Mission command a crucial leadership approach for Chicago’s Belt Railway
5/20/2021
By Jeff Stagl, Managing Editor
Many people believe the U.S. military still relies on command and control to carry out missions. Under such a command, orders are made at the highest level and then carried out verbatim from the top down by a designated individual or individuals to accomplish a common goal.
But since 2003, the U.S. military has employed mission command, a decentralized execution approach. A commander first tries to understand a problem and then clearly states an intent to subordinates, understanding what they are capable of and trusting them to solve the issue. Mission command’s three basic principles are commander's intent, mission-type orders and decentralized execution.
Given that mission command can help bring speed and greater momentum to an organization, the Belt Railway Co. of Chicago (BRC) has embraced the leadership approach. BRC President Mike Grace began to implement it in mid-2018 shortly after taking the reins at the nation’s largest intermediate switching terminal railroad, located in Bedford Park, Illinois, near Chicago.
Although he has no military experience, Grace learned about mission command at the tail end of his 38-year career at Norfolk Southern Railway prior to joining the BRC. NS Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer James Squires provided Grace a mission statement that mentioned the leadership approach.
Grace then researched mission command and found it intriguing. It’s a way to determine what and why something needs to be done, while enabling a leader to remain focused on realizing a company’s vision and empowering subordinates to determine solutions. Mission command helps better align teams and fosters autonomy and ownership among subordinates, who tend to become more passionate, creative and focused on objectives as a result.
“It resonated with me,” says Grace. “There are lots of opportunities for efficiencies that come up, but you don’t always look at them or find ways to capitalize on them, so opportunities get bypassed.”
The BRC — which manages more than 300 miles of switching tracks at its large Clearing Yard as well as 28 miles of mainline track — continues to chip away at mission command, which can be difficult to master.
Located on the boundary between Chicago and Bedford Park, Illinois, the 786-acre Clearing Yard features more than 300 miles of switching tracks.Credit: The Belt Railway Co. of Chicago“It’s an evolution and not a revolution,” says Grace, who’s not aware of any other railroads that employ the approach.
So far, supervisors have responded well to the autonomy and additional responsibility they’ve obtained. The BRC continues to provide leadership training that in part helps managers better understand mission command, says Grace.
“You identify there’s a problem and then trust that your people will come up with a solution,” he says. “You get a better way to slice through a loaf of bread.”
For example, the BRC of late has been experiencing issues with stalls at the hump, which are being caused by locomotive failures or other factors. Electricians, shop foremen, transportation department managers, the yardmaster and others recently arranged a meeting to discuss the problem.
“I didn’t attend the meeting like I normally would. Let them talk about it and come up with solutions, and then brief me on it later,” says Grace.
It didn’t take mission command long to pay off after Grace implemented it three years ago. At the time, bypass coupler issues were causing derailments or damage to rail cars, so he relied on the approach to come up with solutions.
“We determined we needed to straighten the hump lead, which was causing problems,” says Grace.
The BRC since has logged a significant decrease in coupler events.
“It’s made a world of difference,” Grace says.
Now, he’s hoping the approach continues to pay dividends. As the military found, mission command isn’t just about leading, it’s about winning missions — if one fails, people could die.
In the business world, including the rail industry, objectives might not be met because of miscommunication, poor execution or an uninspired workforce. And such mission failures might mean people are fired or profits are lost.
