Leadership: General James “Mad Dog” Mattis
Leaders and leadership are what an organization or group needs in order to be successful and effective. The definition of leadership according to the text is “the use of power and influence to direct the activities of followers toward goal achievement” (Colquitt, LePine, & Wesson, 2017, p. 467). Within an organization or group a leader can exhibit many different styles of leadership or a combination of styles in order to be an effective leader. While there is no true recipe on how to become an effective leader, there are some key characteristics and traits that all leaders exhibit. The emergent leader is linked to numerous traits, which are conscientiousness, agreeableness, openness, extraversion,
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Marine Corps four-star general. Gen Mattis worked his way through the ranks. After graduating from Central Washington University at the age of 18, Gen. Mattis enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps Reserve, where he would be commissioned a second lieutenant, O-1, in the U.S. Marine Corps. Throughout four decades Gen. Mattis would learn the leadership traits and characteristics that would ascend him to his current rank. Through every rank of O-1 to O-10, Gen. Mattis was placed in a leadership role where he commanded and led Marines into battle:
He led an infantry battalion in Iraq in 1991, an expeditionary brigade in Afghanistan after the 9/11 terror attack in 2001… and led all U.S. Marine Forces in the Middle East as Commander, I Marine Expeditionary Force and U.S. Marine Forces Central Command (U.S. Department of Defense, 2017, para. 2).
It takes a lot to be a leader, and it takes even more when the lives of the leader’s subordinates depend on the decisions he makes. Gen. Mattis is a successful leader because he exemplifies and lives out the leadership traits and characteristics of a compassionate and effective
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Mattis is seen as a successful leader, he like all human beings has his weaknesses. As Gen. Mattis was promoted through the ranks, he tried to stay out of the public eye and media because he felt that his main concern was the mission and training Marines. However, as general in it is inevitable to stay out of the media because many questions arise when it comes to military tactics and rules of engagement. At times Gen. Mattis has been verbally aggressive and hostile, which is consider neuroticism or negative affectivity. Neuroticism as negative affectivity is a “dispositional tendency to experience unpleasant moods such as hostility, nervousness, and annoyance”(Colquitt, et al., 2017, p.277). As a leader having low neuroticism is essential; however, when situations get tense this trait can be disregarded. For instance, Gen. Mattis has been ridiculed as a leader for saying violent and non-sympathetic words. In a interview Gen. Mattis said "Be polite, be professional, but have a plan to kill everybody you meet" (Fisher, 2010). While he is a combat veteran that has been to war multiple times Gen. Mattis has been rebuke a number of times for his aggressive and hostile nature. While these events have been displayed in media, Gen. Mattis stands by words and is not ashamed of what he
An Army Leader is able and willing to act decisively, within the intent and purpose of his superior leaders, and in the best interest of the organization. Army leaders recognize that organizations built on mutual trust and confidence, successfully accomplish peacetime and wartime missions.” (2006, P. Viii). Balance molds a leader and in turn, an effective leader is a proactive person who works a whole lot smarter. President George Bush (1997) states, “Leadership to me means duty, honor, and country; It means character and it means listening from time to time.” (Adrain, p. 35).
Leaders are look upon as role models as they guide us with their motivating, influence to accomplish tasks. There are a lot of leadership styles; when leading, it is based on the situation. When I was in the military, I encountered with many different styles of leadership. A leadership that I considered meaningful is a Transformational Leader. The transformational Leader in the military with their inspiring charisma of motivating, influence creates a visualized path that produces energetic characteristics that inhere to new changes, developments, and possibilities.; by demonstrating authority, the Transformational Leader in the military utilizes their power to inspire and motivate people into trusting and following their example; this as
There are some actions that can determine a leader’s characteristics; due to the fact that these characteristics are determined by their leader’s actions when protecting his or her comrades. A lot of leaders show characteristics toward the situations they encounter; such as being cunning to save themselves and others, showing bravery, and being loyal to other people and to himself. Leaders use these characteristics as leadership in order for him or her to solve the situations that they are currently experiencing. During real life situations, people are sometimes cunning when they are trying to solve their situations in a stealthy way. There are also some people who use the characteristics of bravery when facing their situations
Successful leadership on a battlefield can be measured in different ways. It is possible for a good, successful leader to lose a battle. Conversely, it is possible for an ineffective leader to win a battle, given the right circumstances. What distinguishes a successful leader from an unsuccessful one is his/her ability to oversee an operation using effective mission command. In ADP 6-0, mission command as a philosophy is defined as “as the exercise of authority and direction by the commander using mission orders to enable disciplined initiative within the commander’s intent to empower agile and adaptive leaders in the conduct of unified land operations” (ADP, 1).
