Legacy Leaders “Leader Of Influence” – Msg Smith. The Purpose

Imagine walking into the office on a November day and seeing a new commander walk by on the way to his office. He does not exude the military image that is expected from military officers. As talking to co-workers, you hear that this gentleman finished in the lower portion of his West Point class and just a few years ago resigned his commission for a bit instead of being court-martialed for issues associated with his drinking problem. Would you pre-judge this man or wait and see what type of leader he was? The man described is Ulysses S. Grant, General of the Union Army and future President of the United States of America. While General Grant was not a perfect leader, I will argue that General Grant was one of the most visionary and ethical leaders in United States history. Visionary leader. I will discuss how Grant as an ethical leader faced and triumphed over a competing values ethical dilemma and used intellectual courage to change his point of view to help move the country forward after the Civil War. I will also discuss the personal relevance of Grant’s leadership qualities to my leadership abilities.

This paper will briefly analyze the case study— Rebecca S. Halstead: Steadfast Leadership, and examine General Rebecca Halstead 's career history and how through her personal attributes, skills, experiences and challenges she developed into a successful leader and commander in the U.S. Army. Although General Halstead faced a number of challenges during her career, this paper will focus primarily on her leadership style and philosophy specifically with leading teams and dealing with difficult bosses.

Integrity is one of the Army’s core values and one of the cornerstones of the army. The cornerstones of the army are important because they are the very fundamentals that we all must live to uphold. We must always embody and live up to the core beliefs and fundamentals of the army. We must try every day to respect and uphold the army core values and beliefs. These core beliefs are what all the rest of the army beliefs and discipline is built upon in the founding of the army. If we live up to the core beliefs of the army, we are honoring all who have served before. We also honor all those who have yet to serve by leaving the service better than we came to it. We are also honoring all those who have paid the ultimate price for their country. If, we cannot live to uphold the very fundamentals and the very cornerstones of the army way of life then we are letting our peers, subordinates, and senior leaders down. Not only are we letting our peers, subordinates, and senior leaders down but we are letting down all those who have come before and all those yet to come into the service. Not only are we letting our army down we are also letting down all the people who we defend, protect, help and support around the world. By the lack of integrity, we cause our fellow soldiers, leaders, and their families’ trouble as well. We also lose the trust of our peers, and we ostracize our self into becoming the outcast of

From the vantage point of the present, it is easy to look back at the tenure of any great leader and draw conclusions about just what it was that made him/her great. We can examine the circumstances under which their leadership flourished; piece together what we know of their character and personality traits; delve into the factors that may have driven them; and dissect their leadership style all in an effort to pinpoint the source of their success. The ‘Great Man’ theory, popular in the 19th century and now thoroughly debunked, held that leaders are born, not made; suggesting that men like George Washington, Martin Luther King Jr., and Winston Churchill were born with the innate capacity to change the world (Landis,

The legacy leader I have chosen to write about is Brigadier General (BG) Richard T. Ellis (Deceased). BG Ellis was a true influential leader in the United States (U.S.) Army and intelligence community. This paper will discuss how BG Ellis showed leadership attributes and competencies covered in Army Doctrine Publication (ADP) 6-22 and Army Doctrine Reference Publication (ADRP) 6-22. It will also discuss how he influenced leaders and changes in the intelligence community. Finally it will cover how his actions influenced me in my military career.

Robert E. Lee once said of leadership, “I cannot trust a man to control others who cannot control himself” (Jones, 1875). This is an instance where I believe that even though this idea or thought was mentioned many years ago, it still has relevance today. I do not have an exact date of that quote, but with General Lee fighting in the Civil War, I would imagine it came somewhere in the mid-1800’s (The book it is found in was published after his death). Our current military leaders need to listen to advice like this quote, get out and know the people they put in charge so they are better able to make decisions on who should and should not actually be leading.

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.

Leadership involves providing purpose, direction and motivation to subordinates to accomplish the mission. It is evident with the years of battle that General Robert E. Lee’s engaged in that he possessed the ability to motivate and inspire troops. In the black powder era of warfare, command remained very much personalized. The generalship of Robert E. Lee, an excellent Confederate general during the American Civil War, is arguably the greatest single factor in keeping the Confederacy alive during the years of the Civil War (Lee, Funk & Wagnalls New World Encyclopedia). On the contrary, General George Brinton McClellan participated in only one battle for its entirety, The Battle of Antietam. Therefore, this battle must serve as measurement of his leadership capabilities. Throughout this paper, I will compare and contrast the leadership of both of these Generals as it pertains to the

