My Strengths And Weaknesses At The Air War College

“Competency models describe the behaviors and skills managers need to exhibit if an organization is to be successful” (Hughes, Ginnett, & Curphy, p. 252). In many organizations, competency models can differ between the different hierarchies of managers. As a person’s leadership role evolves so do the behaviors and skills he or she must possess to be an effective leader. This statement holds firm as with the case of Andra Rush.

Leadership development in the military is critical to its mission and objectives. Understanding and embracing leadership will foster an agile culture and facilitate attainment of strategic goals. People desire quality leadership to assist with achieving their goals, albeit personal or professional development. Having a clear vision and the motivation to perform at high-levels influences others to work synergistically together to achieve organizational goals. Insomuch, employees value being treated respectfully, fairly, and ethically. Leaders serve people best when they help them develop their own initiative and good judgment, enable them to grow, and help them become better contributors.

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).

Being a leader is always a challenge, and assuming a new command is challenging. There are a lot of expectations to me as a leader. The organization has selected me to a new position, and they believe I fulfill their standards for their leaders. The organization trust and expect me to lead, develop and achieve. My superiors and subordinates have a lot of expectations. They expect me to lead them in the best way to solve our assigned missions. In my new assignment as commander of 4th Armor Brigade Combat Team (ABCT), the main critical leadership problems are the lack of cohesive teams, ethical and work standards and the level of stress. I will through analyze explain and defend my selection of critical leadership problems and apply a model for solving them, including implementing and measuring my vision as the new brigade commander.

Given the opportunity to take command of a Remotely Piloted Aircraft Attack squadron actively engaged in combat is truly humbling, and standing on the shoulders of giants, now is the chance to test whether training, examples, both good and bad, and a lifelong building of one’s philosophy is enough preparation to meet that test. My leadership philosophy is one of proactive engagement, continual process/self-improvement, honest feedback, and 360-degree accountability. On Col Waddell’s continuum of Leader Behavior, my leadership style trends toward follower-dominant but not as far as TQM. I present ideas and problems, get suggestions and ultimately make the calls.

As an officer in the United States Army, it has been imperative for me to understand every facet of leadership and why it remains important to be an effective leader. During this course, I have learned some valuable lessons about myself as a leader and how I can improve on my leadership ability in the future. The journal entries along with the understanding of available leadership theories have been an integral part of my learning during this course. For all of the journals and assessments that I completed, I feel it has given me a good understanding of my current leadership status and my future potential as a leader. All of the specific assessments looked at several areas in regards to leadership; these assessments covered several

When I went on mobilization to Fort Lewis, Washington and left my son in the care of my parents, I thought my parental duties would be set aside until I returned home. Unfortunately, the soldiers of 351st Ordnance Company would prove me wrong with their excessive alcohol consumption, commonly term “binge drinking,” and destructive behaviors. I would then spend the next year sharing the responsibility with four other junior noncommission officers in the task of taking care of soldiers. Despite the efforts of myself and the others we were not fully prepared to handle some of the outrageous events and lack of engagement from the leadership that would challenge us during the tour. My abilities as a junior noncommission officer and the understanding of leadership were redefined and I learned exactly what it meant to ensure soldiers have proper guidance, leadership, positive morale, and well-being.

As a professional leader, role models are an important source of inspiration and development. The ability to deliberately aim to improve as a leader is equally important. In the Army, the Leadership Requirements Model found in doctrine provides the framework necessary to make those deliberate improvements. This framework presents the opportunity to analyze our leadership role models using the Leadership Requirements Model and assess how that leader has contributed to the Army or the Non-Commissioned Officer (NCO) Corps. Additionally, it is important to apply the same analysis to how that role model has influenced our own leadership. Lastly, with these considerations in mind, leaders can project into the future and determine what kind of legacy they wish to leave. The purpose of this analysis is to explore these opportunities and the relationships between doctrinal leadership, a legacy leader, and my own leadership and legacy. My father, retired Chief Warrant Officer 2 (CW2) Nelson Stydinger, had a significant influence on the profession during his own service. He also represents my most important leadership influence throughout my career and his record informs the type of legacy I would like to leave as an Army leader.

