Abstract
The Army condensed the word “leadership” into an acronym to reflect the Army’s value (LDRSHIP) loyalty, duty, respect, selfless service, honor, integrity, and personal courage. As I reflect on my personal leadership philosophy, I will define leadership from three different version; the dictionary, the Army, and my personal definition. I will discuss in my own opinion what makes a great leader as well as identifying ways that the Army can benefit from having good effective leaders. When discussing the topic of leadership, it is important that we take a look at rank structures, position, principle, moral values and beliefs. It is also important that we take a look at some of the topics that arises when it comes to leadership. Topics
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What makes an Army Leader and what defines their leadership? Is it the rank or position that a person holds inside of the organization or is the moral value, principle, or belief that a person holds? Leadership plays a very vital role in our organization and can be defined in several different ways. The dictionary defines leadership as the action of leading a group on people or organization. The Army defines leaderships as the process of influencing people by providing purpose, direction, and motivation to accomplish the mission and improve the organization. My personal definition of leadership is the desire to mentor, coach, teach, motivate and develop a person or persons in both a professional and personal …show more content…
However, does that make that individual and effective leader? In my personal opinion, I think that an effective leader is a person that has the vision to build trust and share knowledge as an effort to impact, influence and inspired another individual in order to gain great results. The Creed of the Noncommissioned Officers also speaks about knowing your Soldiers and placing their needs above your own. The Army as a whole also preaches about the influence of leader knowing their Soldiers and the impact that is has on reducing the number of Suicide attempts or deaths. At least 22 Soldiers dies from suicide each day and research has shown that majority of the Soldiers that commits suicide has never deployed. In my personal opinion I think one of the ways to reduce the suicide rate is leaders getting to know their Soldiers so that they have a better chance of picking up on any issues, changes, or problem that a Soldier may have even when it’s not verbally spoken. Another issue that the Army once faced is Soldiers being considered as weak when they seek help or advice from behavioral health. I think over the years, the Army has improved a lot with this and Soldiers are more likely to seek professional help if they are having a mental issue. This is because leaders has stepped up and supported these Soldiers, letting them know that we are here with you and we will
Secondly, military leaders tend to hold high levels of responsibility and authority at low levels in our organizations. Finally, and perhaps most importantly, military leadership is based on a concept of duty, service, and self-sacrifice. We take an oath to that effect.” There is no formula for leadership, as great leaders have different leadership styles. When discussing military leaders and what makes them great examples of success, their personalities range from flamboyant and daring to reserved and cautious in battle.
Dwight David Eisenhower (1955), the 34th President of the United States, gave an explicit definition of leadership, “The job of getting people really wanting to do something is the essence of leadership….” The Army, like any other civilian organization, defines different levels of leadership depending on a size of a unit a leader is in command of. Tactical and organizational leaderships are two first interconnected levels of leadership in the Army. Both levels of leadership have many commonalities regarding duties and responsibilities; yet they are very different in the way the leaders develop themselves, train, and take care of their soldiers.
What makes a leader? The Army defines leadership as providing purpose, direction, and motivation while accomplishing the mission and improving the organization. I believe the Army created the definition, competencies, and attributes based on leaders of the past. MAJ Richard D. Winters, I believe, is one of those leaders. MAJ Winters is known for his command of Easy Company, 2nd Battalion, 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment of the 101st Airborne Division during WWII.
All soldiers, especially leaders, are highly recommended to keep a certain set of values that radiate throughout the entire U.S. Army. They are challenged to keep them near and dear to their hearts and to define and live them every day. A leader is one who takes these challenges serious and abides by
In the military we look for leadership in different forms from many people starting from the Private to the Commander of the unit. Leadership will build the trust of a unit through positive moral or it could break a unit with low morale. Leadership as the ability to influence a group toward the achievement of a vision or set of goals (Robbins & Judge, 2009). I as Soldier I get to observed leaders at their job and
According to Business Dictionary.com, leadership is defined as the individuals who are the leaders in an organization, regarded collectively. It also can be define as the activity of leading a group of people or an organization or the ability to do this. Leadership involves the establishing of a clear vision, sharing the vision with other so that they will follow willingly, providing the needed information, knowledge, and methods to realize the vision and coordinating and balancing the conflicts interests of all members and stakeholders.
