The Army’s Requirement to Build Trust: Self-Perceptions of Army Civilians Attending Army Management Staff College Courses

Abstract

At the time of the current study, leaders from a wide variety of institutions were struggling with the issue of building trust within their organizations. Army civilian leaders were no exception. Despite numerous leadership theories, Army doctrine, and two prominent annual personnel surveys, nearly one-third of Army leaders struggle with building trust within their organizations. This study investigated the extent the Army Management Staff College (AMSC) resident course students perceived they meet the Army’s requirement for leaders to build trust while attending one of the three resident AMSC courses. Additionally, the study investigated the effect of respondents’ enrollment in one of the three AMSC resident courses, the impact of prior military service, length of Army civilian service, gender, and generational status on respondents’ perceptions of meeting the Army’s requirements for leaders to build trust. The study’s survey was based on the Army doctrine’s Builds Trust leadership competency. One and two-sample t tests, and one-factor ANOVAs were used to test the hypotheses. The results indicated that AMSC students perceive they meet the Army’s requirement to build trust. Additionally, the study indicated male AMSC students’ Builds Trust Survey scores were higher than female students’ scores, but both male and female students indicated they perceive themselves as consistently modeling the build trust leadership requirement. There were no statistically significant differences related to level of AMSC course (basic, intermediate, advanced), prior military service, length of Army civilian service, or generational status. The study’s results provide evidence that AMSC students finishing one of the three resident courses perceive they are modeling behaviors that build trust as required by Army doctrine. The results of this study corroborate the Army’s approach to leadership is consistent with the body of work associated with building trust. Finally, the study expanded the current understanding of building trust as a leadership competency.