Total Volunteer Force: Lessons from the US Military on Leadership Culture and Talent Management

Tim Kane analyzes the strengths and weaknesses of the US armed forces leadership culture and personnel management. He proposes a blueprint for reform that empowers troops as well as local commanders. Kane’s proposals extend the All-Volunteer Force reforms of 1973 further along the spectrum of volunteerism, emphasize greater individual agency during all stages of a US military career, and restore diversity among the services. The Leader/Talent Matrix-an analytic framework Kane develops in the book-offers a multidimensional view of an organization’s personnel practices. A survey of hundreds of veterans and active-duty troops reveals world-class strengths in the US armed forces leadership culture but a wide array of weaknesses in talent management. The Total Volunteer Force returns autonomy to the army, navy, air force, and Marine Corps. Kane offers an array of reforms to improve performance evaluations, create a talent market for job-matching, and revolutionize compensation to better reward merit and skill.