“75% of the time I feel like I’m in a meat grinder, and 25% of the time I feel like a rock star.”

—New cadet describing his first summer at West Point

Have you ever wondered what makes a good leader? Ever had a job where you were dependent on other people to do their part in order to complete a project? Would you like to be a better leader yourself? In this chapter, we’ll pay a visit to one of the foremost leadership training institutions in the country, the US Military Academy at West Point, New York. We’ll take a look at how hardiness impacts on the cadets’ performance in this high-stress environment and in particular on their performance as developing leaders. We’ll also look at how hardiness helps cadets to survive in this crucible of stress and stick with it to graduation. As it turns out, we’ll also see how hardiness can help you to persist through difficulties and become a better leader.

While serving as a US Army psychologist, one of us (Paul) had the opportunity to live and work at West Point for a six-year tour of duty. Founded in 1802, West Point is the nation’s oldest military academy. It is nestled in the hills along the beautiful Hudson River valley, just about an hour’s drive north of New York City.

As a faculty member assigned to the Department of Behavioral Sciences and Leadership, I had daily contact with cadets as students, advisees, and research participants. It was a unique opportunity to learn firsthand about the life, challenges, and stress of being a military academy cadet.

Welcome to West Point

The cadet experience begins in late June on R-Day, or Reception Day, when the new cadets are issued uniforms and equipment, and are marched to the barber shop for haircuts. Next comes a grueling seven weeks of summer field training known colloquially as “Beast Barracks,” a reference to the beastly conditions the new cadets face there. Days are long and strictly regimented, with intensive physical and military skills training. About 2–3% of cadets drop out sometime during this period. For those who survive, the training ends with a 12-mile road march with full backpacks.

For the next four years, cadets must balance their time carefully to meet the daily challenges in three main areas: academic, military, and physical. With each passing year, they are given more leadership responsibilities. The pressure to perform is often intense, with little room for failure or time off. It’s not a surprise then that by the time of graduation four years later, most West Point classes have lost about 20% of their original members.

I arrived at West Point with my family in July of 1997, right in the middle of summer training for the newest class that would graduate in 2001. We watched as these young men and women would run by our quarters, hot and sweaty and bending under the weight of full combat gear. Often, an upper-class cadet would be running alongside, yelling encouragement mixed with taunts.

Later, we sat near the finish line outside the superintendent’s quarters by the main parade field, as the new cadets completed their final 12-mile road march. This is one of the few times they are allowed to see their families for a brief period. Many family members came out to welcome and cheer on their sons and daughters. Thinking about those who didn’t make it, I felt there was an important research question here. What separates those who make it from those who drop away? Based on my earlier research with hardiness and performance under stress, I suspected hardiness might be part of the answer.

Becoming Leaders

One of my first duties at West Point was to help manage a long-term research project that was tracking a single West Point class over time, from entry to graduation and beyond. The central question was: what accounts for the development of good leadership skills and performance in these young men and women? While good leadership is recognized as important for success in many walks of life including the military, it has proven devilishly difficult to predict who will make a good leader and who will not. An advantage at West Point is that there are several well-developed methods for measuring effective leadership, based mainly on supervisor and peer ratings (U.S. Corps of Cadets, 1995).

In trying to predict good leadership outcomes, West Point has historically relied mostly on cognitive measures like SAT scores and high school GPAs, as well as sports and leader activities in high school. Of these traditional measures, only college entrance exam scores (SATs and ACTs) have shown much power to predict either leadership performance at the academy or who makes it to graduation. This led us into several studies seeking to find other factors, including personality ones, that might explain who will survive and thrive in the demanding environment of West Point.

In one such study, I tested several cognitive and noncognitive (personality) measures to see which, if any, might predict leadership performance while at the academy (Bartone, 1999). Cognitive measures included logical reasoning, problem-solving, a spatial intelligence mental rotation task, and also entrance exam scores that cover both verbal and math abilities. The personality measures included an earlier version of the Hardiness Resilience Gauge, social judgment (the ability to size up and react appropriately in social situations), a measure of values orientation, and several scales to measure what are known as “Big Five” personality factors (emotional stability, extraversion, agreeableness, openness, and conscientiousness).

