Natural born leaders are almost nonexistent in today’s military. Military members have to complete numerous leadership classes as you progress through the military ranks whether you are an enlisted or as an officer. There are many attributes that people would have to possess to be considered a great leader. Some of those attributes include honesty, respect, trustworthy, and enthusiasm just to name a few. There have been many leaders I have worked with or for over my past 19 years in the Army. One of the most important one would have to be honesty. Honesty is important because if the people that work for you cannot believe what you tell them, they will never trust you or support you. Employees can make or break their supervisor. If they do not like or trust the manager they will not respect them and they will only do the least amount possible. When your employees believe that, you value their opinion and their work ethic. Like you and trust, you they will do anything you ask of them. Whether the decision is right or wrong it is a decision, a leader never want to leave their subordinat...
Part 1, The Basics of Leadership, Chapter 1 covers Fundamentals of Leadership while Roles and Relationships are covered in Chapter 2. This section describes and depicts levels of Leadership. We as a military are set apart from other non-military professions in that Soldiers must be prepared to use deadly force and have the courage required to close with and destroy the enemy. All leaders, from non-commissioned officers and warrant officers, to commissioned officers, inherently possess a great responsibility. The repercussions of decisions and actions impact the lives of Soldiers and their families. Additionally, these decisions affect the battlefield environment including enemy and non-combatants, both military and
When people think of words that describe a great leader, people often think of words such as brave, determined, fearless, and confident. However, this isn’t fully true in Tim Obrien’s book The Things They Carried. Instead of being someone that troops count on to get home safely, Lieutenant Jimmy Cross was an imitation of a hero. Horner describes a hero as a person who has “rational control over the emotion of fear or doubt; strengthen, that is of the gifted athlete and military wizard; appropriate aggression fed by a competitive spirit, full of pitch confidence to win against overwhelming odds; and utter loyalty to duty, God, country, family, and his friends are the classic hero." In the beginning, Jimmy Cross didn’t have any of these qualities
My leadership can expect a top tier performer who strives to be one of the most competent Non-commissioned Officer’s within the unit. I will do this by adhering to the regulations, unit sop’s and any other guidance which governs my section. I will ensure my soldiers do the same, holding them to strict but attainable standards and expecting nothing less. I will teach, coach, counsel, and mentor these soldiers-teaching them what a leader is and grooming them to be leaders also.
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
It takes a long time to become an effective and respected leader but can evaporate very quickly with one misstep. It needs to be nurtured and cultivated every day. My personal leadership style is to observe and correct. As a junior member, one of my Chief told me, “I don’t care how long it takes you to do a job as long as you do it right the first time because if it is wrong you will be the one fixing it.” That resonated with me because it allowed me to take risks and learn from my mistakes making me a better technician. I firmly believe one of the best learning tools is failure. His statement let me know it was all right to fail but if you do you will be learning from it. Identifying weaknesses within my leadership abilities and striving to correct them will result in being consistently looked upon a leader within our
One may wonder exactly what it is that qualities a strong leader possesses. A strong leader is determined, and strong willed. They must be of good judgment, and without bias. They cannot easily be persuaded, and they are firm, yet at the same time, a good lead must also empathize with his subordinates, and have the best interest at heart for said subordinates, at all times. However, with that being said, a good leader cannot be afraid to discipline his subordinates when necessary. Unmistakably, being a leader is a very difficult feat – one which not everyone can accomplish. A leader must be an authority, a friend and a counsellor, all at once. They must be responsible, and always take into account the disadvantages of a situation. Not everyone is suitable to be a leader, whereas, just about anybody can be a good role model.
... in any organization if it is to grow. The Air Force Professional Development Guide listed many characteristics of leadership, among these were being tough and being sensitive. This may seem like an oxymoron, but all success in life is based balance. Being tough is very important even in open communication. When someone needs advice and or direction from a leader, the last thing they need to hear is brown nosing or “fluff”. They need to hear the truth, no matter if it is not desired but almost always it is the most effective. Being sensitive is also very much needed. The PDG speaks on this subject “listen to your people, communicate with them and be perceptive to their needs”. A person needs to know that their needs are listened to and recognized. As was mentioned before, this is a two way street, this should be utilized from an airman to NCO and from NCO to airman.
