My Philosophy in Leadership
In a never-ending process, a military leader must gather a series of qualities that will allow him to exercise the mission with honor. Different leadership has told me in my military career that at the top of a leader’s priorities; protecting national sovereignty and ensuring the security of all citizens of the land must come first. Loyalty, duty, respect, selfless service, honor, integrity, and personal courage are among the essential values a military leader must uphold and exercise daily. At the squad level, all those traits are vital, but one of the most practical yet unused one is humility. When I think of a bad leader, many flaws come to mind, but the one that stands out the most is the lack of humility.
Once displayed during leadership roles, lack of humility will deteriorate the morale of the troops and will question your soldiers’ confidence in you as leader. My entire leadership style is based on humbling myself and placing my soldiers needs before my own. Coming up in the ranks, the first two years to be exact, my leadership lacked humility by expecting nothing but greatness from the platoon and neglecting all soldier’s needs. When things did not go as planned, the leadership in
…show more content…
When I became an NCO, I listened to my soldiers and I made sure their voices were heard up the chain. When your soldiers see that you are willing to take risks for their well-being, those same soldiers will go beyond of what is expected of them to execute any tasks given by you. Your subordinates will make sure you as leader, get the recognition and praise you deserve. A good leader is humble, and he can realize that he has not walked alone on the road to success. I always make sure everyone in my team is recognized by their efforts, regardless of how minuscule it may
Selection of Soldiers happens in many ways. Leaders look for Soldiers who ready to advance to the next rank. The Soldier needs to seek self-improvement through three domains; institutional, operational, and self-development. Soldiers prove this by peer and leader assessments. A leader must be able to challenge a Soldier to better themselves as well as others in the self-development domain.
A good leader needs to know how to handle certain situations and if they don’t then they need to know how to use the tools and people around them to get the task done efficiently and effectively. When serving you need to know how to handle any situation thrown at you while also being able to listen to those put in charge of
a. “The day soldiers stop bringing you their problems is the day you have stopped leading them. They have either lost confidence that you can help them or concluded that you do not care. Either case is a failure of leadership” (1) This is my favorite of Colin Powell’s leadership Principles. I have been in the Army long enough to realize that Soldiers of any rank superior or subordinate rely upon those they can
Through the past 11 years that I have been an enlisted Soldier, I have seen the value of leadership and the effect good and poor leadership can have on Soldiers and
Added to the supervision and oversight of their daily duties, I as a leader am there to help, guide and give that listening ear when needed in whatever capacity. Ensuring that they are aware of all the military and or personal options, and opportunities that are available to them are taken advantage of. Progressing in their careers and a clear path for their future is another aspect of my leadership philosophy that I hold first and foremost. No junior soldier that has passed through my path, whether they have been assigned to me or just work under the same command/unit has not gotten the three infamous questions that I have come to ask throughout my career: 1. What are your goals in life?
Over my twenty-year career, the core aspects of my leadership philosophy have been constant while other parts evolved with me, as I changed jobs and responsibilities and while I matured and gained new perspectives. Mahatma Gandhi said it best, “You have to be the change that you want to see in the world.” In keeping with the military’s practice of conducting after action reviews after military exercises, I hope my written leadership philosophy will become a contract to keep me in check and ensure I “walked the talk.”
1. My philosophy of leadership is about collaboration and teamwork. Respecting and treating everyone the same, is key to supporting a good team atmosphere. I believe when a leader puts effort and care into assisting others, then their peers and followers will naturally want to support them. It is also important for a leader to recognize, that advocacy must never become so important that the critical elements of leadership are neglected (e.g. policy enforcement, command support, etc...).
Among these five characteristics; military expertise, honorable service, trust, esprit de corps, and stewardship of the profession, I believe that military expertise and stewardship of the profession are the two characteristics that make a leader excel in the presence of their peers. ADRP 1 defines military expertise as, “Military expertise is the design, generation, support, and ethical application of land power, primarily in unified land operations, and all supporting capabilities essential to accomplish the mission in defense of the American people”. In order to gain trust from your subordinates for them to follow your guidance, a leader must have military expertise. Without being an expert in your field, subordinates will not trust your guidance provided unto them. ADRP 1 defines Stewardship of the Profession as, “Stewardship is the responsibility of Army professionals to ensure the profession maintains its five essential characteristics now and into the future”.
Canadian Philosopher Matshona Dhliwayo once stated, “The real power of a leader is in the number of minds he can reach, hearts he can touch, souls he can move, and lives he can change.” As a leader, especially a leader of Soldiers, it is critical to understand your subordinates. There are instances where you will lead diverse groups, and your method of approach to a situation can contradict the values and morals of a different person. If you decide to not recognize and accept these different beliefs, then it can be very dangerous, as people will decide not to follow you. Instead, if you accept these beliefs, not only will you being getting a greater understanding of different beliefs, but you have the capability to inspire, motivate, and earn the trust of your subordinates.
Proper respect will bring pride in Soldiers which in turn strengthen the organization. 7). Micro Management In my Army life so far I had lots of good and bad leaders. I have always respected leaders who let us have control over our small section and held us accountable for it.
Leaders must apply the Army Values when leading soldiers because of the fact that it builds trust and a bond. The same goes for the soldiers, in order for them both to work as an effective team and to get the mission done efficiently they both must live by these values. Once these values are integrated in a soldier’s lifestyle, it becomes too easy to work as a unit. An example on how loyalty and respect fits in a day to day to situation would be, a soldier witnessing a misunderstanding with his or her team leader and a higher ranking NCO, the soldier knows that his or her team leader is in the right. The soldier shows loyalty by standing by their team leader and shows respect by approaching both their team leader and the higher ranking NCO with tact to explain the situation from their understanding and what they witnessed.
A lot can be accomplished just in how we talk to each other. As a leader, I will talk to you, not at you. Take your position seriously - whether you are new to the Army or a senior leader- your role is important and adds great value to the overall mission. I’m a firm believer in doing your absolute best at all times; don’t aim for substandard. Remember that it is okay to ask for help, it is okay to not know something, but you should always be striving to learn and improve.
Be aware of who is above you in your hierarchy structure. It helps avoid going outside of your chain of command and to eliminate any potential obstacles you may come into contact with. If at any time you feel your current leadership is not helpful or causing more problems than usual, you should ask to be lead by someone else who better suits you. The Army defines leadership as “Influencing people by providing purpose, direction, and motivation while operating to accomplish the mission and improving the organization.” Douglas McCarther says "A true leader has the confidence to stand alone, the courage to make tough decisions, and the compassion to listen to the needs of others.
From my point of view , Leadership has more to it than I can possibly imagine. I define leadership as the art of enabling a group of people get to a specific destination. As a leader your main focus was to enable your followers lead theselves. As i think deeper i realise a person cannot choose to be a leader. I think a lot of the time people take on leadership positions without knowing.
Military leadership is the process of influencing others to accomplish the mission by providing purpose, direction, and motivation. Another significant aspect of emphasized by the army is charisma. Therefore, army strategy to have a great leader is to choose people with high charisma since follower are always drawn to leaders with charisma. By having a high charisma they can command the follower easily. The basic task of a leader are: achieve the mission with zero fatality.