My Leadership Philosophy

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 goals should always contain methods of a continuous process of learning through education, training, and individual experiences that help ensure that the message will be communicated in a confident and competent manner when leading troops. Soldiers tend to follow leaders that demonstrate and live the Army values, while displaying their confidence in every decision that affects change. Leaders are not born as organizational or tactical leaders; but grown by their genetic determinism, which is inside and the characteristics they work toward; that mold is which type leader they will become. Not just anyone can lead; you must have the desire to lead, be willing to make the commitment to being a leader, and prepare yourself properly, then you have the desire to become a leader. (Fulton, 1995).

At the end of the day, a true leader “in the army will do these three things live by the army core values, know the warrior ethos, and lead by example”-MSI textbook. Leaders both in and out of the army are held to a higher standard holding themselves in a professional manner at all times. The success of the group is attributed to the leadership styles and core values instilled in the solider to do his job effectively. General Eisenhower once

Looking for ways to improve the outcome of every situation from the smallest detail to the big picture is a way of life for outstanding leaders. They are respected and relied upon. Their past actions, integrity and trustworthiness has earned them the confidence of Officers and fellow Soldiers.

In my opinion, one of the best leaders in my community is my youth group pastor. He is flexible, polite, a great role model, and always ready to help those in need. Moreover he is the picture perfect image of what he wants others to become, and is willing to help anyone reach that point with grace and compassion.

Leadership is both an inherent value and is forged overtime. Inherently, some people are born good leaders and intrinsically have good values imbedded. Leadership traits can be honed and developed overtime; you never stop learning to be a good leader. Leadership is the cornerstone of all successfully run organizations and is what drives stewardship to successfully carry on the organizations mission statement. Throughout one’s life experiences, they come across some great leaders and some not-so great leaders. Those life experiences transcend one to become a better leader through experiential circumstances.

The first leadership role that influences performance of soldiers is the drive that leaders have. This can be in the form of incredible achievements, ambition as it impels leaders to set hard tasks and challenges for themselves and their teams, high energy to achieve fuelled drive, initiative meaning leaders are proactive in terms of decision making and taking action and last but not least tenacity. A good example of how this trait is portrayed with emphasis on how General Tommy Franks a self-confident artillery man spent one year fashioning an elaborate plan to invade and conquer Iraq’s war troops (Rigon, 2012). The detailed plan was followed to the letter, and despite heavy bloodshed, desired results were achieved. From the time this General enrolled in the Army in 1965, to his period of retirement in 2003, he

My leadership philosophy is to work hard at all times and to push your partner and team when they are not at their best so in turn they can push you when you need support. I provide a good example for them as well as the support needed for them to compete or act in the best possible way. For example, my wrestling partner isn’t a great runner so I encourage her to keep up whatever pace she feels comfortable with while pushing herself to achieve more at the same time. Likewise, when I am having a trouble, like doing a specific throw, my partner encourages me in a similar manner that I have always pushed her. The basis of my philosophy came from my girls’ team captain my freshman year, however, I shaped my philosophy to suit my personality and

According to North house (2012), “for some people, leadership is a trait or an ability, for others it is a skill or a behavior, and for still others it is a relationship or process” (p. 7). What truly defines leadership is at times difficult to grasp, because many see leadership in various ways. Being a leader requires a mix of all of the complexities of leadership, and the views on which leadership qualities are important are shaped by personal experiences. The text suggests we think about

A person can’t wake up one day and decide that they want to be a leader. Leaders are not born, but they are shaped through teaching, learning, and observations. Being an effective leader requires a particular set of skills. Anyone can learn these skills needed to become a leader, but not all of them can be effective when it comes to leading others. Parrott (2009) recorded, “In today’s leadership world, our outward appearance is the tally sheet of results we tout to prove our worth, while our thoughts and intentions are buried deep in the longview we bring to leadership” (p. 15). Today, everything centers around quick-fixes, immediate-impacts, and short-views. Being an effective leader is more than giving demands to the people that you work alongside. Throughout this class, I had the opportunity not only to review the skills I need to be a leader but how I can enhance those skills to help make a difference.

Notably, leaders are imbued with certain traits or virtues that cause others to not just look at them with admiration, but to follow their guidance. If you were to examine any effective business, government agency or even the common household, those traits are evident there as well. Leadership may sometimes be difficult to quantify, but when you see it the positive results are very apparent.

This approach to life and leadership perfectly describes what my family has instilled within me from a young age. Leadership has intrinsic value and yet seems foreign and intangible to the masses. Noticing this, I have decided to do all I can to recognize and implement effective leadership. In my life, learning how to become a leader by following has bolstered my leadership potential. Executing on leadership and committing to success in the little moments means working the hardest when no one is watching. Reproducing leaders, not just managing followers, is a mindset that I am dedicating my life to, so that I can leave a lasting impact, a legacy on

I have thought quite a bit about leadership and I think in order to be an effective leader one must truly care about people. An organization's success depends on the efforts of the leader's people; therefore a leader must empower, inspire, enable, encourage, and support subordinates. A leader must communicate the organization's goals, vision's, priorities and strategies in order to gain maximum commitment to organizational success. Leadership involves embracing and instilling a positive attitude. A successful leader is proactive, not afraid of making mistakes, and when one is made, they learn from it and move on. Effective leaders strive to spend more time preventing problems and less time solving them. I believe an organization is most effective when everyone has a sense of ownership and a stake in the success of the organization. There is power in group

“Leadership is one of the most observed and least understood phenomena on earth” (The Nature of Leadership: Distinguishing Leadership From Management, 2013). In the last eight weeks this statement has become abundantly clear. The art of leadership is indeed a skill that has to be learned over time. Many leaders are in roles that portray the head of the body, however, many people that are in a leadership role do not fulfill the criteria that is needed to be a leader to the people that they are attempting to motivate. There are many traits that make a leader who they are. Not only do leaders serve as a representation of the company but they need to have the vision, drive and foresight of the company in order to be able to manage their unit effectively.

“Leadership is lifting a person’s vision to high sights, the raising of a person’s performance to a higher standard, the building of a personality beyond its normal limitations.”—Peter Drucker