Analysis Of Donovan Campbell 's ' A New York Times Bestselling Author

The intention of this paper is to introduce my leadership philosophy. I will start off defining leadership as well as explaining my leadership philosophy. I will then share a summary of an interview with a Squadron Commander about a difficult situation that he needed to use his philosophy to work through and analyze how my philosophy applies to the same situation followed by a brief summary.

Leadership is, and always has been, a vital aspect of social and economic constructs. It is essential to the survival of societies, industries, organizations, and virtually any group of individuals that come together for a common purpose. However, leadership is difficult to define in a single, definitive sense. As such, theories of leadership, what constitutes a great leader, and how leaders are made have evolved constantly throughout history, and still continue to change today in hopes of improving upon our understanding of leadership, its importance, and how it can be most effective in modern organizational cultures.

Being any type of leader is never easy. The job comes with endless responsibilities including, but not limited to, taking care of your subordinates, getting the job accomplished, maintaining unit cohesion, all while keeping your superior leadership happy. Because of these reasons, we find both good and bad leaders everywhere. While Simon Sinek’s book Leaders Eat Last is not completely centered on the military, everything he says about leadership all relates directly to something in the Army Leadership Requirements Model.

Leadership can be viewed in many different ways and possess many different qualities. There are courageous leaders, respectful leaders, terrible leaders, and seemingly insignificant leaders but leaders nonetheless. But what is it that differentiates between a strong leader and a weak leader, or a powerful leader and an insignificant one? Is it the qualities in the leader or the decisions they make in key situations that define good leadership qualities? Some would define a good leader by their ability to do the right thing even if it is not the easiest choice. Others might define a good leader as one that possesses great integrity and leads by example. The military possesses many great leaders through a process of development and molding individuals to meet expected leadership qualities like honor, courage, commitment and integrity to accomplish any mission or goal. However, this process doesn’t always create the desired effect. So, let’s examine some good and bad examples of leadership qualities and break down what and how we can emulate them.

There are a variety of ways to define both leader and leadership. There is not, however, a clear definition of how to become one. There is no set list of mandatory traits, either innate or learned, that a person must embody to be considered successful or proved a failure. What I feel it takes is the right mix of strengths and weaknesses in a given situation to demonstrate effectiveness. No one person has abilities without accompanying deficiencies. It’s all in the way they are balanced. The balance in the way one uses his or hers’ abilities will ultimately determine the type of leadership one has throughout time. To support these claims I will examine a well-known leader throughout the military, General James “Mad Dog” Mattis. This essay

Throughout my life and my military career I have experienced various leadership styles, from civilian employers to military Officers and Non-Commissioned officers alike. Each had their own approach to leadership, some I found to be effective and others I did not. I have attempted to create a leadership philosophy based on a fusion of the leaders I have encountered and my own personal experiences.

A leader I admire, whether real-life or fictional character from the television, the movies or a book, will be identified. Leadership theories will be used to evaluate my selected leader to determine what characteristics and leadership abilities helped this leader become successful. I will also include an evaluation of my own leadership style and identify what my individual leadership characteristics are. The plan will be developed to improve my leadership style based upon the findings of my chosen leader’s leadership style compared to my own.

“Leadership is the process of leaders inducing followers to act for certain goals that represent the values and motivations, the wants and needs, the aspirations and expectations of both leaders and followers” To be able to do this, a person must come up with their own leadership philosophy. Throughout this paper, I will tell you the leadership philosophy I will have for my organization. I will explain how I came up with this philosophy. Also I will tell what leadership traits, and characteristics that I believe are important for a leader to possess and how they apply to my leadership philosophy for the success of my organization. In conclusion I will summarize my interview with a squadron commander about their most challenging issue and