Regardless of the career you choose in your life, whether it be an accountant or a Soldier in the United States Army, someone, somewhere most likely had an influence to bring you to that decision. The Army defines leadership as the process of influencing people by providing purpose, direction, and motivation while operating to accomplish the mission and improve the organization (JP, p. 1). Now imagine you are a young Private, in one of the most dangerous places in Iraq and you have constant leadership changes, and not much support from your direct leadership. I am sure at this point you can imagine, it is not the best scenario to be in. Throughout the duration of this essay you will read about Sergeant First Class Rob Gallagher and Sergeant First Class Jeff Fenlason, their leadership abilities, and the techniques they attempted to use to resolve the issues in this Platoon that was in a downward spiral after losing many leaders to the hell of war.
There are many types of leadership styles in military, however, depends on which leadership style a leader choose and how to utilize it, it will affects mission, morale, loyalty, respect, trust, and team work. There are many good and bad leaders in the military, and their subordinates are affected by those leaders. Becoming a good leader is not an easy task; it takes experience, knowledge, and able to motivate Soldiers to do things beyond their capability especially during in combat operation. Many bad leaders only care about themselves. Analyst Gillian Flynn provides a particularly descriptive definition of a toxic manager; he is the "manager who bullies, threatens, yells (Reed). These bad leaders just want to be looking good to their supervisor so they can get the
The Army spends a great deal of time making followers into leaders and leaders into followers by utilizing several levels of training throughout their military career. This training allows a Soldier to perfect the knowledge and skills required to be an effective leader in every aspect of their job. ...
There is so much that can be learned from the military that could really help in the corporate world. I was never in the military, nor do I have anyone really close to me that I could talk to. However from what I have heard and learned over the years, discipline is essential for success in the military. Not in the sense of violence, but in accountability and leaving no man behind. The military is molding people to follow and trust the orders given by those of higher ranking. When on the battlefield there is no room for error when the lives of so many men and women are at stake. Much like in the corporate world a single error can have catastrophic consequences. Molding and educating executives can create trust and breakdown barriers that have been built to keep the workers and leaders separate. Good leaders can create a sense of cohesiveness and belonging. I believe that training those who are supposed to lead and guild the rest of us need to have the understanding of what it means to be a leader. Reading this article was also really great for me to look at from a civilian's point of view. I realize that I need to be a good leader for myself as well as my family and peers. I will definitely take some of what I learned from this article and apply it to my life at home, work and
As General Dempsey states in his White Paper, “Leader development is an investment required to maintain the Army as a profession and is a key source of combat power. Leadership entails the repetitive exercise of discretionary judgments, all highly moral in nature, and represents the core function of the Army professional’s military art, whether leading a patrol in combat or making a major policy or budget decision in the Pentagon.”
I 've been fortunate enough in my Navy career to have had and continue to have great leaders whom has influenced my leadership style. The most important thing I learned was to take care of your people. You take care of them, and they will take care of you, ultimately getting the mission done the way it was vision. Occasionally there were a few bad leaders on the way, but I was still able to benefit from them by knowing what not
Leadership has many different definitions. My definition of leadership is someone who is fluid in any situation, an effective communicator, a listener, very approachable, and a motivator. A successful leader is often deemed so by how successful the people he or she is leading are. There has been many great leaders with different styles that have all been successful. I have been in the Navy for 20 years and have had the opportunity to experience a few good leaders, on top of a few that were not so good. My first Chief was a great leader in my eyes, he was very knowledgeable, direct with his message and vision for the division, and most of all he was extremely approachable. However, I have also had a CO that failed as a leader. He failed
“Leaders are made, they are not born.” Through the turbulence of the first World War, many leaders rose from the ranks of average citizens. One Medal of Honor Recipient exemplifies this quote to its fullest. Sergeant Alvin York and he experienced numerous leadership challenges throughout his military career. This analysis evaluates the techniques used by himself or others to handle his issues with discipline, the Army Values, and ability to lead others.