Abraham Lincoln once said, “Perhaps a man’s character was like a tree, and reputation like its shadow. The shadow is what we think of it; the tree is the real thing.” These sage words will serve as a reminder to me when called upon for duty as a senior leader. As it stands today, I argue that my ability to lead at the senior-leader level is deficient. My limited overall experience level, especially in the Joint, Interagency, Intergovernmental, and Multinational (JIIM) environment, not only weakens my reputation, but will pose an uphill battle to achieve a necessary level of competence, and ultimately relevance. In the following pages, I will first discuss the link between experience level and reputation, and then examine how that inexperience manifests itself in competency. I will then scrutinize my relevance by exploring the remaining tenets of the Right to Lead Assessment Model (RLAM), and my strengths and weaknesses therein. Finally a “get well” plan for the next 10 months will emerge which should mitigate my lack of experience, lead to increased competence, and ultimately transform me into a relevant JIIM leader.

It is with the fondest of memories that after 30 years of starting that journey that I would like to dedicate this story to the wonderful people that I served with at, what I am sure we would almost all agree, was the defining point of our lives. This book is dedicated

I toured the military base, mountaineered with injured Marines, and observed evaluations and treatments in the clinic. I encountered a facet of healthcare that is generally unknown to civilians. I cannot adequately articulate how eye-opening and rewarding this experience was. It confirmed that my purpose in life is to positively impact the lives of others. The determination of the injured Marines and the persistence of their healthcare teams inspired me to be someone who helps others with the same resolve.

The ability and strength of an individual to achieve goals by supervising processes, guiding initiatives and employees is defined as Leadership skills. Valuable leadership skills include taking thoughtful decisions, allocation of resources, and the ability to delegate, inspire and communicate effectively. Other leadership traits include honesty, confidence, commitment and creativity. Leadership competencies can be used to effectively select, develop and promote leaders in an organization .The difference between Leadership Skill and leadership competency can explained as the required level of efficiency to perform a task assigned is known as skill whereas the quality to accomplish the same is called as competency. When creating leadership competencies certain factors are considered such as business strategies and future trends. To drive the use of competencies in selecting and developing leaders HR practitioners should use the business strategies. To effectively build a unique set of skills for the organization 's leaders, the firm will sustain competitive advantage. The role of a project manager has always been my interest. The position which I have always desired is a role of project manager.

Leading change involves an individual's ability to bring about strategic change within and outside an organization to meet the goals of that particular organization. This executive core qualification should establish an organization's vision and implement it in a continuously changing environment (OPM, 2006). Some of the competencies involved here include creativity and innovation, external awareness, flexibility, resilience, strategic thinking, and vision. Creativity and innovation helps an individual to develop new insights into situations, question conventional approaches, and design and implement new or cutting edge programs (OPM, 2006). A flexible individual will always be open to change and new information and rapidly adapt to new information. Resilience helps one to deal effectively with pressure and remain optimistic and persistent. Strategic thinking competency is critical in formulating objectives and priorities and implements an organization's long term interests.

I am ready to transition from direct and organizational leadership to the strategic level. Successful strategic leaders attain a high level of self-awareness to ensure their relevance and effectiveness in addressing adaptive problems. As an Army Special Operations Forces (ARSOF) senior leader I will work alongside joint, interagency, intergovernmental, and multinational (JIIM) stakeholders at the strategic level within the next 12 months. A large portion my work will occur within foreign countries. My relevance within this environment will manifest from the trust of others, which is an integral output of my character, competence, and personality. Using the Right to Lead Assessment Model (RLAM) as the framework for my self-assessment, I identify a strategy to address weaknesses in my character, competence, and personality. I will implement this strategy as a student at the Air War College to deepen my self-awareness and ensure my readiness as an ARSOF officer to serve as a strategic leader and succeed in a volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous (VUCA) environment in the near-future.

The Army and the Air Force have many similarities and differences, some of the similarities are the troop’s dedication, diversity, and patriotism, and some of the differences are the way each branch trains, their respective customs, and quality life.