Leadership was carefully measured using military performance grades received over the entire four years at the academy. These grades are based on supervisor ratings that are heavily weighted towards leadership skills. Leadership ratings are made on the following performance areas: influencing others, consideration for others, planning and organizing, supervising, delegating, decision-making, developing subordinates, teamwork, and communication skills.

Results showed that college entrance exams and hardiness were the strongest predictors of leader performance, followed by social judgment, traditional values, and the Big Five factors of extraversion (dominance), emotional stability, and conscientiousness (work orientation). Here was compelling evidence that cadets who are high in hardiness are able to thrive and develop as good leaders in the tough West Point environment.

Additional studies with cadets further confirmed the importance of hardiness in leader development and performance. For example, when following up on a class of cadets about four years after graduation, their hardiness scores as cadets predicted adaptability and performance as young Army officers, as rated by their bosses (Bartone, Kelly, & Matthews, 2013). This was a quite rigorous study, in that hardiness was measured shortly after the cadets arrived at West Point, while leader performance was assessed about seven years later when they were junior Army officers. So, hardiness was found to be a positive factor that helped cadets develop into more effective and adaptable leaders.

In another long-term follow-up study, a survey was mailed in 2002 to all graduates of the class of 1998, about four years after graduation. This survey also included an earlier form of the Hardiness Resilience Gauge, as well as measures of transformational leadership, general health, and career intentions. Results showed that hardiness was the strongest predictor of current health, as well as intentions to stay in the Army for a career (Psotka, Bartone, & Legree, 2005).

It turns out that hardiness is also correlated with transformational leadership, a style of leadership marked by consistency, persistence, concern for individuals, and the ability to inspire and motivate others (Bass, 1985). In addition, hardiness-commitment was strongly related to intentions to stay in the Army. Thus, cadets high in hardiness are more likely to continue a career as Army officers, and are developing into more effective leaders at the same time.

In yet another follow-up study on a larger group of cadets, we applied multiple regression statistical techniques that let you evaluate several variables simultaneously to see which if any are having the greatest impact on performance grades. Here, military leadership grades for the entire four years served as the outcome variable, and men (N=989) and women (N=152) from an entire West Point class were looked at separately.

Of all the variables entered into the analysis, hardiness turned out to be the strongest predictor of leader performance for men, and even stronger for women. Other predictors were transformational leadership style for both sexes, extraversion for men, and agreeableness for women (Bartone & Snook, 2000). This study provides further hard evidence that being high in hardiness is an advantage at West Point, especially for female cadets. These findings spurred us to wonder how hardiness might be working for the women cadets in particular at West Point.

Women at West Point

As a result of congressional action, West Point started to admit women for the first time in 1976. That first class included 119 women. Of those, only 62 (52%) made it to graduation four years later. These young women had a tough time and faced frequent resistance and harassment from male cadets, and even some faculty who disagreed with the new policy. Since then, the percentage of women at West Point has risen to about 20%, or around 240 per class.

While women are more accepted today in the Corps of Cadets, they still face many hurdles. They are required to meet all of the same requirements as the men in academic, military, and physical performance (physical standards are aligned with those of the Army, which maintains somewhat different standards for women). And women cadets are still a minority in a population of mostly men.

Considering the extra stress that West Point women face, it made sense to explore the role of hardiness for them in particular. So, we ran several studies looking at how hardiness might be operating as a stress resilience factor for the female cadets. The first interesting finding to emerge was that as a group, female cadets are higher in overall hardiness than their male counterparts (Bartone & Priest, 2001). This is not a huge surprise and is most likely the result of a self-selection factor. That is, only women who are higher in hardiness decide to apply to West Point in the first place, knowing that it is going to be a challenging and difficult experience.

Despite their higher levels of hardiness, women cadets still report higher levels of stress and more health symptoms than men. The higher stress levels most likely reflect the additional challenges of having to survive and perform in what is still a strongly male-dominated environment. Interestingly, however, stress was correlated with symptoms only in female cadets who were relatively low in hardiness. In other words, being high in hardiness protects female cadets from stress related health problems. Also, the high-hardy female cadets received better leader performance grades, despite their higher stress levels. It seems clear then that for women operating in the stressful environment of West Point, being high in hardiness gives an advantage, helping them to stay healthy and perform better as leaders.

