My Leadership Manifesto There are literally hundreds of book definitions of the word leadership. Even in the ALS curriculum there are multiple definitions, theories, and modules; I even considered using one to open this essay but I figured using an example would be more sufficient. So far in my Air Force career I’ve been extremely lucky to have great supervisors, but there is one leader I had that’s had a transformative effect not only on me, but the organization we worked for. Maj Eric Mehrtens, that name is synonymous with leadership for me. Before meeting him, I never really thought about what type of leader I am or would desire to become. He was my Senior Intelligence Officer at RAF Lakenheath, he really cared about people and the understood the gravity of what it meant to be a leader of people. To cite ALS, he embodied every single aspect of FRL. He was the epitome of individualized consideration, inspirational motivation, intellectual stimulation, and idealized influence. Working for him really made me think about the fact that I may become an NCO soon, and if …show more content…
Like Maj Mehrtens was for me, I want to be that measuring stick for my airmen, someone they’d compare past and future supervisors to. I want to also be an NCO that knows and connects with my airmen, not just someone that writes their EPR. I want to be involved in the process of growing people into better versions of themselves. The best way I could do that would be relying on my strengths. According to Four Lenses, I’m a healthy mix of all four with orange being dominant. I feel like the mix of personality traits make me relatable to a lot of different types of people. I have a strong sense of empathy and can see the world through the eyes of others. With orange being the dominant color, my love for people helps that even
Introduction According to the Oxford Dictionary, a leader is defined as “the person who leads or commands a group, organization, or country” (Oxford Dictionaries, 2013). Though there is a definition for what a leader is, people still have different ideas about what a leader should be and how he or she should act. There has never been a concrete idea of what a leader is; the only thing we know is that this person is the one in charge of the unit. We look at characteristics of those people we see as leaders and use those attributes to compare other people to see if they are able to be as good as, or even better than, those aforementioned leaders. We have to keep in mind that in different situations, leaders must do different tasks which indicates the need for different qualities.
Dwight David Eisenhower (1955), the 34th President of the United States, gave an explicit definition of leadership, “The job of getting people really wanting to do something is the essence of leadership….” The Army, like any other civilian organization, defines different levels of leadership depending on a size of a unit a leader is in command of. Tactical and organizational leaderships are two first interconnected levels of leadership in the Army. Both levels of leadership have many commonalities regarding duties and responsibilities; yet they are very different in the way the leaders develop themselves, train, and take care of their soldiers.
Leadership at times can be a complex topic to delve into and may appear to be a simple and graspable concept for a certain few. Leadership skills are not simply acquired through position, seniority, pay scale, or the amount of titles an individual holds but is a characteristic acquired or is an innate trait for the fortunate few who possess it. Leadership can be misconstrued with management; a manager “manages” the daily operations of a company’s work while a leader envisions, influences, and empowers the individuals around them.
A walk through the business section of any major bookstore and you'll count dozens of titles which include the word 'leadership'. A quick internet search of "leadership" turns up over 19 million hits. The classic big name leaders throughout history, Lincoln, Thatcher, King, Welsch, frame a story within which we all play a part, affected each and every one of us. We have each had some kind of deeply personal experience of leadership, positive or negative, either as followers or as leaders ourselves.
The word leadership can mean many things if you were to ask individual people to define it. Some may say, “Oh that’s the person in charge”, others may argue that leadership is a “position of power”. I define leadership as the person that others look to in times of crisis and need that they aspire to follow. A leader is always looking for meaningful ways to take care of those around them, sometimes with discipline and others with a calm voice of reason. Throughout my career I have had many different levels of leadership from junior people that would lend a helping hand to senior leaders that always had my back and the answers to tough questions. The most influential person in my career was a First Class Petty Officer when I was fresh out of school and new to the ship. I had never been to sea and was excited to learn. The next three years were some of the best years of my career. Each day we would do nearly everything together when it came to our equipment, we would troubleshoot complex equipment problems sometimes late
What makes a leader? The Army defines leadership as providing purpose, direction, and motivation while accomplishing the mission and improving the organization. I believe the Army created the definition, competencies, and attributes based on leaders of the past. MAJ Richard D. Winters, I believe, is one of those leaders. MAJ Winters is known for his command of Easy Company, 2nd Battalion, 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment of the 101st Airborne Division during WWII.