Throughout recent history, the definition of leadership has been the subject of a vast number books, articles, and essays. Countless authors have attempted define the ability to lead in a tangible way. They have scrutinized on how one becomes a leader and how one successfully leads. Because the ability to lead is so ambiguous and no one can follow a definable set of steps to become a leader, many authors have use examples of leaders to illustrate their views on the subject. And even in the limited scope of time that is the history of the United States, dozens of men and women have lead Americans through their words, beliefs, and actions. Whether they are appointed leaders such as President George Washington or Thomas Jefferson, or leaders of worthwhile cause such as Susan B. Anthony or Martin Luther King Jr., these leaders provide a blueprint that if examined carefully, can provide useful advice for those aspiring to become great leaders. And for Donald T. Phillips, the American leader whose life “still inspires and moves people from all walks of life” and provides an example of leadership that is without equal is Abraham Lincoln (Phillips). In his book Lincoln on Leadership: Executive Strategies for Tough Times Phillips provides 15 overarching leadership qualities that Lincoln followed all throughout his life. By describing how Lincoln exhibited each of these qualities thoroughly, Phillips then relates how potential leaders today can duplicate those same qualities in their

In this paper, I will be explaining what a legacy leader is and the impact one specific leader had on my career and the Army. In December of 2011 I reported to Joint Base Lewis-McCord and was assigned to 1/17 IN BN part of 2nd Striker BDE Combat Team. I had arrived at a unit that was preparing for a hard deployment to Afghanistan after a vigorous training cycle. I had walked in to my office to meet the team I would be leading into a combat zone that had zero experience, except for SSG Frazier that had a “been there done that” attitude. SSG Frazier was not as focused as a leader should be when prepping for a deployment with new Soldiers. The area that our unit would move to was the area that the Taliban was founded by Mullah Omar in Zhari District Southern Afghanistan (RC South). I had to quickly adjust to a high operation temp of a unit getting ready to deploy with little to no experience. After meeting SSG Frazier, I decided to meet the BN Commander and CSM to get a better understanding of the mission and expectation from the leadership. When I

General S. Patton once said, “Never tell people how to do things. Tell them what to do and they will surprise you with their ingenuity.” Some may argue that his life was cut short while others may say it was too long. Being a man who fought in World War I and World War II, George S. Patton, Jr. certainly contained a wealth of experience in warfare. Looking at the written history, there were those who seemed to undervalue Patton, as well as those who may have held him much too high. Researchers have many different opinions on Patton’s’ leadership, but the research here will encompass both the positive and the negative aspects of his leadership and surrounding issues while addressing the following questions:

EWhen I was younger I was in the Boy Scouts of America striving for the rank of Eagle Scout I met an Army National Guard Colonel that would set an example of leadership, a bad one. I was a Boy Scout many years but had to limit my attending meetings over the course of my junior year of high school and over the course of my absence a new Scout Master had come to our troop, the aforementioned Colonel. Prior to this man I had the pleasure of knowing several excellent leaders and it was quite the shock to see our once massive troop slowly dwindle.

The two most important rules that Lieutenant Davis respects and follows are, “You listen to people who outrank you” and “You stay in the chain of command.” Another key character is

For our legacy leader paper I have been assigned to select a leader who has had a positive impact on my growth as a leader and a Military Intelligence professional; as well as discuss the legacy that I would like to leave behind. In this paper I will discuss lessons that I have learned from the story of John Basilone. John Basilone was a Gunnery Sergeant in the United States Marine Corp who earned the Medal of Honor during World War Two. He was a leader who left a resonating impression in the Marine Corp and the American people during a time of great turmoil; and while not a military intelligence soldier his story has left an impression on me as a leader in today’s Army.

“The United States Army is structured on several values and principles that it upholds, among these are military bearing, discipline and respect. These principles represents what the organization strongly believes in and governs the most basic customs and courtesies that all its members should abide by, otherwise legal repercussion and punishment is enforced that could ultimately result in separation from the organization.” The standards must be met by Soldiers or they can face a number of repercussions such as, barring from re-enlistment or even separation. Non commissioned officers should always uphold the standards so that all Soldiers know what they are and what can happen to them if they do not meet the standard. “One is to observe a sense of calmness even in the most stressful situations, leaders of the United States Army should maintain their military bearing even in situations where it seems chaotic, out of control or a civilian would respond in panic.” The reasoning behind this goes back to situations where non commissioned officers would have to make fast decisions in a war zone that may impact the lives of their Soldiers. In a battlefield situation their Soldiers are relying on their non commissioned officer to make a quick decision and trusting that decisions made are the best out of all situations given. Non commissioned officers should be able to make big decisions with all his confidence projecting with his military bearing. “A leader should look like a