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Officers in post-cold war military operations frequently encounter situations that are not easily handled through central control and chain of command, but demand a more flexible leadership style and the ability to yield some control to subordinates. This study aims to investigate what it takes to train military leaders to master such Maneuver Warfare skills in a culture that still, unconsciously, fosters a chain of command structure.

Using a quasi-experimental pre-post design, the authors studied 30 teams of naval cadets (n = 228) in three separate Leadership Development Programs, each of 12 months full time duration. In the three otherwise identical programs, the authors varied one of the major exercises (sailing) both in duration and degree of structure and challenge. Parameters of team interaction were measured using the Systematizing the Person-Group Relation method and summarized in a construct labeled synergy.

One of the cohorts showed a significant positive effect. This cohort sailed a barque for ten weeks, crossing the Atlantic during winter storms. Apart from the clear mission of sailing the ship safely back to its home haven, they received no further instructions or training. Although the duration and the challenge likely count for part of the result, the authors argue that the lack of initial structure combined with a shared mission were more important.

Because of the cost and time involved in each program, it was not possible to independently vary duration, structure and mission. As a result, conclusions as to the reason for the greater positive effect seen in one of the programs cannot be definitively determined.

The study contributes to the understanding of the effect of unstructured situations on building Maneuver Warfare skills.

The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the role of personality hardiness in facilitating change or growth in transformational leadership of Norwegian Navy cadets following a stressful military training exercise.

Leadership styles were measured in cadets before and after an intensive leadership training exercise, and again six months later. Hardiness was measured near the end of the first academic year. Leader performance was measured with first year leader development grades.

Repeated measures ANOVAS showed a sustained increase in transformational and transactional leadership following the exercise, and a decrease in the passive‐avoidant style (management by exception – passive and laissez‐faire).

This research was conducted with a relatively small group and findings may not generalize readily to other populations.

These results suggest high hardy individuals have a greater readiness to make use of stressful training experiences as opportunities for developmental growth as leaders.

This study is the first of its kind to explore the role of a key personality variable – hardiness – to facilitate positive benefit from a real‐world training experience designed to develop better leadership capabilities. Further, it is one of few studies to identify factors contributing to the growth transformational leadership style. A strength of the study is that it was conducted in the context of a real‐world leadership training activity.