I just watched a CBC news segment on the war in Ukraine. February 24 marked one year since Russia invaded Ukraine, yet the success of the Ukraine Army in defending itself is remarkable.  

In the video, two Canadian military officers were interviewed; the second officer went into detail about Canada’s involvement seven years prior.  

Canada worked to strengthen Ukraine’s self-defense by providing training to their armed forces. Aside from gaining new skills, what this training also included was leaders learning to empower soldiers on the battlefield to make their own decisions—which proved immensely beneficial.  

In contrast, Russian soldiers needed approval from higher-ups before making decisions, which caused heavy casualties and disarray among troops.  

As we saw in the results of the war, giving frontline troops this sort of autonomy through proper training was a key factor in Ukraine’s defense.  

This same concept can be used within corporate environments: offering proper training and making sure employees feel empowered to make meaningful decisions will yield positive results.  

To ensure that front line workers understand on what to base decisions, leaders can use survey tools to identify discrepancies between management expectations and employee perceptions—this will open opportunities for more effective training which can clarify roles and responsibilities while offering guidance on decision-making authority. 

By clarifying performance expectations and ongoing training, leaders can confidently give up the power of decision making, a shift in thinking required by the Canadian Forces when they trained the Ukrainian army. 

Previously, the Ukrainian top brass’s approach was ‘top-down leadership, which they had learned from the Russians, whereas now they had to learn how to empower troops at the frontline. Giving up decision-making power does not make one weaker; instead, it builds trust and strengthens one’s role as a leader. Furthermore, it frees up time for strategic thinking.  

This is a good example of how leadership transformation through training and coaching can produce extraordinary results that surpass everyone’s expectations.   

Congratulations are due to Canada and the Ukrainian army for this successful collaboration.