Crucible Events and Their Impact on Leadership

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.

According to well-respected Evangelical pastor and author, Richard Warren, “Great leaders inspire. They maintain a hopeful attitude, even in the face of discouraging setbacks, constant criticism and abundant opposition. People don’t follow discouraged leaders. They follow those who persist with hope.” In every setting, the ultimate purpose of leadership is to influence others to accomplish a shared goal. In order to be an effective leader, one must possess certain key traits. These traits include: intelligence, self-confidence, determination, integrity, and sociability (trait approach). I am of the firm belief that some of these characteristics can be learned and developed through human interaction and experiences. This is contrary to trait theory which states that leaders are born with inherent characteristics which facilitate leadership (Northouse). In the military, there are specific personality leadership traits. As highlighted in “The Marines” documentary, these traits include tact, dependability, trust, enthusiasm, courage, and loyalty. This paper will discuss the leadership styles displayed by Marine Corps Drill Instructors and point out how the different characteristics of these styles would apply in the civilian workplace.

This paper on Leadership will compare the primary differences and characteristics between the tactical leader and the organizational leader. I will provide you with the basics for development, characteristics, and the fundamentals that help guide and influence each leader’s style and how they influence Soldiers to follow them. Leaders at all levels demonstrate their values, knowledge, skills, and abilities in many different means and methods in

Leadership goes beyond management, for some, leadership is instinctual and pours over into your personal life. This paper will discuss a leader I admire in my personal life, and analyze their leadership style. I will discuss how that leader has influenced my leadership style, as well as how things like environment and the economy affect my leadership approach.

After serving over 15 years in the Ohio Army National Guard, I have experienced many different leadership styles. Some styles have had a positive impact on both my personal life and my military life. While others, have had a negative influence. My experience with different leadership styles has taught me what type of leader I strive to be and highlights the impact I have on others as a peer and leader. These experiences helped define me as not only a leader, but as a person. I have been given the privilege of influencing young Soldiers and our future leaders. As a leader I value integrity, hard work, and service.

Having served in various leadership positions throughout a ten year military career, I can point to my appointment as a company commander as my most significant crucible experience. Although the vast majority officers prepare for this role relatively early in their career, my assignment to the position occurred abruptly, unexpectedly, and certainly imposed some traumatic qualities within my life at the time. These characteristics seem to fit Bennis and Thomas’ description of a crucible event, of which made this experience somewhat easy to identify. However, upon further analysis, I often reflect upon this experience and

Some are violent, life-threatening events. Others are more prosaic episodes of self-doubt”.2 Why I could effectively lead my soldiers to accomplish those on and on assigned missions, I concluded that my failure experience and “crucible test” are the only reason. The failure experience indicated my insufficient leadership. I always coerced my soldiers into obedience to conduct the mission while I was an incompetent commander. Nevertheless, I learned some critical elements to become a competent commander through the failure case, that is, be patient with soldiers, empowering your subordinates and taking suggestion. During the second time experience of the company commander, I knew how to deal with the thorny problems with patient and give soldiers concern. Moreover, I learned that a successful leader need to know how to delegate right works to the right subordinates and take constructive advices. In addition, those nonstop staff works flush my thought so that I resolved to reorganize my working schedules in order to meet the achievement. I knew how to do the effective staff planning to support the commander’s intention. Anyway, I have a fantastic change after the crucible

In discussion forum 9, leaders are challenged through situations of crisis and are given ways to confront those challenges which allows them to overcome setbacks and face adversity. In the book “Resilient Leaders”, written by Major General Robert Dees, he provides leaders with his personal experiences of the battlefront and home front and what he had to do in order to cope as well as overcome each situation he was placed in. Major General Dees discusses his foundational ideas on leadership in Chapters one and two. The three concepts that our group decided on are Selfless Service, Character and Risk Management.

The purpose of this paper is to discuss a Legacy Leader from whom I received either negative or positive influence from. For this paper, I have chosen a leader who left a significant negative impact on me, thus providing for me examples of what not to be as a leader. It was at Fort Bragg, North Carolina that I came face to face with one of the worst examples of leadership and negative role models I have encountered in my 14+ year Army career. The impact and impressions that MSG Smith left on me have been burned in my memory ever since. I was shown an example of how not to conduct myself when in positions of authority over others. As in all experiences, I truly believe that there is

According to Army Doctrine Reference Publication (ADRP) 6-22, “leadership is the process of influencing people by providing purpose, direction, and motivation to accomplish the mission and improve the organization”. This essay will analyze two different leaders, William Wallace from Braveheart and Ahmad ibn Fadlan from The 13th Warrior. After analyzing each leader, this essay will transition to compare the leadership lessons, concepts, perspectives, and styles I observed. Then this essay will suggest how Army leaders can employ the aforementioned perceptions to motivate others to accomplish missions and improve their organizations. Additionally, this essay will recommend specific groups within the Army enterprise that

The purpose of this paper is to discuss how my legacy leader’s use of the Army’s leadership attributes and competencies contributed to my development and leadership philosophy. When it comes to leadership in the Army there are some who are good leaders and others that need some work. Everyone at some point in their career will be in a leadership position and it is important to understand what it takes to be a good leader in the Army. Luckily for us the Army has a guide for us to use that tells us what attributes and competencies make up a good leader (Headquarters, Department of the Army (HQDA, 2012). While we are provided these attributes and competencies

The purpose of this paper is to explain what leadership style Lieutenant Colonel Yaron exhibited as the commander of battalion for the evacuation operations. This paper will give three examples of his leadership action and behaviors. This paper will also analyze the leadership style that Lieutenant Colonel Daniel exhibited and give three examples of his leadership action and behaviors. It will discuss the pros and cons of each example given. This paper will then compare and contrast the two Lieutenants and it will take a look at the interrelationship using Jung theory and the four personality traits.

By reflecting on leadership techniques and methods exhibited throughout history, a more "situational" soldier can emerge, ideally being able to: analyze a given situation, potentially compare it to any knowledge of prior situations that might be parallel in nature, and respond to it appropriately and concisely with a vast arsenal of leadership experience. In this way, qualities of character and competence become reinforced over a large spectrum of individuals within the military. The many leadership traits that George Washington has since been renowned and celebrated for are becoming standardly indoctrinated in our current generation of servicemen and women (ADRP 6-22, 2012; Harvey,

“Leadership is a combination of strategy and character. If you must be without one, be without the strategy.” This very much true statement came from General Norman Schwarzkopf, Jr., who was a Commander-in-Chief and led all coalition forces in the Persian Gulf War. It depicts that character overshadow strategy in leadership, or that strategy is not as important as character. This can be further analyzed to mean simply that it will be hard to find success in your leadership if you do not have the right character.

The purpose and the intent of this paper are to compare and contrast the leadership styles and scope of influence of two historical leaders. This paper will capture what made this historical leader effective looking at these points of interest one) Integrity, two) Knowledge, three) Sincerity of purpose and four) Care for others. This paper will also view how the historical leader influenced the lives of others in a positive or negative way. How will or has this leader been remembered in history? In my personal opinion would I consider this leader a servant-leader and how did these leaders use their communication skills gain the support for their ideas doing the time of leading others. It is the hope that the reader will be able to make a