Personal Leaderhip Platform
Personal Leadership Platform
Ryan M. Reynolds
University of Oklahoma
Personal Leadership Platform
My leadership platform will focus on three main leadership traits: vision, competence, and empathy. Without these three traits, I believe one may be considered a manager but not a leader. How these characteristics are developed, employed, and classified will also be covered. It is important to note that leadership must be built on a foundation of honesty and trust, otherwise, the successes will be far outnumbered by the failures as subordinates lose trust in the vision regardless of the competence and see empathy as manipulation. Built on a foundation of honesty and trust, however, subordinates will be carried forward by the competent vision of an empathetic leader. One of the greatest examples of vision is illustrated by President Lincoln. His predecessor had already given up on the South as a lost cause and was content with letting them secede from the Union (Phillips, 2009). Lincoln, on the other hand, had a clear and inspiring vision of a unified United States of America. His ability to persuade others to realize that vision is a trait worth developing and employing. Yukl (2010) said, “vision can provide a sense of continuity for followers by linking past events and present strategies to a vivid image of a better future for the organization” (loc. 7845). As the second in command of a large company in a mostly administrative Army organization, I have noticed that soldiers are always trying to define what is their responsibility so they don’t end up doing more work than they absolutely have to, saying “that’s not my lane.” I am working on developing a vision that I can continually articulate to those around me to show that there is no glory in doing as little as possible. Soldiers that take the initiative and complete tasks that others willingly give up, become more valuable, influential, and better prepared to take on more
Ryan M. Reynolds
University of Oklahoma
Personal Leadership Platform
My leadership platform will focus on three main leadership traits: vision, competence, and empathy. Without these three traits, I believe one may be considered a manager but not a leader. How these characteristics are developed, employed, and classified will also be covered. It is important to note that leadership must be built on a foundation of honesty and trust, otherwise, the successes will be far outnumbered by the failures as subordinates lose trust in the vision regardless of the competence and see empathy as manipulation. Built on a foundation of honesty and trust, however, subordinates will be carried forward by the competent vision of an empathetic leader. One of the greatest examples of vision is illustrated by President Lincoln. His predecessor had already given up on the South as a lost cause and was content with letting them secede from the Union (Phillips, 2009). Lincoln, on the other hand, had a clear and inspiring vision of a unified United States of America. His ability to persuade others to realize that vision is a trait worth developing and employing. Yukl (2010) said, “vision can provide a sense of continuity for followers by linking past events and present strategies to a vivid image of a better future for the organization” (loc. 7845). As the second in command of a large company in a mostly administrative Army organization, I have noticed that soldiers are always trying to define what is their responsibility so they don’t end up doing more work than they absolutely have to, saying “that’s not my lane.” I am working on developing a vision that I can continually articulate to those around me to show that there is no glory in doing as little as possible. Soldiers that take the initiative and complete tasks that others willingly give up, become more valuable, influential, and better prepared to take on more
References: Garner, H. C. (2009). Empathy: A true leader skill. Military Review, 89(6), 84–92. Retrieved from EBSCO/host/. Meintel, J. (2005). Building a team. Morale. Confidence. Self-esteem. Spirit. The Mobility Forum, (July/Aug), 32–34. Phillips, D. (2009). Lincoln on leadership [First Electronic Edition for Kindle DX]. Retrieved from Amazon.com Skaggs, D. (1997). Creating small unit cohesion: Oliver Hazard Perry at the battle of Lake Erie. Armed Forces & Society, 23(4), 635–668. Tian, J., Miao, D., Xu, Y., & Yang, Y. (2009). The leadership competency modeling of military academy cadets. Social Behavior & Personality: An International Journal, 37(4), 525–537. Retrieved from EBSCO/host/. Tribus, B. (2005). Making personal connections with your people. Leader to Leader, (Fall), 25–31. Walsh, K. (2003, March 31). Command presence. U.S. News & World Report, p. 30. Yukl, G. (2010). Leadership in organizations (7th ed.) [Kindle DX version]. Retrieved from Amazon.com