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Leadership And Mentorship Analysis

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Leadership is a slippery term to define. Often people define it by listing attributes that they believe a leader should incorporate, rather than an existential definition that describes the essence of what leadership is, without regard to its application. My Definition of Leadership My definition of leadership is described by two terms: mentorship and vision. Mentorship encompasses several behaviors. A mentor must coach the junior member in both personal as well as professional development. In my capacity as a mentor I constantly ask the juniors in my charge open-ended questions such as: What is next for you? What do you want to accomplish while you are here? Where do you see yourself in the organization next year, in two years, five years, …show more content…

My distinct description of vision is that I use it to literally visualize and animate where I want our team to go. For example, I took charge of my department in January of 2016. At that time, there were few members qualified on the boats, and none were qualified on weapons. My vision for the team was to spend the next year achieving 100% boat qualifications. I painted a picture for the crew of what life would look like if everyone was qualified and they had the autonomy to get their own boat crews underway. They liked it, and one year later, we attained 100% qualified boat crews. My vision for the next year is 100% weapons qualifications. We are on our way. Leadership Influences During my Career I have had good mentors along the way. Perhaps, that is why my experience of leadership is heavily influenced by mentorship. Many of my mentors have retired, but I find new ones every day. One leader who sticks out in my memory is Chief James Bodenrader. He was my OIC when I served as OPS at CG STA Tybee Island. What I remember about him are the funny phrases he used to say to make his points: “Harv, you can’t fix stupid,” or “You can’t make sense out of nonsense, so don’t try,” or “What you all just witnessed was a situation where two chiefs did not work out their differences.” Another mentor of mine, Master Chief Dan Boe taught me “Be a chief, not a sheep.” Of …show more content…

I will ignore it when it comes up, and stamp it out if I hear it in the hallway. Most importantly, I am a man of consistency. If I tell them something one month, they can rely on me that it will be so next month. My Leadership Philosophy My leadership philosophy is reflected in who I am. Meaning I am loyal to my boss, and I use that as a demonstrable example that I hope my people will have to relate with me. They have memorized my standard which is: If it is not illegal, immoral, unethical, violates the Commandant’s policy, or the SORM, we are doing it. I have developed this philosophy over time and I have found that it produces some good dynamics. First, it lets my CO know exactly where I am coming from, and how unyielding my loyalty to the command will be, as long as the CO does not violate my cardinal rule. Second, it gives my people boundaries within which they know where it is safe to navigate and where the line exists that they cannot step over. So far, all parties involved – up, down, and sideways – like the

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