My Philosophy : My Leadership Philosophy

The intention of this paper is to introduce my leadership philosophy. I will start off defining leadership as well as explaining my leadership philosophy. I will then share a summary of an interview with a Squadron Commander about a difficult situation that he needed to use his philosophy to work through and analyze how my philosophy applies to the same situation followed by a brief summary.

I define leadership as providing a team with vision and guidance in the execution of a mission or task. Serving as the Officer in Charge of a Coast Guard Station I have developed a Command Philosophy to communicate my intent and methodology to my crew. My hope is that my philosophy allows the team to better understand the priorities and direction that will govern my tenure as Officer in Charge. I have stated the core of my command philosophy is, “Build the Team, Meet the Mission.” An examination of this philosophy and my leadership in practice will identify strengths and weaknesses and lead to a better unit both in terms of effectiveness and morale.

Being a leader can have many different definitions depending on the person. Leadership can be an overarching umbrella over many traits. Leaders possess the ability to be trustworthy, honest, and confident to name just a few. Leadership can be used throughout all aspects of life. Becoming a leader has been a big part of my life thus far. Many steps have been taken to educate myself on the roles and traits that a leader possesses. Learning leadership can be a process, but I took to it right away. Teachers and parents are just a few of the significant people that show leadership skills and impart them on others. Leadership has been taught to me by many different people, and I plan to use those skills to help the future generations become great leaders.

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.

When I think of a leader I look back on how many people in my life that have helped me to get where I am today. My parents are authority figures in the sense that they are the ones that showed me right from wrong. There are the administrators that helped me along my way with school and completing all of the work that I needed to in order to make my way in this long road called life. Finally there are the instructors that have shown me the ways on how to become a leader myself. When I think of the word leader I do not think of myself right away, but now that I have taken on different roles in my life I have realized that maybe just maybe that I could become my own leader.

A leader is someone who guides and motivates you. Leadership is a responsibility, and is very important. Without leaders what would the world look like? People need leaders to help, aid, and guide them through tough times and make important decisions. I play multiple sports, and they all have a captain to make sure everything goes right, and is there for the team when things do not. Leaders set an important example for others. Overall, leadership is putting others before yourself, and showing the world that anything is possible.

There have been many things in my life that have molded me into the leader I am today. Various people and groups along the way have taught me so much about what it means to be a leader. There were so many things that impacted my life and leadership.

Throughout my life, God has been working in my life to prepare me for a life of godly leadership. He started off giving me small responsibilities which quickly grew to be leadership opportunities. I believe that everything I do ought to be my best for God. As a Christian, I have strived to work harder in school and in ministry than my peers so that God would be glorified through my work. As a high school student, I was blessed with the opportunity to lead two robotics teams into competition on the college level. He has given opportunities to lead on the mission field and in the states. Since the Time of my salvation, God has been preparing me as a leader through my ministry experiences and academic pursuits.

Leadership is a privilege that carries with it many responsibilities to inspire others, and to direct individuals to attain the vision and goals of an organization. As an effective leader it is my job to be flexible, be an excellent communicator, be a person who leads by example, and is an individual who is committed, resourceful, and reflective. Achieving the characteristics above, I have developed a definite purpose in mind; one that is shared and modeled in and outside of my school environment. With such growth mindset, I teach, present workshops and empowers others to make decisions that will develop future leaders. To lead by example, I became a mentor for first-year teachers. Furthermore, I orchestrate educational committees, encouraging

A good leader is someone who puts others before him or her, someone who cares about people and someone who does not give up easily. This is what being a leader means to me and I believe that I have all of these characteristics. When I am at school, I tend to help my friends and peers more than I help myself and I take pride in knowing that they are getting the help they need to succeed. I care about how well people do in school and I really want them to be happy and satisfied with their hard work. If I see someone struggling I know that it is my duty to assist them. When I do assist people, some of them do not grasp the lesson immediately and it takes time to get the to understand but I do not want to give up on them because it is taking too

Throughout my short life, I have come to realize that a leader does not necessarily, although they may, maintain a defined position of leadership. A leader is one who will rise to the challenge even when the odds in opposition. A leader will tackle any barrier that stands in the way of the goal. A leader is willing to be hated and face criticism for doing what is right. Leaders come in all different forms, but a leader is the one who is always willing to make the difficult decisions.

Leadership starts at the top, and the top is not the man, but the faith in God that flows out of him. There is, different types of leadership and many ways to display this quality. God is our ultimate leader, and He revealed ways on how to be an effective leader in the church, in the house and in life. Therefore, the focus of this paper will be the Pastor epistles and the type of leadership model that they share and put forth. Now, effective ways of leadership may manifest differently in each individual. God made us all unique and gave each of us a specific talent or gift. Therefore, this class has made me investigate and look at myself more in depth and see what type of leadership model I would follow, and feel is the best model.

Field Manual (FM) 6-22 defines leadership as “the process of influencing people by providing purpose, direction, and motivation while operating to accomplish the mission and improve the organization”. The objective of this paper is to communicate my leadership philosophy of how I hope to lead the Soldiers within this organization. To fully understand my leadership, I will provide you some background on who I am and how my leadership styles have developed:

"The day soldiers stop bringing you their problems is the day you have stopped leading them. They have either lost confidence that you can help them or concluded that you do not care. Either case is a failure of leadership." General Colin Powell

I believe some people are born with leadership tendencies, while others are thrust into positions and develop leadership abilities over time. I have been fortunate to be in environments where individuals in leadership capacities have exhibited both contemptible and admirable leadership traits. By fortunate, I mean I have gained wisdom from all of those experiences which have aided in the development of my leadership skills. Characteristics such as abusing power and making decisions which are egoistic and unethical are not traits I aspire to possess.