Leadership Insights from a Coast Guardsman's Perspective

. A job well done is the goal of every Coast Guardsman. We seldom agree on how that goal is best achieved and we have different levels of motivation for achieving the goal in a given timeframe but we all still feel good when we get there. A good leader knows that he must work with the tools he has. The tools in this case being the personnel he is leading. Every unit is different and every unit is staffed with a unique crew of individuals which all have their own strengths and weaknesses, skills and personalities. A good leader will quickly recognize the self starters and those who require more direction; those who work well alone and those who work best in a team. A good leader also understands that everyone has value and its okay if some have more value than others. Nothing in life is fair and some members are going to work harder than others. Unfortunately, in my career, I have had more poor leaders than good

Working well with others is an invaluable tool in a leader’s tool bag. Just as diverse personalities are an asset to a mission they can also present challenges to a leader. A good leader will invariably have myriad personalities to contend with and quite often will have to manage difficult personalities. Respect feeds into making these situations work. Every member wants to know that their contribution is valuable and every member wants to feel respected. This becomes challenging when a diverse team of conflicting personalities works together. Effective leadership requires the ability to ply these personalities into a cooperative team. Setting an example is useful. When the members of the team see their leader treating each and every member, even the difficult members, with equal respect the team tends to emulate that behavior. If personalities conflict a leader has to shift to one on one mentoring to draw out the appropriate conduct. Conflict can be toxic and there are times when members simply have to be professional and act