Leadership Philosophies

1. During the online discussion portion of this class, it became evident that each member of our class had various strengths and passions that led to a greater understanding of leadership, when taken as a whole. It was not until we came together and saw the feedback from our direct reports and managers that information was available to more clearly understand areas of weakness in each of our leadership philosophies. Consequently, we now have examples of successful leadership traits from those among us, and an awareness of opportunities for improvement for ourselves. There are three areas of improvement I have identified for myself, and I have bundled them together into a leadership philosophy.

2. There is no sense reinventing the wheel. The
There I was, at the airport terminal in Honolulu, Hawaii. My family in tow. We were waiting for the Chief who was assigned as my sponsor to meet us at the curb, and get us to our hotel, as promised. It turns out that he was with his twelve year old daughter, drunk on his fishing boat. Right away, I thought, “that will never be me.” It turns out, I was wrong. Not that I got drunk, and left a family stranded at the curb in a new city, but that by taking on more than I could manage, I would put people in the position of expecting things I had promised, and failed to deliver. Getting overcommitted has been a problem for me. I’ve taken the Covey, “Seven Habits of Highly Effective People” course. Putting first things first needs to be a mantra for me. Yet, I continue to get caught up in the tyranny of the urgent. There are primarily two causes for this. The first is that I have a hard time saying “no.” I can trace this tendency right back to one of the charges I received when I participated in Chiefs Call to Initiation. The charge was: “Never say ‘no’ to another Chief. If they come to you for help, you must stay with them until you have found a solution, or another person who is able to do so.” I’m not disposed to disregarding that charge. However, I could probably say, “not now,” rather than “no.” If I don’t, I will continue to be overcommitted and ineffective in providing assistance to those I have already committed to help. It wouldn’t hurt for me to hold other Chiefs to the standard I have been trying to live up to as well. This contributes to the second cause for my becoming overcommitted. I tend to believe that nobody else will care enough to follow through with the task. There are times to look for volunteers, and times to delegate. I am not so arrogant as to believe that the Coast Guard could not get along without me. Inspiring others towards a goal means being able to motivate them. People who are aligned with our core values want to do the right thing. I