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
“You cannot allow any of your people to avoid the brutal facts. If they start living in a dream world, it’s going to be bad.”- General James ‘Mad Dog’ Mattis. General James Mattis is a retired United States Marine Corps general. General Mattis is known for his multiple forms of wartime experience as well as his brutally honest quotes about both fighting and the Marines. Even though some may seem General Mattis as an individual solely focused on violence, he is really a man of strong morals. However as times change the generations of people which live through the decades begin to conform to the ever changing environment. Once you begin to compare generals during early American wars to generals of present wars one can begin to see the effects
Newly elected President Trump nominated Retired Marine General James “Mad dog” Mattis to hold the office of Secretary of Defense.Mattis is not your average “Jar Head” he is known for his intelligence and interest in both military and world history. He began his military career as an enlisted Marine in 1969 but became an officer after earning his Bachelors
In fact, James Mattis has a history and a reputation of being thought of as more of a loose cannon than that of a beacon of peace and order. The title of “Mad Dog Mattis” is not a term used lightly, and the origins of it are not unfounded in the least; James Mattis earned himself that name which could undermine his whole reputation to be Secretary of Defense. That same behavior which caused “Mad Dog Mattis” to come into reality could potentially disrupt the entire military, and it is that same mindset so many are fearful of as when he spoke in 2005: “Actually it’s quite fun to fight them, you know. It’s a…hoot. It’s fun to shoot some people. I’ll be right up there with you. I like brawling. You go into Afghanistan, you got guys who slap women around for five years because they didn’t wear a veil. You know, guys like that ain’t got no manhood left anyway. So it’s a…lot of fun to shoot them”. While this is something which may rally troops or help to convince of the emotional justification of fighting a war in a foreign country, in the position as one of the members of Trump’s cabinet Mattis, instead of working to raise an army, needs to be a man of not only that loyalty that he has shown through his actions as general, but additionally needs to develop something of an integrity firm enough to resist his instinct to obey Trump’s
"The president-elect is smart to think about putting someone as respected as Jim Mattis in this role," a former senior Pentagon official was quoted as saying by The Washington Post. "He's a warrior, scholar and straight shooter - literally and figuratively. He speaks truth to everyone and would certainly speak truth to this new commander in
General McChrystal had a long lineage of military leadership in his family. In 1974, he entered West Point’s US Military academy following in the footsteps of his father. US Army Major General Herbert J. McChrystal Jr., graduated from West Point in 1945. McChrystal was not known for his academic ability and received marginal marks in evaluations, however he received superior marks in leadership. His resilience and determination allowed him to overcome the adversity allowing him to become an exemplary cadet and later one of the Army’s greatest leaders.
Reserve Officers ' Training Corps on January 1, 1972. During his years of service, Mattis was known to be one of the top among his class, and with a library that
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
Many people this day and age will argue what it takes to be a good leader. Some like to look towards politics at the Presidents because they have good backgrounds, plus they lead people, but it is always wise and good to look at the leadership of people in the military. Lots and lots of people have come through the United States militaries, some of those men and women left a bigger mark than others. Military leaders and the leadership shown in the military is always respected too. Although Michael P. Murphy was an outstanding leader before he joined the military, one instance of his leadership while in the Navy will forever leave the Murphy name marked in history.
James Mattis is a hero because he shows a tremendous amount of leadership when serving our country. There is to lessons of leadership that goes for everything. The first lesson is take the time to think and reflect on what it is you are doing. Mattis said that he thinks it's crucial to be alone and think, he does this when it comes to our nation’s security. Another leadership lesson is that Mattis to read about our and other people's history and read often. He has nearly as many books as Thomas Jefferson sold to create the Library of Congress. By his knowledge look at how successful he is in life, he's been a General and Secretary of