My Personal Leadership Philosophy Of Leadership

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.

According to dictionary.com leadership is defined as, the position or function of a leader, a person who guides or directs a group: Its synonyms include guidance, influence, control, direction and supervision. These are all qualifications that are needed to be an effective leader. All characteristics are not necessarily needed at the same time and do no need to be used for each subordinate. This paper will identify my personal leadership philosophy along with theories to support my leadership style.

My personal leadership philosophy reflects a desire to develop subordinates and create an efficient, purpose driven environment. A leader must create a clear vision which followers can understand in order to meet all the requirements of their unit. A leader must lead with the end in sight creating goal driven activity. I believe the way to measure the success of a leader is through the success of their subordinate leaders. Therefore, a leader must constantly develop their subordinate leaders. Passion drives success making it essential for a leader to create buy-in to their plan at every level. It is inevitable that a leader will have to make correction and in order for this to have a positive influence on the organization the correction must be clear, quick, and recoverable. My personal leadership philosophy focuses on these three main points; care for Soldiers, clear vision, development of subordinates, and positive corrective practices.

Phase 1 of the Personal Leadership Philosophy Paper presented the opinion and supporting information establishing that; leaders are products of opportunity, birth and environment, but of these; opportunity influences great leadership the most. Furthermore, it was discussed that assigned leadership is a cancer to corporate America and this point is illustrated in the following example. While employed at Deloitte and Touché Consulting Group (DNT) we engaged ARCO, a major oil and gas company, to develop and implement an email migration strategy that consisted of 1200 Arco users at their subsidiary company, Vaster Resources Inc. In the initial meeting we were introduced to a gentleman, we will call John Smith for the purposes of this paper,

Philosophy is "the rational investigation of the truths and principles of being, knowledge or conduct."(Stuart Berg Flexner and Lenore Crary Hauck, 1993). Leadership is the process of influencing others to accomplish the mission by providing purpose, direction, and motivation. Command is the authority a person in the military service lawfully exercises over subordinates by virtue of his rank and assignment or position.(FM 6-22) My leadership philosophy has been developing thru my Army career. I have use the NCO creed as a pillar for my Leadership philosophy. The outcome of my performance is a direct reflects of my subordinates. My ideas will not always the best, that is why my Soldiers have a open door to provide any feedback.

Growing up, I realize the important leadership roles that should be recognized in every day life. Leadership is an important part of one's self character because when someone sees you as a leader they tend to grow more onto you so they can be like you. Part of this statement fits a powerful quote i've always lived by while being around others. "It is the men behind who make the man ahead," this quote by Merle Crowell, fits the man I've molded into, simply because I have realized in numerous ways on how my actions can impact other people's actions. My parents always raised me to believe that what you put in is what you get out. So of course, I believe that if I make the decisions to be a follower of the wrong path, then wrong will follow me as well. Instead, I choose to take the golden path and promote a better outcome for my future and hopefully other's also. Sticking to the routine of a leader builds you into an even better leader. Being a better leader, makes me a better man each day that I choose this route as the leader of my path.

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.

My father once told me that, “everything we do— be it in academia, at work, social or family life—we are guided by principles, beliefs and values that collectively form our ideology of life.” I believe that every leader, to a certain extent, is shaped through her individual personal experience. Although in some cases, we may not realize to what extent our personal assumptions and beliefs shape our ability to lead or be led.

As a leader, it is important for us to have a simple, profound leadership philosophy. I have decided to go about this by answering six prompts of my core beliefs and behaviors which are, I always…, I spend a lot of time…, I value…, I am curious about…, I respect…, and I listen… These six prompts form the basis of how I see myself as a leader and a person.

As a leader, an individual is expected to uphold accountability. In this case, in any action an individual takes, they should its result and possible consequences in mind. A good leader should be ready to take the responsibility for the success they ensured or to deal with its consequences. Though there are risks in working towards achieving any desired goal (Murphy, 2009), if a leader is incapable of taking responsibility for his or her actions either way, there is a probability that they are not ready to take risks and lead. Leaders need to take risks and be ready to take responsibility for their

I believe that leadership is not a state of being in charge, but rather your title as a leader comes from those believing and trusting in you. Just because you are in charge, doesn’t mean you are leading. A leader is continually inspiring and wanting those in their surroundings to excel even if that means they will surpass them on day. They must be providing a safe environment that makes those around them want to do better. People need to feel that they are being taken care of and that those above them have their best interest at heart.

My leadership philosophy is pretty much simple. I believe you should be the leader that you would want to follow. Treat everyone that you encounter with respect regardless of their rank, background or ethnicity. Care for all as though they are your family because in reality they are. Ensure that you incorporate the Army values on a day to day basis. Respect is a key value. A leader must and should give respect if they want it from their subordinates. Respect must be earned verses given. Many times, Soldiers respect a leaders rank but not them as a person. I feel as though if a subordinate respect your rank and you as a person, they will always go above and beyond the standard to complete a given task. This in return

I agree with what the chapter suggests. In my opinion, leadership does have a moral dimension and as a leader, comes a responsibility that he or she uses their authority to advance the common good. I believe, that as a leader, there is an obligation to uphold our moral values and not use their authority for aggression, power, or getting ahead. Leaders should always use their resources to advance and promote those that need assistance or a greater cause. For example, a leader promoting needs to reduce poverty. In addition, leaders not only need to be effective but also must accept the moral dimension of leadership and as a leader; he or she becomes a role model for the community, employees, and all of the stakeholders. Consequently, leader’s actions influence those around them and therefore as a leader, we should use our available resources to help improve the lives of others.

Leadership is an obligation. How many times do individuals want or take on a new position for the wrong reasons like more money, power, control over people, selfishness, etc. These leaders are the ones who make poor decisions, are bad leaders and are more prone to do scandalous/dishonest acts. When an individual is a leader, they must have higher goals, values and principles than the people they lead. If they don’t, they will deflate their staffs ideas, standards, work, motivation, etc. Basically, they will incorporate the same mindset as their poor leader hurting the business and their personal growth. To be an obligated leaders, you must understand who you are in debt to. I call it, who you serve. A leaders must serve and understand their customers. Without customers, a business does not exist. Understanding what the customers’ needs are and how you can exceed them will allow for a good business plan. But that is not

Effective and responsible leaders can be found in organizations everywhere. What makes an effective and responsible leader is a complex and tangled web of personal attributes and knowledge. A leaders approach must be multifaceted and at the very core must contain heart and soul that is ever evolving.