Leadership Philosophy

1. I have had known many leaders since beginning my career in the Coast Guard. The leaders I remembered varied within the ranks from junior enlisted to senior officer. A couple of my influences succeeded through their career while a couple experienced tribulations along the way, but always recovered. The leaders that had the most influence were those that had a good balance between positional and personal power. My leadership influences were introduced to me during my first and nineteenth year in the Coast Guard.

2. The first influential leader that I was introduced to was my first unit after basic training. Coast Guard Cutter Sedge (WLB-402) was a Sea-going Buoy Tender moored in Homer, Alaska in 1995. The Boatswains mate Third Class at the time, Chad Holm, had an immense responsibility. He was in charge of over thirty members of Deck Force and the daily operations, which demanded much from a junior member of the service. At the time, Petty Officer Holm displayed a good balance of personal and position power. Considering he was the senior Petty Officer of his division, he held a role in positional power by default. He demonstrated leadership by displaying confidence and organization. Most of his subordinates were his age, which was a challenge due to his role as a supervisor. As a supervisor, he was motivational and inspired each of his non-rates to exceed in their responsibilities and career path. He would hold competitions to see how well we conducted buoy operations, deck seamanship, helm and lookout watches, and in-port duty drills. The fact that he cared about how well we performed displayed in his interactions with us and that resonated and inspired us to be the best we could be. Petty Officer Holm sought...

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... is defined by the way I see myself as a leader. I have a leadership ability, which I am comfortable with but I am always refining it as I witness traits from leaders that inspire me. My philosophy is that I understand that I have a significant duty to them as they have to me. I have been granted the responsibility to one day walk in my shoes and become an enlisted leader. Therefore, I am entrusted with teaching them the right way to conduct Coast Guard operations. This is important because the cycle of leadership depends upon the quality of direction that was instilled on the up and coming generation. If the leadership was sub par, expect the result to echo with the new leader and cause problems that have the potential to repeat. If the quality of leadership was influential, our future leaders will have a strong foundation to build on for their subordinates.