Leadership is contagious throughout the world and most importantly in the Army. It is not just my view, but of all leaders, at all levels, that organizations are responsible for setting conditions that lead to long-term organizational success. As I reflect on my experiences, through experience and observation, I realize how my values, beliefs, and perspectives about leadership continuously evolve over time. Recognizing these changes over time helps me better understand that people in organizations have different perspectives in life. This leadership narrative serve as important guiding principles for how I will lead at the organizational level and represents my thought, values and beliefs.
Introduction According to the Oxford Dictionary, a leader is defined as “the person who leads or commands a group, organization, or country” (Oxford Dictionaries, 2013). Though there is a definition for what a leader is, people still have different ideas about what a leader should be and how he or she should act. There has never been a concrete idea of what a leader is; the only thing we know is that this person is the one in charge of the unit. We look at characteristics of those people we see as leaders and use those attributes to compare other people to see if they are able to be as good as, or even better than, those aforementioned leaders. We have to keep in mind that in different situations, leaders must do different tasks which indicates the need for different qualities.
Anyone can tell a soldier what to do, but a good leader can show, direct and motivate their soldiers how to do so.... ... middle of paper ... ... The responsibility of being a leader is a 24 hour, seven days a week job that we all love to do.
As an officer in the United States Army, it has been imperative for me to understand every facet of leadership and why it remains important to be an effective leader. During this course, I have learned some valuable lessons about myself as a leader and how I can improve on my leadership ability in the future. The journal entries along with the understanding of available leadership theories have been an integral part of my learning during this course. For all of the journals and assessments that I completed, I feel it has given me a good understanding of my current leadership status and my future potential as a leader. All of the specific assessments looked at several areas in regards to leadership; these assessments covered several separate focus areas and identified my overall strengths and weaknesses as a leader. Over the course of this paper I will briefly discuss each one of these assessments and journal entries as they pertained to me and my leadership.
The Webster Dictionary defines leadership as an office or position, the capacity to lead, the act or an instance of leading (Merriam-Webster, 2011). Leader is defined as; a person who directs a military force or unit, a person who has commanding authority or influence (Merriam-Webster, 2011). The Army defines leadership as the process of influencing people by providing purpose, direction, and motivation while operating to accomplish the mission and improving the organization. (Department of the Army, 2006 pg 1-2)
A definition of leadership from the Management Study Guide (MSG) says that leadership is a process by which an executive can direct, guide and influence the behaviour and work of others towards accomplishment of specific goals in a given situation. (Brown,A. 2014)
What is leadership? In the words of Merriam-Webster, it is the power or ability to lead other people. To me, leadership should be defined as the following: a person or small group of people with the ability to get another group of people motivated to work together towards a common goal for the betterment of the entire organization, team, etc. A leader is someone who can get other people united and motivated to work together efficiently seeking a common objective. This self-defined idea of what leadership is has presented itself to me the last five years in my summer job.
What is leadership? Leadership is defined as a process by which a individual will influence others to obtain goals. Leaders will guide, direct motivate, or inspire others. Leadership is defined by not only traits but actions as well. Leaders are inspirational, trustworthy and charismatic. Many people may think a manger is leader. Although leadership and management go hand in hand, they are not the same. Everyone has their own beliefs about what characteristics an effective leader should have. To me, communication skills, critical thinking skills, and having a vision are few characteristics of becoming an effective leader. A leader is not only born, but made. Some are born as leaders or some are made to be leaders.
Many people believe that leadership is simply being the first, biggest or most powerful. Leadership in organizations has a different and more meaningful definition. A leader is someone who sets direction in an effort or task and influences or motivates people to follow that direction. The power point presentation explains leadership is the influence that particular individuals exert on the goal achievement of others in an organizational context.