Coast Guard Leadership Case Study

I was able to pull many leadership ideas that are applicable in both my military and civilian careers as a National Guardsman. The easiest thing to boil down in the book are the traits people wish to see in leaders, the Be. In research reported by The Leadership Challenge surveying thousands of people in business and government, four results are remarkably consistent- honest, competent, forward-looking, and Inspiring (Hesselbein 48). These are attributes that have become instrumental in identifying successful leadership and should be used as my basis. Within these traits lay four skills that every leader must acquire knowledge and mastery of; Interpersonal, Conceptual, Technical and Tactical skills. The Know. What is profoundly interesting is the authors description of civilian tactical skills "involving negotiating, human relations, and the like are often necessary to achieve objectives" (Hesselbein 52). Being able to effectively and strategically utilize key units (both in and out of the military) to achieve success falls under such tactical skills. The last portion of effective leadership I'll take with me is, Do. The biggest thing to takeaway here is that successful leaders act in three ways: "they pull together in teams…with a unified purpose, they execute to achieve results, and they lead change to leave the organization stronger than they found it" (Hesselbein 55). With emphasis on the latter part, a successful leader leaves the organization in greater health than originally

Leadership development in the military is critical to its mission and objectives. Understanding and embracing leadership will foster an agile culture and facilitate attainment of strategic goals. People desire quality leadership to assist with achieving their goals, albeit personal or professional development. Having a clear vision and the motivation to perform at high-levels influences others to work synergistically together to achieve organizational goals. Insomuch, employees value being treated respectfully, fairly, and ethically. Leaders serve people best when they help them develop their own initiative and good judgment, enable them to grow, and help them become better contributors.

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

The core leader competency ‘Develops’ is broken into four key objectives: create a positive environment, prepare self, develop others and be a steward of the profession. The behaviors associated with these objectives are essential to the successful implementation of the Army SHARP program. Creating a positive environment decreases the risks of disciplinary issues in general. When an NCO is familiar with the required reporting procedures and available support programs they can more effectively train their Soldiers in what needs to be done given a situation that requires intervention. By passing the knowledge of how to handle situations to subordinates a NCO is ensuring the next generation of leaders carry on the ideals of the profession. When all of these objectives are met the unit becomes an environment where all personnel can be assured that not only their leaders, but also their peers will be invested in their wellbeing.

The Chief Petty Officer Academy (CPOA) provides Chiefs with an opportunity to learn new ways to understand their people and themselves. By using the tools provided by CPOA and reflecting on the lessons learned I will continue to grow myself into the best possible leader that I can be for Coat Guard (CG). Our time spent here at the CPOA gives us a chance to develop ourselves like no other time in our career, but only if we buy in. The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) Assessment allowed use to learn something about personality preferences while the Leadership Practices Inventory (LPI) allows use to receive unfiltered constructive feedback form over coworkers.

Officers spend approximately seventy percent of their careers in either school or serving as a staff member exercising the science of control. With that, a mental shift is required when the officer assumes command; for most, this transition only occurs two or three times during the span of a career. The commander must now rely on his experience and judgment for he is solely responsible for the success or failure of the organization. Therefore, of immediate importance is assessing the current state of the unit, as the art of command is inherently a human endeavor with the commander as the central figure that not only guides the organization but also empowers subordinate leaders through employing the principles of mission command.

This is my personal presentation of my leadership philosophy that spans my 22 plus years of Coast Guard service. I’ve never precisely thought of who my leadership influences would be, I never felt like I could live up to the transformational leadership figures like George Washington and other notable history figures. I’ve had allot of disappointments in my life, maybe someone I did look up to in a leadership capacity that turned into a disappointment. Then again, no one is perfect so maybe my rationalization of no perfection has caused me not to have a specific leadership influence. As allot of experienced Coast Guard members know, we learn valuable lessons about raw leadership over time, with certain experiences, trials, tribulations, and the like. We all form assumptions and generic wisdom which we believe works well with those below us in the chain of command, and those above us. My opinion is that leadership encompasses everyone around us from CO-workers, to family, to people we interact with in public. I believe that true influence is a 24-hour, 7 days per week life undertaking that people that are thrust into certain positions in the Coast Guard start to assume over a long period of time. A vast number of leaders throughout military and U.S. History have inwardly reflected the subject of leadership, many have written extensively regarding their personal style, or the style of other historical figures they have looked to for an example. I feel like I am a simple person

