Military Leadership

I was able to pull many leadership ideas that are applicable in both my military and civilian careers as a National Guardsman. The easiest thing to boil down in the book are the traits people wish to see in leaders, the Be. In research reported by The Leadership Challenge surveying thousands of people in business and government, four results are remarkably consistent- honest, competent, forward-looking, and Inspiring (Hesselbein 48). These are attributes that have become instrumental in identifying successful leadership and should be used as my basis. Within these traits lay four skills that every leader must acquire knowledge and mastery of; Interpersonal, Conceptual, Technical and Tactical skills. The Know. What is profoundly interesting is the authors description of civilian tactical skills "involving negotiating, human relations, and the like are often necessary to achieve objectives" (Hesselbein 52). Being able to effectively and strategically utilize key units (both in and out of the military) to achieve success falls under such tactical skills. The last portion of effective leadership I'll take with me is, Do. The biggest thing to takeaway here is that successful leaders act in three ways: "they pull together in teams…with a unified purpose, they execute to achieve results, and they lead change to leave the organization stronger than they found it" (Hesselbein 55). With emphasis on the latter part, a successful leader leaves the organization in greater health than originally

Leadership is a fluid concept. It has never been an idea set in stone and then left alone. The Army has always defined leadership as a process of influence since it first started writing about leadership in 1948(par 4). This

The military chain of command plays an integral role in the type of leadership advocated within the United States Armed Forces as explained in Army Doctrine ADRP 6-22. This chain of command provides clear distinctions between superiors and their subordinates, and allows for a clear conception of what sort of obligations the latter has to the former. Still, superiors are obligated by the armed forces to exemplify qualities that allow them to inspire the confidence and the respect of their followers. The term leaderships is defined as "the process of influencing people by providing purpose, direction, and motivation to accomplish the mission and improve the organization (ADP 6-22, 2012, p. 1-1). The individual qualities that a leader routinely demonstrates to successfully inspire the best in others are related to professionalism, integrity, and respect both on an individual and an organization-wide basis. These qualities enable leaders to best gain the

The book Black Hearts opened my eyes to how leadership from a single Officer can have a grappling effect on such a wide range of soldiers from the lowest of ranks. One of the best takeaways from Black Hearts is to never do anything: illegal, unethical, or immoral. Although this is a easy statement to repeat, Black Hearts demonstrates the difficulties that lie behind these words. It has also painted a picture of how leadership can topple extremely quickly from a top down view. The Army is portrayed in a bad light throughout the book relentlessly. This is due to the concentration of poor leadership of the 1-502nd Regiment (Referred to as “First Strike”), a battalion of the 101st Airborne Division.

“Leadership is the process of leaders inducing followers to act for certain goals that represent the values and motivations, the wants and needs, the aspirations and expectations of both leaders and followers” To be able to do this, a person must come up with their own leadership philosophy. Throughout this paper, I will tell you the leadership philosophy I will have for my organization. I will explain how I came up with this philosophy. Also I will tell what leadership traits, and characteristics that I believe are important for a leader to possess and how they apply to my leadership philosophy for the success of my organization. In conclusion I will summarize my interview with a squadron commander about their most challenging issue and

Leadership is the art of influencing others to achieve a mission by offering motivation, purpose, and direction. In the military, there is a concept called chain of command, which is the authority some individuals lawfully exercise over subordinates by virtue of their positions, assignment, or rank (Spyglass Hill, n.d.). Equally, the chain of command is the most important and fundamental organizational technique used in the military. It is the commanders’ responsibility to achieve the assigned unit objectives while caring for property and personnel in their command. Thus, the basic duties of a military leader include accomplishing a specific mission and safeguarding soldiers’ welfare. In essence, a leader in the military has three kinds of duties: implied, directed, and specified roles. Every leader must exercise professional ethics, which encompass being loyal to the unit, the military, and this nation. Thus, military leaders should offer selfless service when on duty by putting the goals and needs of the unit, the nation, and the military ahead of their personal interests.

Within the U.S. military, leadership is generally considered something of a given. It is a fundamental ingredient of warfare, without which the outcome of a combat operation cannot be assured. The leader is the brain, the motive power of command, upon whom subordinates rely for guidance and wisdom, and depend upon for good judgment. The leader must be determined, unflappable and charismatic; confident in delegation of authority; able to combine the various strands of command into a common thread; seasoned, intelligent, and thoughtful.

