It Doesn’t Take a Hero Senior Seminar in Management Professor Jeffrey Cothman February 21, 2008 It Doesn’t Take a Hero In this book titled “It Doesn’t Take a Hero” (H. Norman Schwarzkopf), General H. Norman Schwarzkopf reveals his remarkable life and career. He begins his autobiography by describing his childhood and how he eventually became a leader in the U.S. Army. This type of autobiography demonstrates how a leader is developed and what is needed in order to succeed in a career as well as how to lead a life by following a motto instated by his past leaders and followers. The autobiography goes through some background and detailed first hand experiences that makes a leader think twice of why he in the situation he is in. With …show more content…
Everything just felt like if it had fallen in place at this point. He was ready to prove to himself and his father that he was focused and that he would become the best cadet ever and eventually graduate to become a well respected educated, trained and inspired leader of character. USMA (2008), a favorite expression at West Point is that "much-of the history we teach was made by people we taught." Great leaders such as Grant and Lee, Pershing and MacArthur, Eisenhower and Patton, Westmoreland and Schwarzkopf are among the more than 50,000 graduates of the Military Academy. Countless others have served society in the fields of medicine, law, business, politics, and science following their careers in uniform. (http://www.usma.edu/about.asp) At West Point he eventually adapted to all the yelling and learned how to climb the ranks and become a leader. “It was my first taste of leadership and I found I was good at it.” (Schwarzkopf, 1992) When everything was said and done, he finally graduated from West Point and he felt like if he had accomplished on of his biggest goals in life. He felt like a good son, because not only did he do it for himself but it was his fathers dream to see him graduate from West Point. This was his calling and now he knew what “Duty, Honor, and Country, “meant. He chose infantry and he was well of to his first duty station, eager and hungry for glory, just like any new West Point graduate. At
The purpose of this assessment is to compare and contrast how General Vincent K. Brooks attributes and competencies changed the military. How his encouragement contributed to personal growth and development as a leader. A West Point graduate General Brooks was the academy's first African-American Cadet First Captain, the highest position (Cadet Brigade Commander) a cadet can hold, an appointment that brought much public visibility at an early age in life. He graduated from West Point in 1980. Truly a soldier's soldier, Brooks was born into a military family that was posted in Anchorage, Alaska on October 24, 1958. His father, Leo Brooks Sr. was an army officer who would himself become a Brigadier General, his brother Leo Brooks Jr was as
Throughout my military career I have had the distinguished opportunity to work with some of the Army's finest officers. My last platoon leader in particular, LT Adams, was a major influence in my decision to pursue a career as an officer. There was always something about the way he carried himself. He was the symbol of integrity and confidence and truly lived the Army Values. With the help of his impeccable leadership I was able to achieve feats not many have. I was able to attend and graduate the United States Army Sniper School, an honor not bestowed upon many. I truly contribute my successes at that school, and others like it, to the guidance given to me by LT Adams. In coming to this realization, I now am confident and motivated to give
Later on, he was appointed to the U.S. Military Academy. He had to work several times harder than the other cadets to learn the lessons in school because of poor education when he was young. But his grades slowly increased until he graduated. He was said to have been in the upper third of his class. His military career had just begun.
This is not an easy task for him either he had a heart of a cowboy but a mindset of the military there's a saying he said you're not a real cowboy until you break a horse. Which I really don't understand but growing up to be a cowboy he learned the importance of family and your neighbors and how to respect and treat them as a kid he also grew up knowing that money was never the most important thing in life whatever makes you happy makes you happiest father always used to on this. To me I feel like this is what made him join the military because it's something he really wanted to do you know his father always told him do what you want to do and he felt like this is what he needed to
On June 28, 1972, James Richardson awaiting the subway train which would take him to work. He was stopped and ordered to “put up your hands, and get against the wall”. These directions were given by an off duty Transit Authority patrolman named John Skagen. Skagen’s actions seem unprovoked and unnecessary. After a short tussle the two men exchanged shots and Richardson fled the scene on foot. Two other officers that were on the main street above the subway station were made aware of what was transpiring below and rushed to the scene. As they approached the entrance of the station, Richardson who was fleeing the scene ran directly into one of the
As a child, Eisenhower outshined many classmates in school and received an invitation to attend West Point, a prominent military academy in New York. After joining the army, he was quickly promoted because of his hard work and dedication (The White House). Eisenhower always respected
“It’s not true that there are no heroes anymore…” (Oliver Stone SB 63) Heroes. Today when we hear heroes we think of superheroes with powers. but have we really thought what heroes really are? Heroes are your regular everyday people that work to the best of their abilities to make a difference in the world. A hero is not someone who thinks about themselves but someone who does things that they believe are right and are admired or idealized for their courage.
