NCOS | NCO intermediate Leadership Course 2_2023 in Switzerland/ Neuchlen
The Swiss international intermediate leadership course is without doubt one of the most diverse and challenging leadership courses I’ve ever attended.
“If you talk to a man in a language he understands, that goes to his head. If you talk to him in his own language, that goes to his heart. …”
Nelson Mandella
Introduction
G’day I’m Warrant Officer Class 2 Neville Pace of the Royal Australian Engineers. I’m the Squadron Sergeant Major of 3rd Field Squadron in South
Australia, Australia, an Army reserve squadron. Leadership in a Multinational Military Environment, surely it can’t be that difficult, we are all soldiers, we have comradery, we are like minded, with common goals, training, and focus.
Sometimes our first thoughts might not be correct, what does it really mean to be a leader in a multinational environment, try doing a leadership course in Switzerland with 30 NCOs from 23 countries, most of who are multi-lingual and think and dream in their second or third language and slowly you’ll start to grasp the gravity of a multinational leader.
Depending on where you live multi-language skills might not seem anything special, however through my lens, an Australian who speaks one language, arguably called English its impressive.
Main Body
The Swiss Armed Forces, International Intermediate Leadership Course is run at Neuchlen Army Base, Saint Gallen in the east of Switzerland. We perceive and interpret information based on our own life experiences, in a multi-national environment the Johari Widow springs to life, the ‘sender’ may be blind to the ‘receiver’s’ background or experiences, so the message could be interpreted differently. This course, which is run entirely in English, presents a totally unique leadership training environment and experience, nothing can prepare you for the assault on your deeply pre-conceived views of life and multinational leadership. Google Translator is the course’s go to tool, candidates are punching in every word that might be new to them, translating it into their native tongue, then converting it into context and using it. Watching the students and instructors navigate their multi-lingual vocabulary to craft a sentence for the class to comprehend is a truly amazing experience, and it’s not without its humour, the classical Austrian ascent of Arnold Schwarzenegger, pops up all the time, with some classic lines, ‘I’ll be Back, and ‘Get to the Chopper..’ 😊.
The course subtly draws you into daily communication challenges which explode like IEDs in your mind, how could someone misinterpret what you said, then you realise to your embarrassment that you failed to recognise the cultural aspects of the task and have reverted to type. English is their 4th
language and the fundamentals of communication, ‘sender’ and ‘receiver’,
smashes you in the face.
Conclusion
The Swiss international intermediate leadership course is without doubt one of the most diverse and challenging leadership courses I’ve ever attended, did I learn anything new about military leadership, not really, but I’ve cracked the door being a multinational leader in a military environment.
.JPG?w=6000&auto=format)