My Leadership Philosophy: Accomplishment With Soldier Welfare

I have had the opportunity and privilege to work with a variety of military and non-military leaders who taught me important lessons in leadership. I obtained these lessons through direct mentorship or observation as I watched how they conducted themselves. Those lessons, combined with my own personal beliefs and experiences, have helped me develop my own leadership philosophy. My leadership philosophy focuses on balancing mission accomplishment with Soldier welfare. As a leader, I place significant emphasis on creating an environment built on trust and mutual respect, personal and professional development, and Soldier welfare.
I have never been a part of toxic or ineffective team during my time in service, but I have been a part of a larger unit that was toxic. My observations have led me to believe that a lack of trust and mutual respect contributes significantly to toxic and ineffective environments. I have always treated those I work with as family instead of coworkers. I have found that Soldiers are willing to do more for each other and put in extra effort if the team bonds transcend the typical superficial ones. Some ways that I have built these familial bonds was through effective informal and formal counseling, hosting unit morale events that include families,

and simply taking an interest in everyone that I work with and valuing what they say.
As a Soldier, I have always done everything I could to support the Army mission, but rarely had opportunities to focus on myself. Initially, I believed that was just the way things were, but I have taken on a different perspective in recent years. I started to look for opportunities for improvement for my Soldiers and myself, which included personal and professional development. One personal development area that I always emphasize is civilian education. I always encourage my Soldiers to pursue a civilian education and take advantage of tuition assistance. I believe civilian education is important because it can increase your overall knowledge, set you apart your peers, and prepare you for success after your military career. Several professional development opportunities that I always emphasize are section training, distance learning, and resident courses. I encourage these types of opportunities to help my Soldiers improve their tradecraft competency and to learn additional skills. I also allow my Soldiers to instruct others so that they can one day replace the Army’s current leaders.
I have observed a significant amount of leadership toxicity during my time in service.

As a result, I have taken every opportunity to maintain a high level of morale within my sphere of influence. I have done this by coordinating unit and section social events, encouraging single Soldiers to participate in Better Opportunities for Single Soldiers (BOSS) events, and providing my Soldiers with additional personal time when able. I believe morale is important because low morale can be responsible for outstanding Soldiers leaving the service or even lead them to taking their own lives. I will always look for opportunities to improve morale because it will benefit the Soldiers and the Army in the

end.
As a leader, I believe that it is critical to create an environment built on trust and mutual respect, personal and professional development, and Soldier welfare. I have learned that I must be adaptive because every assignment will be different and will have different personalities. As a result, I have worked on making myself better in all aspects so I can adapt my leadership style to different situations in order to balance mission accomplishment with Soldier welfare.