Who Am I As A Leader?

In Col J. William DeMarco’s essay, Leadership Philosophy 101: Who Are You?, he states that every leader must have a direction and a personal vision. Col DeMarco calls this concept “Leadership Philosophy,” a concept which resonates through many of the assigned readings. My personal philosophy focuses on servant leadership at its core. Servant leadership is defined as “serving subordinates as much, or more, than they serve their bosses.” Servant leaders don’t stay behind desks, they address the needs of their Airmen, and take care of them like family. The commander interview highlights the critical nature of this leadership method. This paper will compare my personal philosophy with those of my commander and his past leadership crisis

A leader leads others by being an example and role model. In the book Animal Farm by George Orwell, the pigs were atrocious leaders to all the other animals. On the other hand, Winston Churchill was a great leader. Churchill was a prime minister during World War 2. He demonstrated good leadership and had the ability to inspire others. Unlike the pigs in Animal Farm, Winston Churchill embodies the characteristics of a strong leader because he was very positive, had a lot of confidence, and was always honest.

Over the course of this semester my view on leadership has changed many times. In the beginning of this class I thought the only real definition of leadership came from the dictionary. Then we wrote our leadership lens part 1 and my view changed. I changed my definition of leadership to a person that has the ability to bring people together to make a change or to make a situation better for everyone. Now while writing this leadership lens part 2 and having finished this class my definition of leadership has changed once again. Now my definition of leadership is that leadership is in everyone it just shows at different times. Throughout this class my view on leadership has changed so much because we’ve done so many different activities and

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.

It is hard to identify a particular “Legacy Leader.” It is especially difficult when I cannot definitively state who I am as a leader. Everyone knows what qualities a Soldier should hold. Most have the desire to be of sound mind and judgment. I always put the troops and the mission first, no matter what the consequences. Primarily, those qualities came from one of the best platoon sergeants I have worked with as a Soldier and a Noncommissioned Officer (NCO). Sergeant First Class (SFC) Michael Habel always did what needed to be done for his Soldiers and to get the mission done. He is unquestionably the driving force behind who I am as a noncommissioned officer.

When I think of a leader, I see someone who stands out. I see someone who is courageous and wants to take the lead. I see someone who chooses to create there own path, rather than taking the one everyone else is taking. As I learn about the qualities and the traits of leadership, I began to self evaluate on how I see myself as a leader.

Every person has a different definition of what makes a leader. Some feel a leader is inspirational, while others regard leadership as someone who can give criticism and make the tough decisions. Each definition is unique, and each is vague. This is why the definitions of leadership people use aren’t always accurate. Bolman and Deal, however, do an excellent job of presenting four frames of leadership people use to successfully—or unsuccessfully—support and lead a group of people. The four frames presented by the authors are: human resource, symbolic, structural, and political. The human resource frame is used by leaders to empathize with their followers, the symbolic frame is used to inspire and unite followers around a vision, the structural frame is used to emphasize the importance of a process, and the political frame establishes competition and focuses on creating allies.

Who am I as a leader? What comes to mind when you hear the word leader? Some would think of our Commander in Chief, others may think of their boss or their teachers. All of these are just titles. I believe that leadership is something that can’t be narrowed down into a title or a position of employment. The choices we make and the obstacles we conquer is what I believe to define us as a leader. With the personal experiences I have had to bear as a U.S. Marine Infantryman and civilian worker, my leadership abilities have proven dedication to my team, knowledge and determination in specific trade, and the ability to motivate those around me.

At twenty-three, Carly Fiorina had dropped out of UCLA Law School with no plans about what she wanted to do with her future. However, almost twenty-two years later, she became president and CEO of Hewlett-Packard Company - the first woman CEO of a Fortune 20 company. She was given a mandate by HP’s board of directors to “shake things up” and was later named the "Most Powerful Woman in Business" by Fortune magazine. Prior to joining HP, Fiorina spent nearly twenty years at AT&T and Lucent Technologies, where she held a number of senior leadership positions (Cara Carleton Fiorina. (2014).

Throughout my years of high school, I have demonstrated the leadership, service, and character. Both inside of school and within my community, I have found ways to express these qualities in productive ways. Although I show my qualities in everyday life, my characteristics of leadership and service shine brighter at times. While I am directing the Digital Multimedia Club, I get a chance to utilize my leadership skills to their fullest extent and to improve upon them. While doing volunteer work or other helpful activities, I work hard to serve my community so that I can make it a better place.

Beginning in boot camp and continuing throughout my career, I’ve seen the Coast Guard promote the leadership model to be: “You” influencing “Others” to achieve a “Goal”. With all the different ways leadership can be defined, this simplistic model which has been permanently engrained in my thinking definition still rings true for me. As such, when defining my own personal definition of leadership, I align it to this same model. More specifically, while I support the fact that leadership involves influencing others to achieve a common end I propose that is not the whole story. Leaders must not be stagnant in their vision and must lend themselves to the possibility they may have to adjust their leadership styles depending on the goal. The best leaders are the ones that understand their own personality traits as well as those traits of the people they are trying to lead.

To me, leadership is more than a title. It is more than just being in charge. Leadership is honestly, learning, listening, and most importantly application. Leadership means going the extra mile or two, doing the right thing no matter who’s looking, staying encouraged and encouraging other even when times are hard and you have every reason to quit. Leadership doesn’t mean you’re rich, well known, liked, or respected but it does mean you are a passionate, caring, and authentic. Leadership means you care about something so much you are willing to risk everything you have for this belief or idea. Leadership is doing whatever you can in your power to make things better for those around you.

I sincerely believe that I have characteristics of a good leader, although some of them could be different from the more conventional ones. For example, I am a team player and care about the well being of others, I try my best to help everyone in their time of need, I am generally patient about things, and I really celebrate success in a very enthusiastic way. I think that these qualities are good enough for me to be able to be some type of a good leader.

There are many kinds of leaders; some lead through position and authority, while others lead through inspiration and vision. Some people are simply natural born leaders. However, whether one was born a leader or has to become a leader, all great leaders spend time developing their traits. Similarly, when you train for a sport, you first learn to develop the fundamentals, and then you work to master and apply them. I’ve been told I am a born leader, but have always sought to improve my leadership abilities through experience. Maxwell states, “The learned leader; has seen leadership modeled most of life, has learned leadership through training, and has self-discipline to become a great leader” (Maxwell, 93). This statement is reflective of my experience during my military tenure, and what it means to me is; leadership must be developed in practice, as well as in theory.

Due to my passive nature, I’ve always avoided leadership roles. With that being said I still aspire to be someone who can be looked to as a leader. In order to reach that goal I observe and try to mimic the actions of people that inspire me. There have been many people I’ve taken orders from, but I have “followed” few. Those are the ones I consider to be true leaders, and have tried to be like myself.