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Army Leadership Definition

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Too often the Army seeks to solve dynamic issues through management processes while underutilizing leadership. The Army is prone to this in part because it does not distinguish between leadership and management in doctrine or practice. There has been an ongoing debate in Military review as to the relationship between command, leadership and management. In the Army, leadership and management merge into one concept. As leadership is doctrinally conceptualized in managerial terms, it limits the scope of personal power. It is difficult, if not impossible, to conduct management functions that stretch outside the bounds of a given authority. Management is important and necessary; however, leadership initiates effective and lasting change in our Soldiers. The Army’s definition of leadership is “the process of influencing people by providing purpose, direction, and motivation” (ADP 6-22, 2012). However, the Army’s, Army Doctrinal Reference Publication (ADRP) 1-02 does not include a doctrinal definition for management nor is there a definition in the Joint Publication 1-02. Merriam-Webster defines management as “the act or art conducting or supervising” (Merriam-Webster, 2017). …show more content…

I was a Field Artillery Section Chief, now put in charge of 14 Soldiers, two HUMVEEs, and a M105 MM Towed Howitzer. I was eager to take on the challenge of leading my Soldiers. In the Artillery world, there is a muzzle cover that the “Top Gun” section gets, this award visualizes to the rest of the battalion who the best gun crew is. That soon became my goal as a Section Chief. For months, I practiced with my gun crew, I would watch videos, and read our doctrine to ensure that I was leading my section down the path of victory. It took my section almost a year and a half to accomplish this collective goal of ours, and it was a prideful day when it

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