Leadership can be defined in many different facets. To me the definition of leadership is, “Displaying the ability to inspire and empower others through the example of one’s own self actions”. Too many times we hear, “Do what I say”, instead of, “Do what I do.” A successful leader’s actions speak louder than words ever will. My first day in the Coast Guard following boot camp graduation, I experienced firsthand on how a leader should not act nor conduct themselves. Though alcohol was the main contributing factor on what occurred that evening, looking back, it was more of the lack of maintaining our core values that ultimately resulted in that Chief losing the title as Chief of the boat and being forced to retire.. That moment left a negative impression on me and it took a horrific car accident that landed me in the office of whom I consider as my most influential leader I have had in my career. Master Chief Richard Wolfe was someone that led by example. He helped broaden my vision and let me see my own potential. He always inspired me to not only better myself, but ensured that I challenged myself to learn something new each day. He would often say, “Challenges are just opportunities in disguise”, and it wasn’t until I advanced to Chief Petty Officer to truly understand what he meant. Far too often we get caught up in the present instead of focusing what is on the horizon and that is how complacency becomes the new norm.

Our guest speaker, Colonel Thomas Clark, USMC (Ret.), gave a speech about leadership. Mr.Clark attended The Citadel, The Military College of South Carolina for his undergraduate degree and master’s degree. Mr.Clark obtained his undergraduate degree in Computer Science and Mathematics, and his master’s degree in Project Management with a certification in Technical Project Management. He served 30 years in the Marine as a fighter pilot where he obtained a colossal amount of flight time hours. Mr.Clark served in Iraq and many other wars throughout his career. He also loves being a student, solving puzzles, and a christian. On the first day of class, he ran into Dr.Skipper downstairs before class had started; Dr.Skipper told him, “You are my challenge.”

Throughout history our country has had many leaders. Whether you’re the leader of a business, military platoon, or the leader of our great nation you were withheld with the honor and trust to govern the actions and best interests of fellow Americans. But just because you have achieved the title of a leader does not by default make you a good leader. A good leader is a person who has risen above and beyond to show cooperation, perseverance, and respect to decisions made by those still above you at one point in time. “As a seasoned member of the military, you’ve risen through the ranks because you understood your mission and performed your duties with distinction. At this stage of your career, your most important contribution may be how well you take care of the service members and

According to Fast Company, humility sounds as though it leads to failures in real life. People wrongly assume that someone who is humble has low self esteem, or that they are weak and timid. However, the opposite is shown to be true. The article The Power Of Humility In Leadership written by David J. Bobb from the Fast Company says ¨The truth is that no one is naturally humble. Becoming humble, in fact, is an arduous process. ...humility issues a warning against flying too high.¨

People with humility are more open to new ideas and able to engage in an accurate self-assessment and accept the idea that there is something larger than oneself. Even though some believe that humility can be perceived as a weakness for a leader, researchers have argued in favor of humility in leadership (Nielsen, Marrone, & Slay, 2010). As the authors continue to argue that humility can prevent excessive focus on the self, allowing leaders to develop a perspective on the relationships with employees. Therefore, when employees refer humility to their leaders, they also perceive the leader as more honest, trustworthy, competent, and confident. Accordingly, the employee of a humble leader should be more committed to the leader’s vision and more trusting and

Beginning in boot camp and continuing throughout my career, I’ve seen the Coast Guard promote the leadership model to be: “You” influencing “Others” to achieve a “Goal”. With all the different ways leadership can be defined, this simplistic model which has been permanently engrained in my thinking definition still rings true for me. As such, when defining my own personal definition of leadership, I align it to this same model. More specifically, while I support the fact that leadership involves influencing others to achieve a common end I propose that is not the whole story. Leaders must not be stagnant in their vision and must lend themselves to the possibility they may have to adjust their leadership styles depending on the goal. The best leaders are the ones that understand their own personality traits as well as those traits of the people they are trying to lead.

James Kouzes and Barry Posner, the authors of The Truth About Leadership: The No-Fads, Heart-of-the-Matter Facts You Need to Know uncover statistical and informational facts about leadership that would benefit those seeking knowledge and those seeking informational skills needed to be a better leader. This book is full of information that would benefit not only the new leaders but also the seasoned ones that are willing to learn. Kouzes and Posner combine years of experience and statistics to back up what they are conveying in this book. As they gathered their data regarding leadership, they discovered that there were 10 patterns that kept emerging as the truths about leadership. I will attempt to bring to the reader the 10 patterns or concepts regarding great leadership.