadership, styles, training, military leaders.