Military Leadership Analysis

Effective and efficient leadership and management lead to effective and efficient operations, conversely ineffective or “toxic” leadership and management will lead to degraded unit effectiveness and efficiency. Leadership and management are skills that are interwoven together and like many other skills they can be improved through experience, time, and practice. According to ADP 6-22 (2012) “An Army leader is anyone who by virtue of assumed role or assigned responsibility inspires and influences people to accomplish organizational goals. Army leaders motivate people both inside and outside the chain of command to pursue actions, focus thinking and shape decisions for the greater good of the organization” (ADP 6-22, p. 1). Through my many
years in the Army I have watched our operations change from Cold War Era garrison Army into a complex Counterinsurgency force, with this I have seen many great leadership examples and many poor leadership examples, it is from all of these experiences that I try to continually develop my own unique leadership style. I also feel that there are certain characteristics that all good leaders have such as setting the example, integrity, good communication, and discipline to name a few. ADP 6-22 states that “leadership is the process of influencing people by providing purpose, direction, and motivation to accomplish the mission and improve the organization” (ADP 6-22, p.1). Throughout my career in the Army I have had many different interactions both with leadership and in a position of leadership, through these many experiences, both good and bad, I have attempted to mold my own leadership style in order to be as effective as possible in accomplishing the missions that are given to me or my organization. One of the best examples of great leadership that I have experienced was with one of my former commanders, CPT Arras, as a leader he excelled at leadership and management in every way imaginable. CPT Arras was an individual that provided the purpose, direction, and motivation both through his actions and his commands. He set the bar extremely high for anyone to attain, but yet he never would put another individual down just because they were unable to achieve that same level as he could, but he would push everyone to dig just a bit deeper and go beyond what they thought was possible. CPT Arras demonstrated many of the characteristics of a great leader and most importantly he never became complacent, he continued to grow and strive to be better all the time. I learned many lessons from him in the 14 months that he was my commander, but the lesson that I try to keep with me from his leadership is that we can all push just a little harder or dig a little bit deeper and by doing that we set the example for the next group that is coming up behind us. It is my goal to take this knowledge from him and try and impart that on every Soldier and Non Commissioned Officer (NCO) that I meet because in doing so I can create a much better Army as a whole thus making everyone’s job easier and more effective. Integrity is not only one of the Army values, but it is at the foundation of every good leader that I have had experienced in my career.
Merriam-Webster (n.d.) defines integrity as “firm adherence to a code of especially moral or artistic values” (n.p.). To me as a leader integrity not only means this but it also means to admit when you have made a mistake and not turn your back on those that you are serving with. I have experienced many leaders that felt they had to be perfect in order to lead Soldiers and would often pass their mistakes onto others or even worse be unwilling to make the tough decisions for fear of failure. As military leaders we are often confronted by tough decisions that involve a high level of risk to complete certain missions, to me integrity also means being willing to make those tough decisions and stand behind the choice that we have made to accomplish the
mission. Another aspect of leadership is that we as leaders, especially senior leaders, must become flexible and adaptable to the ever changing and complex environment that we may find ourselves in. From being a company first sergeant to a senior level advisor at the division level or higher we must understand how to adapt to our environment and become the best possible leader for our seniors, peers, and subordinates. Often times I have found that certain individuals respond better to different styles of leadership, we as leaders cannot just assume that by taking a class or being an authoritarian style leader will always work. For some individuals we will not get the best or most effective effort from them with just one style of leadership. With a decrease in the size of the force but no decrease in the scope and size of our mission it is essential that we are able to get the highest performance from the Soldiers that we have, this is where developing the ability to maximize potential and effort is vital. It is my goal as a leader to continue to develop my own methods of management that maximizes performance, some of the techniques I try are not always successful and some are great in the situation that they are applied. It is my position that leadership must not become stagnant or else we are setting ourselves as well as our troops up for failure. Finally I would like to discuss management, it is my opinion that in the Army management is a multifaceted concept that includes not only management of personnel but also management of one’s self.
The Army as a career is a very complex environment, the burdens that are placed on Soldiers and their families are unlike any that normal everyday individuals face. Very few jobs in this world require the sacrifices that being a Soldier does, this is one of the concepts that as I have grown in my career I have become more aware of. As I have moved up in my career I have also realized that it is imperative that I develop the ability to manage the stresses associated with this. From entering the Army as a young single Soldier to now being a married senior noncommissioned officer with two children I have significantly more to manage with not only my daily work load but also with my home life. This is why I have tried my best to be able to prioritize my missions and to give myself the time to balance my work requirements with my personal commitments. This is where I feel some fellow leaders fail at one or both and have failures in one or both areas because of it. I know from experience that personal life will interfere with work and work life will interfere with home if not properly
managed. Leadership in the Army is as complex as the world in which we live in, but it is a skill and like any other skill we have the ability to hone and develop that skill. Just as in other aspects of life some are born as natural leaders but with hard work and dedication anyone can become a good leader and some with the right effort can become great. It is my goal to continue to sharpen my skill set and try to become as good as some of the great leaders that I look up to as individuals that I would like to be someday. It is because of them that I am continually working to be the best leader I can be, and it is for the young Soldier that I will lead that I will continue to work to be the best leader they deserve.