Leadership Skills And Abilities Of The Finest Chief

For my interview, I interviewed a peer who is a squadron commander at Grand Forks Air Force Base, ND4. He stated his most challenging leadership issue came about early on in his command. Within the first six weeks of his command, seven of his Airmen failed their PT tests. One of these failures was an Airman facing a medical evaluation board due to several back surgeries. The commander states he was sympathetic to his situation but he had to remain tough since it was

You can ask ten different Soldiers what an Army leader is, or what they believe a good Army leader is. It will not matter the rank, time in service or the maturity level of that Soldier because more than likely you will get ten different answers. Everyone has their own opinions on what an Army leader is, or what they believe a good Army leader is. By definition leadership in the Army is the process of influencing people by providing purpose, direction, and motivation to accomplish the mission and improve the organization (ADRP 6-22, 2012). There are three leadership competencies that make an Army leader; leads, develops and achieves.

The path to a personal leadership philosophy is made up of three parts. Each individual aspect is a facet of a complete whole. Much like a timeline that includes a past, present and future, my personal philosophy consists of a foundation, action, and growth. If you do not understand where your foundation of leadership came from, you will have problems acting in a leadership capacity. Also if don’t pay attention to how you are acting as a leader you cannot know in what ways you need to grow. Why should I spend the time and effort in developing myself as a leader? The Gunner’s Mate rating has a strength of just over 600 members. Maritime Force Protection Unit Kings Bay has 31 Gunner’s Mates assigned to it. I have a full five percent of the Gunner’s Mates in the Coast Guard that I lead. During my four year assignment at MFPU Kings Bay, approximately 55 Gunner’s mates (9.2 percent) will have been under my leadership. I see that as an enormous responsibility. As a young Gunner’s Mate I saw my senior leadership as people capable of effecting great change on the rating. Now today I am in the position to have that same impact.

As an officer in the United States Army, it has been imperative for me to understand every facet of leadership and why it remains important to be an effective leader. During this course, I have learned some valuable lessons about myself as a leader and how I can improve on my leadership ability in the future. The journal entries along with the understanding of available leadership theories have been an integral part of my learning during this course. For all of the journals and assessments that I completed, I feel it has given me a good understanding of my current leadership status and my future potential as a leader. All of the specific assessments looked at several areas in regards to leadership; these assessments covered several

Every leader in the U.S. Army have a different leadership style. During my thirteen years in the Army I have seen several leaders placed in positions where it was obvious that they were born for that position, performing admirably and making very real contributions. In other situations leaders were placed in positions of leadership appearing unprepared for the role. These leaders over time were soon surrounded by other leaders that ensured their success. Several leaders in my career have left a lifelong mark on my leadership style. Every one of them left me with knowledge that have built a foundation for my leadership beliefs and style. There is also what we call in the Army, “toxic leadership” which produce harm to the organization, leaders

There are several leaders that I have admired in my career over the years. One in particular that stood out was a Chief Master Sergeant in the Air Force who I served under. He was a very intelligent and vibrant leader who placed importance in military customs and core values. He was one whom I emulated in the military because of his task –motivated leadership style. He focused on the goals of the organization with the emphasis on service before self. The implications of his style of leadership lead me to believe that there was little to no relationships formed with lower ranking airmen. He was always able to get the job done because of the driven culture he represented. I learned a wealth of knowledge and information from this particular leader; I was able to create a balance by embracing his style of leadership and relating it with my style, transformational leadership. I believe it was successful, because of my efforts to focus in on the mission and create a balance in inspiring, influencing, and motivating Airmen across the globe.

Many times I felt I was over my head, but was able to do what was necessary to get the mission accomplished above standard. Unknowingly he was showing me what ADRP 6-22 Army Leadership (Chapter 5, 2012) describes as building intellect. It discusses developing balance and stability are important leader attributes to achieve mission success. I had learned how to balance what I knew and what I did not know to meet common ground in achieving results. One particular role was being the squad leader of all of the senior NCOs in the Brigade Headquarters. It was difficult being the only junior NCO because some seniors did not feel they needed to respect my position. I worked through that difficult time which set me up for success when becoming a Detachment Non-Commissioned Officer in Charge (NCOIC). My detachment was mostly officers and NCOs and I have the experience to tactfully lead seniors who out rank me. I was a stable leader who treated everyone equally and remaining the level headed individual in the unit. I have used these challenging experiences to teach my peers and subordinates how to step up to challenging positions.