Who Drops Out? Hardiness and the Ability to Persist

One of the leadership qualities that is valued at West Point is the ability to persist, to stay with a task and see it through to a successful finish. And as mentioned earlier, about 20% of each entering class drops out somewhere along the way. Given the links between hardiness, leadership performance, and health in cadets, we wondered if hardiness might have a positive influence on a cadet’s ability to stick with the program through all four years. Well, in a series of studies conducted at West Point, hardiness did prove to be a robust predictor of who stays through to graduation and who drops out.

In one of the first looks at this question, colleagues at West Point and I tracked the class that entered in 2004, through their cadet basic training and first semester of classes. Over this early stressful six-month period, about 9% of cadets dropped out, or 108 out of 1,223 (Kelly, Matthews, & Bartone, 2005). Results showed that being low in hardiness-commitment was a significant predictor of attrition in this group. In contrast, tests used routinely in the admissions process, such as college entrance exams and high school class rank, did not predict who dropped out.

After this intriguing finding, we wanted to see if it was a fluke, or if it would hold true for other cadet groups as well. So, we looked at all the cadets who entered West Point over a five year period, from 2001 to 2005. The results were even stronger this time and consistent across all five classes (Kelly & Bartone, 2006).

As you can see in Figure 13.1, cadets who dropped out during the first summer of basic training were significantly lower in overall hardiness levels and in the three hardiness facets of challenge, control, and commitment.

Of the cadets who survive the first summer of basic training, not all of them make it to graduation four years later. All told, only around 80% of those who begin West Point as freshmen complete all four years. This isn’t too surprising, considering everything that cadets have to do. The academic program is one of the country’s most demanding. Failing just two courses usually leads to dismissal. In addition to academics, cadets also spend part of each day in physical and military training activities. Every cadet is required to play a sport and maintain high standards of physical fitness.

But perhaps the most difficult part of West Point involves the military training. From the very first day, cadets must dress precisely in military uniform and abide by an extensive set of military regulations. They learn to march, fire weapons, and survive in the field. Summers are spent in more advanced military training, including attending Army parachuting (Airborne) and helicopter (Air Assault) schools. As they become upperclassmen, cadets are given increased leadership duties and are responsible for training and mentoring juniors cadets. The daily schedule is tightly regimented, with long days often running from 6:30 a.m. to midnight.

On top of all this, cadets are frequently sleep deprived. One study found that cadets were getting less than six hours of sleep per night during the academic cycle (Miller, Shattuck, & Matsangas, 2010). Without question, the four-year West Point experience is a very challenging one for the cadets.

In order to see if hardiness also predicts which cadets will stick through the program all the way to graduation, we did another study, this time looking at four West Point classes that graduated in 2005, 2006, 2007, and 2008 (Kelly & Bartone, 2005). By combining classes like this, we obtained a larger number of subjects for the study, in this case 4,895 cadets. With more subjects and multiple classes, results are more reliable and less likely to be affected by chance.

Here again, hardiness turned out as a highly significant discriminator, with graduates showing higher hardiness levels compared to the dropouts. So, the answer is yes, cadets entering West Point who are high in hardiness are more likely to survive the program all the way through to graduation four years later. And they also perform better while there. Our research found that across these four class cohorts, hardiness was a strong predictor of military performance grades over the entire time at West Point. So, hardiness is a valuable resource for cadets in managing the stressors of life at West Point, helping them to stay healthy and grow into more effective and adaptable leaders. So what does the hardy cadet look like?

Portrait of a Hardy Cadet

During my years at West Point, my family participated in the cadet sponsorship program, which matches up cadets with local families that they can visit on weekends. Our “adopted” cadets would come over to our quarters on Sundays, eat a home-cooked meal, watch TV, and more often than not catch up on some sleep. Through this program, and also as a faculty member, I got to know many cadets quite well. Many of our conversations revolved around the difficulties and challenges they were facing at West Point, as well as in their own families.

Cadet Vincent Martinez was a Plebe (freshman) when we first met through the sponsorship program. His parents lived in Texas, where they’d moved from Puerto Rico before he was born. A somewhat shy, short kid with a winning smile, Vince was a regular at our house on Sundays. He was endlessly curious to know about our own travels and Army assignments and seemed to soak up information like a sponge.

