Leadership: The Impositive And Positive Aspects Of Leadership

Looking back over 20 years of service and experience, I have determined that leadership has many attributes. Leadership is not simply “Influencing others to achieve a goal” like the definition the Coast Guard provides. Every leader wants to set and achieve goals for themselves, their subordinates, and the organization but leadership is much more than just achieving those goals. Leadership incorporates elements of respect, dependability, trust, service and empathy; when put together a leader can inspire others to accomplish nearly anything. I have encountered both a positive and negative characteristics to these traits, throughout my career, giving me learning moments for what I would like to be and what I don’t ever want to be.
I had

Leaders must be willing to put service to others first; we have a duty to serve those they lead; we must be willing to sacrifice and put others before ourselves, it is no longer about what we wish to accomplish, but guiding those we lead to what they need and want to accomplish. Lastly leaders must provide those they work with the empathy and support so they do not feel alone and misunderstood in their time of difficulty or challenge.
Three practices I found in the LPI, that I need to work on, to increase my effectiveness as a leader include: 1) “experimenting and taking risks, even when there is a chance of failure”, 2) “becoming clear about my philosophy of leadership”, and 3) “seek out challenging opportunities that test my skills and abilities”. The first behavior that I would like to improve upon is “experimenting and taking risks, even when there is a chance of failure”. For me I believe this behavior will be my most challenging, I have never been good at taking risks especially if there is a risk of failure. After my crisis three years ago this seems even more daunting because seeing my whole self as failure nearly

But the single most important thing to me is to fight through each day, no matter how difficult or easy it is, knowing that I have tried my hardest and done my best. I will not give up on myself or anyone