All have had their challenges, but the biggest one that has molded my leadership ability from the start was when I was a Platoon Commander. My sophomore year, I took charge of my first platoon; where I directly influenced 18 cadets. The few beginning months were disastrous. I tried to be their friend rather than a model they could look up to. This caused a very undisciplined platoon, which I immediately recognized. Once I hit the realization of my mistake, my attitude was changed entirely. I became stern, my presence known, and my platoon grasped that there would be consequences for disorderly behavior. I began to find my stride, my voice, and confidence. My platoon would begin to respect me, and I would give mine to them in return. These group of cadets would go on to win drill and academic competitions, and be the next set of officers the following year. Learning how to raise cadets to be the future leaders was difficult, but has been extremely rewarding. Seeing my cadets influencing their own has become one of my proudest moments, and has shaped how I would continue to be a leader junior and senior

While at the CPOA, we heard countless times how “Feedback is a gift”. A pill, that is somewhat hard to swallow especially, knowing that your subordinates, co-workers and managers are all about to grade your leadership style quite candidly. The reality was the instructors where 100% correct in the statement, the feedback received could never be replaced as it gave me a very clear snapshot of things that I was doing well in and showcased areas of weakness that I didn't realize were an issue. There are many who would criticize this tool as having no real value to the military, but I feel that if the Coast Guard is going to have great leaders, then we need to know where we need to improve. Leadership isn’t a natural talent for most of us; we learn leadership as we go. This tool would be useful not only after one makes Chief, but maybe at the E5/E6 level as well. The Coast Guard is unique in the fact that a lot of our younger Petty Officers are give leadership roles early on in their career, but this scenario has it’s draw backs as well, they are young and haven't had all the training or tools on how to be great leaders yet. A tool such as the LPI Report could be beneficial in preventing bad habits or poor leadership skills from imbedding to deeply and could be fixed earlier than

I discovered how much of an influence I had and that I was fully capable of being be a leader. Despite the fact my personality leans towards introvertism, being captain helped me to come out of my shell and to make a difference. It gave me the chance to not only step up and step out, but to lead and to lead the right way, for the right reasons. That being said, at times I found myself passive and indecisive, wanting to be sure my teammates had a voice and were content with a decision. I soon realized that although everyone may not agree on my decision it was my responsibility to make the best choice possible for my teammates and I. Ultimately, I learned that I’m flexible, understanding, and a listener, and those qualities ensured my contributions were ones that beneficially impacted each and every individual on the

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

Chief King was promoted from the rank of deputy chief of the police department, and the outgoing Chief Mac’s right hand man, to chief of the department after a nationwide search. King is viewed by the rank and file officers as being part of the old guard and as someone who will not progress the department forward. In order for Chief King to gain the trust of his personnel he must employ several leadership theories.

Experts say that feedback serves two functions for those who receive it: one is instructional and the other is motivational. Feedback instructs when it clarifies roles or teaches us new behaviors (Kreitner & Kinicki, 2013, p. 245). Once you join the military, you learn to live with constant feedback. It could be an on-the-spot correction, monthly counseling, or yearly evaluation but it is normally a 360-degree feedback. This allows a person to compare their perceived behavior with the supervisor’s performance information. This normally in the military is enough information to motivate people to change. However, the same thing does not work for every single person and that is why it is beneficial if the leadership has an adaptive style of leadership

Beginning in boot camp and continuing throughout my career, I’ve seen the Coast Guard promote the leadership model to be: “You” influencing “Others” to achieve a “Goal”. With all the different ways leadership can be defined, this simplistic model which has been permanently engrained in my thinking definition still rings true for me. As such, when defining my own personal definition of leadership, I align it to this same model. More specifically, while I support the fact that leadership involves influencing others to achieve a common end I propose that is not the whole story. Leaders must not be stagnant in their vision and must lend themselves to the possibility they may have to adjust their leadership styles depending on the goal. The best leaders are the ones that understand their own personality traits as well as those traits of the people they are trying to lead.

We all have the opportunity to learn from all manners of leadership. The good leaders and the bad leaders will have an effect on our styles leadership styles and how we choose to engage with the people we meet. I have learned just as much from those some would consider being a “bad” leader as much as I have learned from the “good”, and based my practice on those experiences. To me, leadership will always mean that you are willing to learn from all your experiences and apply them into practices that enhance your Navy and your Sailors. There is no lesson too big or too small that cannot assist in your daily assessments and influence the leaders you follow and mold the future leaders of the Navy