In the military we look for leadership in different forms from many people starting from the Private to the Commander of the unit. Leadership will build the trust of a unit through positive moral or it could break a unit with low morale. Leadership as the ability to influence a group toward the achievement of a vision or set of goals (Robbins & Judge, 2009). I as Soldier I get to observed leaders at their job and
Leadership is strength. Though it is strength, what makes a leader? Is a leader someone who is in front of the line in the game ‘follow the leader’? Technically yes because that is their name in the game, but this essay isn’t about a game. It is about reality. Is a leader made up of a variety of skills, talents, morals, and values? Or perhaps a leader is someone who tells people what to do? Or maybe a leader is someone who can make a difference? To an extent, a leader is built up of all of those possibilities. A leader is someone with a variety of skills, talents, morals and values, and someone who knows how to make a difference, and someone who can guide people into doing what needs to happen. Leadership can’t just be broken up
My Legacy Leader is LTC Brian A. Coppersmith, USA, Ret. LTC Coppersmith exemplified Army leadership from his character, presence, and intellect to his ability to lead, develop and achieve. LTC Coppersmith’s leadership ability directly affected me as a Human Intelligence Collection Sergeant operating under his command in garrison pre-deployment, and while deployed forward to Iraq. The example that LTC Coppersmith set for me is the foundation that I have used to guide each of my actions on as a leader. It is my hope that I will be able to positively influence and inspire at least one Soldier in the same manner that LTC Coppersmith inspired and influenced me.
Leadership is being able to direct or guide other people by either your own actions or by actually guiding them into the right direction (Acumen). Inspiration to be a leader might come from many different areas like your family, friends, peers, or even teachers. My inspiration didn’t really occur to me until I started attending college in August 2013. In all actuality I never even thought of how to be a leader until I was in Mrs. Moore’s Perspectives class. I now have a desire to be a great leader, and the inspiration has come from Mrs. Moore, and my family. I am the first to attend college out of my family, so in a away I have already started leading my siblings in the right direction. Being a leader means inspiring others to pursue their dreams, and aspirations and helping throughout the journey to success. Being a leader has nothing with authority or being able to tell other what, and how to do things, it’s about having people who look up to you and want to follow your example.
A few leadership experiences that I have had come from athletics. I started playing athletics when I was in the fifth grade and I still continue to play as a senior. Over the years I have had the ability to be one of the leaders of both the softball and basketball teams for my school. Being a leader has taught me to use leadership skills that I will need later in the future.
What exactly is a leader? Is a leader the line by line definition presented to you in a dictionary? Is it just the person that leads and commands a group or organization? Or is it something more? Something beyond the obvious managing and directing. Personally I believe Ronald Reagan embodies the exact definition of what a leader should be. Reagan once stated “The greatest leader is not necessarily the one who does the greatest things, he is the one that gets the people to do the greatest things.” Being a leader has nothing to do with being the best. In the end, it doesn’t matter whether or not you are the star quarterback or the leading soloist. It doesn’t matter if you are the fastest runner or how high you can throw your the rifle. What I truly think makes a person a leader is having the ability to do something more that far exceeds throwing a football or hitting a perfect tune. What makes a person a leader is having the ability for looking out for your team. It’s about putting the team above yourself. A leader has the ability to look out for each and every team member when they are struggling. They are always on call and ready to help despite the situation at hand. Leadership is just something that can’t be switched on and off. Leadership is something that remains with a person. It consumes the body in which it inhabits presenting it’s owner with the desire to look after the team not only on the field, but off. It allows the holder to truly care about their team because they want the best for it. It gives them the impulse to keep peace in the unity but still push them to amount to their greatest potential. As Ronald Reagan stated, leaders get the people to do the greatest things.
Leadership is all about having the right amount of heart and determination to help make a difference in someone’s life. It takes certain qualities to be considered a good leader. A leader should want to help inspire others to make a change and to be the best that they can be. A true leader does not need to feel powerful, instead they empower those around them. Throughout my life I have come across various leaders who have made an impact on my life. It takes a very special person to inspire and touch people’s lives. Leadership is so much deeper than having power and bossing people around.
The Webster Dictionary defines leadership as an office or position, the capacity to lead, the act or an instance of leading (Merriam-Webster, 2011). Leader is defined as; a person who directs a military force or unit, a person who has commanding authority or influence (Merriam-Webster, 2011). 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. (Department of the Army, 2006 pg 1-2)
For many years, I have been told by teachers, family, and friends that I am a good leader. Until fairly recently, I had never truly thought about what it means to be a good leader and just took it as a compliment. Leadership is an intangible concept which cannot be properly outlined in a dictionary, but one which must be formed and explained only through one’s own philosophies and experiences.