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Leadership Philosophy Of The Coast Guard

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Subj: LEADERSHIP PHILOSOPHY 1. Leadership is the measure of one’s ability to influence others to work to achieve a goal. I say that it is the measure of one’s ability because, a leader will always be judged and when described, will normally have an adjective prior to the word leader. Some examples are: He was a good leader or He was a horrible leader and could not lead ants to a cookie crumb. Influencing people is the primary purpose of a leader. To influence people, one must realize that every person is different and has their own motivating factors. In order to know what a person’s motivating factors are, a leader must know his people. Though, in this course it is said that the Coast Guard has leaders and managers, I would argue that to be a leader in the Coast Guard, one must also be a manager. A good leader could lead a group of people right off of a cliff, but should be able to manage the situation, circumstances and resources, so as not to lead his/her people off of the proverbial cliff. This can be seen in Leading Chiefs that do not manage their personnel allowance list (PAL), leading their unit into a very unnecessarily difficult transfer season. 2. During the course of my career, through two armed services, I have been influenced by numerous leaders. I can say, with absolute certainty, that everyone is an example. Not all of those examples are good and those can be the best form of influence. An example of what not to, do or be, can be more valuable than gold.

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