IMPLICATIONS FOR ORGANIZATIONAL LEADERS AND UNIT COMMANDERS

 To be effective team builders, organizational leaders and commanders must be able to identify and
interact with both formal and informal teams, including—

• The traditional chain of command.
• Chains of coordination directing joint, interagency, and multinational organizations.
• Chains of functional support combining commanders and staff officers.

Although leading through other leaders is a decentralized process, it does not imply a commander or
supervisor cannot step in and temporarily take active control if the need arises. However, bypassing the
habitual chain of command should be by exception and focused on solving an urgent problem or guiding
an organization back on track with the leader’s original guidance