Despite this, he struggled a bit academically, while excelling in his military and physical training courses. He quickly found himself in leadership roles in his cadet company, where he discovered he enjoyed helping younger cadets to master the various tasks and requirements of military training at West Point, whether that be packing a rucksack or rappelling down a cliff.

As I got to know him better over the coming years, Vince impressed me as being quite high in hardiness. He enjoyed new experiences and challenges, which was one of his main reasons for enrolling in West Point. He described this as a good way to know himself better and what he was capable of. And when he failed at something (plenty of this as a cadet!), he would try to break it down and see what he could change to do better the next time. This shows hardiness-challenge. He also wanted to be a role model and leader for younger cadets, by showing them how to deal with failures in a constructive way.

Vince also had a strong sense of hardiness-control. Despite the regimented lifestyle and daily schedule, he always believed that his ultimate success or failure would be the result of his own decisions and not a matter of luck or “bad breaks” or some higher authority. When he saw that he was in danger of failing his Systems Engineering course, he sought out extra help from a cadet tutor in his company. In his junior year he suffered a knee injury on the obstacle course, which prevented him from running. So, he took up cycling with the cadet bicycle team to maintain his physical fitness. He was in charge of his own destiny.

Finally, Vince was clearly high in hardiness-commitment. He was always interested and curious about the world around him, at West Point and beyond. Even seemingly trivial tasks like packing a ruck or learning to recite “cadet knowledge” (e.g., how many gallons of water are there in Lusk Reservoir?) were seen as meaningful, because they were part of a larger, important enterprise. He was curious about himself, wanting to understand and improve himself as a person and an officer.

Vince wanted to build his skills and competencies and was confident in his ability to grow. And he likewise was committed and engaged with his social world, his fellow cadets, friends, and family. His peers rated him as the most effective leader in his company, the one they turned to for advice. Vince graduated in the top 10% of his class and went on to serve with distinction as an Army infantry officer, and later in the Medical Service Corps.

Beyond West Point

Of course, West Point is not the only college that has a problem with students dropping out before graduation. In fact, according to the National Center for Education Statistics, up to 40% of students who begin a four-year college program in the US never finish. And this dropout rate is even worse for black and minority students (National Center for Education Statistics, 2019). If hardiness is related to retention and success at a college like West Point, might it predict success at civilian colleges as well?

The answer appears to be yes. For example, in a multicollege cooperative study, students higher in hardiness were more likely to persist to graduation at Ithaca College, East Carolina University, Mississippi State University, Elon University, Pacific Lutheran University, and Texas A&M University (Lifton et al., 2006). According to the study’s main author, the colleges planned to use these results in order to provide low-hardiness students with special training and support to help them build their hardiness attitudes and make it to graduation.

Making Yourself a Hardy Leader

The West Point research confirms that hardiness—commitment, control, and challenge—facilitates healthy coping and also helps in growing effective leaders. So, what can you do to improve yourself as a hardy leader? Many of the points in the previous chapter on hardiness coaching techniques can also be applied to yourself. Now take a moment, and ask yourself a few questions about your own leadership approach:

Commitment

• Am I doing a good job communicating our mission, what we’re doing, and why it’s important? What are some other things I might do to reinforce this message?
• Do I show a personal interest in those I’m leading? Do they have a sense that I’m interested in their welfare and advancement?
• Am I fair in allocating rewards and responsibilities?

Control

• Am I open to feedback from employees, subordinates, and team members? Do I let them know that their input is valued?
• In setting tasks and responsibilities, do I allow employees, subordinates, or team members some level of control and autonomy over the details on how to get the job done?
• Have I done enough to assure the team has the resources needed to do the mission?

Challenge

• Am I setting a good example when it comes to changes? Do I show my subordinates that I’m willing to take some chances and try new approaches?
• How do I react to mistakes and failures? Do I berate and punish those responsible, or try to turn it into a learning experience?
• Am I willing to allow my subordinates, employees, and team members some variety in work assignments, routines, and schedules?

While every situation is different, if you find that any of these points apply to you, then you’ve got some pathways to focus on that will improve your effectiveness as a hardy leader. In the next chapter we’ll zoom in on some of the ways that stress can make people sick, and how hardiness can help to keep you healthy.