The leadership is part of the organization in peace and wartime as well. In peacetime, the leader has different challenges than in wartime. According to ADRP 6-22 (2012), “NCO leaders are responsible for setting and maintaining high-quality standards and discipline.” However, it does not mention about where and when, so this is the main duty for NCO in all circumstances. The commander has to apply and adapt to the situations to provide a good operating team, where the motivated subordinates to fulfill their roles. The roles of the team member are different; they have different problems in the garrison than the operational area. Therefore, this paper compares the garrison leadership with the combat leadership from the perspective of the

There have been many theories about leadership and its styles, based among the relationships between human beings in which one or more persons exert a degree of influence that can lead others to conquer a common goal. It doesn’t matter what they say about leadership what really matter is how you see yourself as a leader, what impact have you left in your men, is it positive? Is it negative? What is your commander’s opinion about you? Have you thought about that before? Many questions to answer, don’t they? As military leaders and guidance for soldiers, we must demonstrate: endurance of character, competence, commitment, courage, patriotism, honor, wisdom, justice, integrity, faith, charisma, high standards of communication, discernment, generosity, initiative, listening, passion, positive attitude, high standards for problem-decision making, responsibility, security, self-discipline, dedication to service, be open to criticism and continuous improvement and many more. No matter

Leadership, be it on the battlefield or an organization, is extremely important. Leaders are like the pole star, showing the right direction to disoriented people, making them aware of their internal powers, their strengths, the goals they are expected to attain and then finally stirring them to do so- Making them thrusting individuals who then not only develop themselves but also benefit the whole team. And throughout this course and even after that a leader, as the name itself suggests, pilots the way setting an example for the upcoming chiefs. Furthermore, the terms leadership and management can be quite confusing and used interchangeably by many but that should not be the case. (Burns, 1978)

Leadership by definition is very broad. Understanding leadership Roles and Responsibilities is simply a start to the understanding of what leadership in the Army entails. Leadership in the Army is defined as the ability to influence others to accomplish the mission to arrive a final state of resolve. Exploring two major types of leadership and the scope of responsibility is the overall purpose of this paper. The two discussed levels of leadership is the Direct Leadership and the Organizational Leadership. The goal is to focus on the differences between the two types and gain a better understanding of the roles leaders play within the two types of leadership. While roles and functions are comparable, they are not the same.

Leadership can be defined in many ways. There are countless documents, regulations, manuals and such defining what a Leader should be and citing of numerous examples. Developing proper leaders is oftentimes just as well documented in methodological ways that almost seem rote and excessive to the point of being overdone. Of course leaders can be developed through institutional and self-developmental practices, and those can often be regimented forms of education. The experiences though that shape an individual and their leadership style can never really be duplicated. Whether through the experiences of training, misfortune, success, or even the experiences of combat, it cannot be truly copied. Even with identical experiences, no two people will ever see it the same exact way. We do not want or need leaders that are all carbon copies of one another. We need dynamic leaders that can think individually and can bring their own perspectives to the table through their own individual experiences. Combat time and fighting on the battlefield provides some of the most rudimentary form of experience through first hand exposure. It is important that through these events, individuals and leaders take away experiences and lessons learned that will enable them to become an even more dynamic and developed leader.

Leadership, as promulgate by the commanding officer, sets command climate, institutes the training and education program through which an organization prepares itself to accomplish the mission, and individuals in the organization executing the day to day jobs based upon the training and education required of their area of expertise. Any combat unit should encourage maximum physical fitness, but that conditioning must consist of a focus on balancing moral and ethical behavior throughout all phases of training including combat. Therefore, command climate, specifically one embracing moral and ethical behavior, begins with the leadership, the message it delivers, and the convictions by which it abides.

This summary is based on group consensus on the three most important concepts learned in chapters five through seven. They are leading during crisis, empowering subordinates and simplicity. The level of importance placed on the application of these concepts is dependent on the organization involved. In the military, it is crucially important that leadership lead in an environment embroiled in a crisis. Equally important is the ability to empower subordinates who are demoralized by the crisis in the organization. Leading in a crisis and being able to effectively communicate with subordianates to improve morale is paramount.

This summary is based on group consensus of the three most important concepts learned in chapters 5 through 7, they are, leading during crisis, empowering subordinates and simplicity. The level of importance placed on the application of these concepts is dependent on the organization involved. In the military, it is crucially important that leadership can lead in an environment embroiled in crisis. Equally important is the ability to empower subordinates who are demoralized by the crisis in the organization. As far as simplicity is concerned, leading in a crisis and being able to effectively communicate to subordianates to improve morale is paramount.