Military Leadership

Leadership is not a one size fits all type of thing. Each person has his or her own styles of leadership that develops over time. Even though there are many different style of leadership, one thing that most leaders have in common are their values. All leaders want the best for those that they lead, and they want to successfully accomplish the task that they are given. In the military, a leader’s ethics are what guide them in day-to-day life and sometimes in life or death situations. That is why it is important for leaders to have strong moral guidelines to help them navigate the difficult task of leading in the military. I believe that in order for a military leader to make the best moral decisions, they need to have a blended value of ethical

One example of this is the cardinal virtue of justice, “justice is to keep one man from doing harm to another, unless provoked by wrong…” (Cicero 23). Cicero’s definition of justice mimics the principal values the Army has. The Army requires its officers to ensure themselves and their soldiers uphold justice and treat all people they encounter with justice during operations. Lastly, it is important that officers have the cardinal virtue of courage. Officers need to make tough decisions that could have profound effects on those under them. However, as a leader it is important to be able to make the correct decision and stick with that decision. In addition, leaders need to have the courage to make decisions that will provide the greatest benefit to the mission, even if that means knowingly ordering soldiers to their possible death. Having courage allows leaders to make tough decisions in order to accomplish the mission at

However, the problem with a moral egoist as a military leader is they feel “no obligation to do anything except what is in their own interest”(Rachel 604). Having a leader only concerted about their own personal interest could be extremely detrimental to a unit. A moral egoist does not try to maximize happiness a whole, but he or she only tries to maximize happiness for themselves. A moral egoist would not appear to be a bad leader from afar or when there is very little at risk; however, it is when a situation gets tough the moral egoist fails as a leader. In tough situations a stoic and a utilitarian leader is able to make clear decisions that will benefit the unit as whole, where as a moral egoist will strictly focus on gaining the most for themselves. A more egoist is selfish, and leaders in today’s Military cannot be selfish. Officers are expected to place the mission and the safety of their soldiers before themselves, and a moral egoist simply would not do that. Moral egoists believe, “A person is under no obligation to do anything except what is in his own interest” (Rachels 606), and an individual like that would not make a good leader, especially with the military’s expectations that officers will place the interest of others well before