Command Performance: New Technology for Assessing Direct Leadership Abilities

"To select and develop effective leaders, we need to know the personal attributes and experiences that mold them. The Army has collected extensive background information on USMA '98 cadets (BOLDS), who are nearing their final year of mandatory service.In Phase 1 we developed new leadership measures of higher order competencies--emotional maturity, strategic, tactical, and managerial tacit knowledge. The battery uses open-ended responses to: tactical military scenarios (TLAC), extended Tacit Knowledgeof Military Knowledge case studies, and components of Kegan's cognitive-emotional development interviews. All measures can be assessed and categorized using Latent Semantic Analysis, a machine learning technology that understands text. In Phase 2 theCommand Performance battery will be related to predictors in the BOLDS background data and to performance in real world settings.In Phase 2 we propose collecting: (1) Command Performance data over the Internet for a subset of the USMA class of '98, (2) objective measures of leadership, such as NTC performance, and (3) subjective measures, such as Officer Evaluation Reports, 360feedback. Using structural equation modeling and other data mining techniques, we will find predictive background variables of leadership performance and relate them to current performance. When fully developed, Command Performance will be offered by Knowledge Analysis Technologies directly to the Army as an ADL enabled leadership assessment and prediction technology. It will also be suitable for adaptation for use in other DoD branches,corporate leadership training, and educational applications such as business and public administration. The latter commercial applications will be developed and marketed by joint ventures between Knowledge Analysis Technologies and one or more of thedistance education and corporate training organizations with whom we have now or will develop arrangements. The partner's and their clients knowledge of content will be used to adapt the system, and the partner's market reach to commercialize