Army Leadership Philosophy

Purpose. This memorandum outlines my vision on leadership as a senior noncommissioned officer. It also defines my leadership philosophy and principles towards seniors, peers, and subordinates. My philosophy reflects the foundation of my personal and professional beliefs that makes us successful Soldiers.

Throughout my life and my military career I have experienced various leadership styles, from civilian employers to military Officers and Non-Commissioned officers alike. Each had their own approach to leadership, some I found to be effective and others I did not. I have attempted to create a leadership philosophy based on a fusion of the leaders I have encountered and my own personal experiences.

Every year, the North Alabama Screaming Eagles Chapter provides, a deserving Soldier and his or her Family, an all-inclusive weekend at the U.S. Space and Rocket Center’s NASA Space Camp in Huntsville, Alabama.

My leadership philosophy entails three key principles: Communicate, Collaborate, and Respect. Throughout my personnel career in the US Army Reserve, I have used the first three principles to resonate with audiences because it’s very important to me. These three principles will support the overall priority of readiness and team cohesion.

The deference Soldiers show towards their leadership as well as how they treat their fellow Soldiers displays their respect. Selfless Service is a given, as every person who has put on the uniform has sworn

According to Collins English Dictionary, leadership is the position or function of a person who guides or directs a group (collinsdictionary.com, n.d.). The Army defines leadership as “the process of influencing people by providing purpose, direction, and motivation while operating to accomplish the mission and improving the organization” (FM 6-22, 2015). My leadership philosophy started before I joined the military over 15 years ago. My parents instilled values I have carried into the military, and the most important value to me is treating people the way you want to be treated. So when you define philosophy, it is meant as a foundation.

Mentorship and proper training from the lowest level all the way up to the highest General in the Army must be re-established! A fighting force that is recognized around the world should always be the epitome of professionalism with the outmost representation of character and leadership! This balance role of the Professional leader has dramatically needed a fresh approach towards cultural diversity and knowledge development. Be, Know, Do are active words that embrace the traits of a competent leader who should always abide by them, such substantial principals can’t be ignored in our line of work. Forward operations highly depend on knowledge, ability and engagement of a competent leader, this is where we as Non-Commissioned Officers earn our tittle of The Backbone of the Army. We help balance the force through direct involvement in the daily lives of our

The intent of this letter is to make the reader aware of my Leadership Philosophy. “An

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

Leadership defines the capacity of an individual to drive other individuals of an organizations with the aim of reaching certain goals. We can say then a leader is someone who is capable of guiding, influencing and inspiring. A leader is charismatic and so succeeds in communicating his confidence and in obtaining a cohesive group. Without a doubt, the Army needs good leaderships and leaders.

My leadership philosophy is best conveyed by example. All units have standards we must achieve. I believe in exceeding them at all times. I intend to demonstrate that by exceeding them myself. I know that not every Soldier is physically capable of maxing their PT test every time or qualifying expert on their assigned weapon, but if the effort and desire to do so is put forth, then we as an organization can be satisfied with meeting the standard in those instances. I believe in letting all Soldiers, leaders and subordinates alike, be themselves so long as it does not hinder the mission or degrade unit readiness. I expect integrity and accountability at all levels. Missions fail when Soldiers sacrifice integrity and fail

Leadership can be defined in various ways. Walter F Ulmer, Jr a retired Lieutenant General in the United States Army (Dyer, 2015), defines leadership as an influencing factor where a leader gains the trust and commitment of its followers without the use of an authority position to achieve set goals (Sadler, 2003, P.5). Autocratic and democratic styles of leadership are based on two early studies on behaviour done by two American researchers, White and Lippitt carried out in 1939 and 1940 (Sadler, 2003, P.63). Autocratic leader delegates instructions expecting team members to follow through without asking for any explanation. This type of leadership style leads to unskilled followers as they are continuously doing what they are told, without

We are at a critical point in our history in America. For the second time in a century we have been attacked on our own soil and forced to defend ourselves against a global threat. Due to this treat our soldiers have been able to lead abroad; and here in the homeland giving them a variety of ways to give purpose direction and motivation to accomplish any mission given to them. The military is notorious for developing leaders that have been able to run multi-billion dollar organizations. Everywhere you go businesses cry out for leadership, leadership necessary to build better and more competitive products. Most

Leadership has been one of biggest themes of learning while beginning our Army career. We are taught that this is one of the touchstones of the Army profession. Leading a group and defining a vision is leadership.

Great post. You mapped the relationships between a leader and her followers through systems thinking and learning organizations sustainably. Di Schiena, Letens, Van Aken, and Farris (2013) presented preliminary exploratory evidence about the relationships between a Learning Organization characteristics and leadership styles used by military leaders in the field. The literature analyzed the hypothesized that higher Learning Organization traits would be attached beside a more transformational style of leadership that inspires followers. Di Schiena et al. (2013) argued that the five aspects of a learning organization “Systems Thinking, Team Learning, Shared Vision, Mental Models, and Personal Mastery,” define leadership styles. Di Schiena et al. claimed those correlations showed that a learning organization characteristics are highly related to transformational, and transactional leadership dimensions, based on contingent rewards linking followers behavior. Di Schiena et al. further asserted that the associations with organizational outcomes, such as efforts, effectiveness, and satisfaction are learning organizational characteristics that linked the leader, followers, and systems to the process.