For as long as I can remember, I feel as though I have been raised in a military environment. At a very young age my parents taught me to value discipline, manners, and to show and treat people with respect. In addition to these ‘staples’ of my upbringing, excelling in academics and on the athletic fields was where I further grew as a leader and learned to work with others to further distinguish myself from my peers. I knew based on my priorities and values that I was different from others by not only the way I carried myself but how I spoke to my peers and elders and the respect that I commanded. Perhaps those values were aided by both my grandfather’s serving in the military and my uncle attending West Point, a graduate of the class of
Born November 11, 1885 in San Gabriel, California, General George Smith Patton, Jr. was one of the most complicated, yet greatest leaders in military history. On June 11, 1909, he attended the Virginia Military Institute (VMI) for a year and then to the United States Military Academy at West Point where he commissioned as a Second Lieutenant in the 15th cavalry Regiment. Growing up, Patton’s ultimate life goal was to become a hero and a successful leader. In Robert B. Williamson’s book, “General Patton’s Principles for Life & Leadership”, the author takes a personal account of Patton’s principles which he lived and fought for. These main principles consisted of the following: Leadership,
Leadership Development, and the desire to serve my country are two main reasons that have guided my life towards wanting to attend a service academy. Always having to ability to demonstrate great leadership has been an extraordinary part of my life. I have had the opportunity to meet past graduates, and they showed me how services academies take special pride in developing there cadets into fine young men and women. The United States Military Academy produced several people (ex: Robert E Lee, Ulysses S. Grant) who are not only prodigious leaders, but have had a tremendous impact on the U.S.A itself. Personally, I have always believed that everybody has the duty to serve their country in some sort of way. Being able to attend a Service Academy
He said that college and his home were not places he felt like he really belonged, and that he was always looking for something more than suburban life. Even after reading through all of the struggles he had to go through in the Marines, from reading about the terrain in Vietnam in Chapter Seven, to reading about the challenges at Quantico, to reading about his friends deaths, it was a bit surprising to realize that this was where he found what he was looking for. As he struggled through his feelings when he was part of the anti-war movement with President Nixon's office sending back his medals and ribbons, it made the moment in Chapter Nine where he describes his belonging in Vietnam, with his fellow soldiers, feel so much more important to him. Even though he had to go through a trial where he could have been convicted of murder, he still was able to write this book ten years later and remember his wanting to go back to Vietnam. While reading this section on p. 154, there was a sense of resolve from those feelings of unrest in the beginning. It took him going away to Japan to realize that he had made a decision that led him to find what he was looking for, and in a book where there were not many heart-warming moments, this was
In this book titled “It Doesn’t Take a Hero” (H. Norman Schwarzkopf), General H. Norman Schwarzkopf reveals his remarkable life and career. He begins his autobiography by describing his childhood and how he eventually became a leader in the U.S. Army. This type of autobiography demonstrates how a leader is developed and what is needed in order to succeed in a career as well as how to lead a life by following a motto instated by his past leaders and followers. The autobiography goes through some background and detailed first hand experiences that makes a leader think twice of why he in the situation he is in. With the prestige of having good traits, comes triumph and success. There are sacrifices that come with the
“A hero is someone who has given his or her life to something bigger than oneself” (Campbell 1). When we think of heroes most of us think of movie stars or professional athletes, but it’s not always about your popularity or talent it can also be about how you help society. What I think make a great hero is someone who is able to overcome his or her obstacles in life, is highly motivated, and has plenty of bravery.
There are many types of heroes (such as the ones in comic books, myths, movies, or even just everyday life heroes) but all of them have perseverance when they’re going through a conflict. Heroes are role models and they’re people that we look up too. They all have unique and special qualities that make one another different from each other. For example policemen battle crime everyday and when they’re overcoming a conflict they have determination, courage and other traits that people admire them for and that make them as a hero. Typically a hero is admired for their achievement/actions and qualities.
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