As a Senior Enlisted Leader, developing a better comprehension of the big picture is paramount. Having in-depth knowledge of the complexities behind decisions, processes, and the totality of circumstances would be instrumental when addressing matters to the field. Furthermore, it would enhance a Senior Enlisted Leader’s ability to provide timely, complete and reliable counsel to operational and strategic leaders. Fostering the medium in which leadership and workforce can openly communicate will be

The United States (U.S.) Army has a reputation of being one of the best leadership institutes in the world. A sense of structure, organization, and a variety of unique challenges contribute greatly to producing quality leaders. However, the Army is not consistent in producing quality leaders because it does not have a comprehensive assessment and feedback system. This paper focuses on the Signal Corps Basic Officer Leader Course as a potential pilot organization to test a comprehensive leader development and evaluation system for further application across the U.S. Army. The paper reviews the essential elements of leader development evaluation, a proposed system for assessment, a practical method for gathering and analyzing data to evaluate those assessments, and potential implications for other U.S. Army organizations.

Leadership and Management are two topics studied quite thoroughly within the academic world, there is even a “suggestion that the construct has been studied more extensively than almost any other aspect of human behaviour (Higgs, 2003). It is for this reason there is research condensed into different sectors for the thesis. However, with an opening in literature for a topic that may not have been researched as much as the rest, Mike Young and Victor Dulewicz have focused their study on high-performance competencies in the British Royal Navy which stems from similarities and differences between leadership and management.

Presently, I am a tenured Fire Captain of seventeen years with vast hands-on and educational experience complementing my years of service in a variety of aspects. In such case, my three years’ experience as a CrossFit Coach, heightened my confidence and ability to interact with individuals on a more direct and personal level through hands-on instruction and listening while engaging individuals at their specific level of performance. Subsequently, my passion for teaching in this aspect has revealed new lessons in leadership and communication through coaching. Moreover, I possess a positive and unique leadership skill set comprised of strong moral values, work ethics and a passion for effective communicate with my superiors, peers, and subordinates.

Secondly, as the Marine Executive goes on to pronounce, that although natural gas engines look good from an emissions standpoint, the creation of new electric systems are allowing the diesel engines of the industry to remain competitive and viable options. Caterpillar is currently at the forefront in the field of diesel electric propulsion and increasing the power efficiency in comparison to traditional direct-drive diesel systems. Where in traditional diesel systems the engine is connected directly to the propulsion line, in electric propulsion systems, the engine is connected to an electric generator. From here the power is then relayed through a switchboard, transformer, frequency converter, electric motor and, ultimately, the propeller

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.

In today’s context of the fast-paced and ever changing workplace, the most successful leaders are those who face new challenges with current and relevant solutions. The most successful approach to the current demands is to train and develop leaders into coaches. Leaders who coach can balance employee concerns with people performance and the goals of the company. This type of leadership can cultivate an organizational culture that is highly motivated and higher performers. A coaching culture blurs the hierarchical chain of command and replaces it with a stronger informal network of increased performers who communicate

Coaching has existed since the emergence of human beings. Since ancient times, older people with richer experiences guided nascent individuals and taught them how to hunt, fight, etc., so that they could become effective, useful, and powerful in the community in which they belonged. Even in the 21st century, coaching begins at birth; parents are our first coaches, who teach us how to do things in a certain way and show us what is right and wrong. Then, teachers become our coaches by motivating and directing us toward becoming more effective and successful at what we do. Ultimately, we become an adult and join an organization, and then our bosses and managers become our coaches.