Outline My Personal 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.

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.

Leadership is not a simple, static concept. It does not form overnight. Instead, it develops alongside experiences which form a person’s character. It is as dynamic as the events that shape our lives. My life experiences equip me with the knowledge to form my own leadership philosophy. As a Noncommissioned Officer, I ensure my subordinates understand my philosophy. I ensure they understand what I expect of them. The basis of my leadership philosophy is promoting self-development, serving others, being proactive, and being an example of effective leadership.

My leadership philosophy revolves entirely around the Army Values. In every action I take as a leader, I assess whether or not it lines up with the Army Values and the potential impacts. I have had a variety of leadership assignments during my career, all requiring a different leadership approach, spanning from team leader through platoon sergeant. My conflict resolution skills have greatly evolved through my twelve years in the Army, from rudimentary conversations to in depth problem solving. My professional development has had a profound effect on my leadership abilities, from NCOPD’s to mentorship from senior non-commissioned officers (NCO’s).

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,

My leadership philosophy stems from my experience in the Army. As a leader, I believe in honesty, commitment, and respect for others. All responsibilities should be carried out in a timely manner. My main priority is the well-being of my Soldiers. My Soldiers can expect me a leader that is caring, dedicated, and upholds the standards.

I am Joseph Maruska, I am currently a Major in the United States Air Force. This essay will introduce you to my personal command philosophy. It will also summarize and analyze a brief interview recently conducted with a current squadron commander using my own leadership philosophy as a guide. Throughout this essay I will draw upon my own personal experiences and thoughts, lessons discussed throughout the Leadership and Command Course, as well the discussion with a current squadron commander. Leadership and command styles come in many different forms and there is not necessarily a correct or incorrect way to lead depending on your organization or current turn of events. This essay is simply my thoughts after being in the Air Force for the last eleven years.

“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

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.

My leadership philosophy is deeply rooted in my 12 years of experiences in the Army. As a leader, I believe in being accessible and mentoring subordinates. I recognize success and work hard to assist my subordinates in overcoming their difficulties in performance. I welcome feedback sessions to remain flexible and open to change. This sets up the group to be very productive and adaptable and can be incorporated at all levels of any organization.

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.

Leadership is all around us regardless of position. Everyone, in some manner, has the opportunity to lead and make an impact whether at home or at work, low on the rank structure or at the top of the proverbial food chain. A successful leader is someone who has a vision, strong core values, a servant and someone who can win the hearts of those to whom they are leading to accomplish a mission; leaders work themselves out of a job if successful. Influences within my career were Chiefs on my boat who were not afraid to get their hands dirty, first classes who worked late and made themselves available when we were all screwing up to ensure we would succeed without retribution on the following Monday and dozens more with attributes I wanted to follow and visions I thought were worth wild to achieve. Through these exposures, I have realized that a successful leader is a servant. My leadership philosophy is to provide a vision, be an example, and empower people to succeed, be a servant to those doing the work, reward success and get out of the way.

A supervisor once sat with me as we went over my annual performance evaluation and he said to me “not only do you have the qualities of a leader, but you also have charisma, Donna, and I don’t see that in people too often”. Honestly, at the time, I didn’t even know what that meant. Not only did I not know what charisma meant but I had no idea what that statement meant or should mean to me. Those words stuck with me though and I often wondered what he really meant and sometimes still do. However, I have been on a quest, probably for most of my life, not to be a leader, but a searcher for the main purpose of the entire process of developing my personal leadership philosophy, and in reflection on the impact of many leaders in which I have encountered over the last 20+ years of my adult life. I often think about the various elements of leadership in their separate contexts, but rarely do I take the time to align these things in the larger framework of my own leadership development. I have not, until lately, thoroughly contemplated what leadership means to me nor have I broken down my knowledge of myself, others, and personal practice of my leadership skills.