Personal Narrative: My Experience At The Chief Academy

I came to the Chiefs Academy with the expectation to just get thru it and check the box. I ended up gaining eight new friends that are very different than myself, but are very similar to myself. Before I arrived at the academy fitness was a few times a week, and a check box. My leadership skills were good, but I honestly had no idea what I was doing. The Chief Academy has been an opportunity to get away and work on myself professional, personal, and improve my leadership skills. On the first day of Chiefs Academy you are assigned a group with nine members. These nine people are all different ages, races, gender, rates, and experience in the coast guard. The group quickly becomes a unified by participating in trust building exercise. One of them is the famous academy trust fall. These people become your support group while you are away from the unit and home. My group had a great sense of humor that helped get us through school work, and rough times. We regularly went out together to work on projects and socialize with each other. We carried numerous Chiefs Mess conversations thought out the five weeks of Chiefs Academy. On the weekends we would go out hiking together on the famous “group Stephens death
marches” thru the forest. Chiefs Academy required that all students participate in the presidential fitness challenge, and in order to graduate must acquire a minimum of 12,000 points. Students are also required to participate in mandatory physical training classes taught by the academy staff, three times a week. The classes are designed to teach the students a mobile exercise program that can't be performed anywhere with minimum equipment. This allows a Chief to bring those programs back to their unit to share with subordinates, and the value of a regular workout routine. Students also learned to recognize the signs of stress, and how to deal with it. A good leader should know how to read the signs of stress in his people and help them deal with it. Chiefs attending the academy are given extensive classes on leadership, focusing on the different styles of leadership. “W all have different styles, but that doesn't stop us from leading.” I learned that I am not your typical outgoing personality, and that is okay. I learned that I like to analyze a situation, and then make a decision. I tend to listen to people and give them the benefit of the doubt in most cases. I genuinely care about people's feeling, and care about their well being. The Leadership Practice Inventory survey was a reflection in the mirror of myself. The feedback was given to me by my peers and supervisors. I took it as a valuable lesson, that I need to let go of some responsibility and push it to my subordinates so they can learn and grow from it. I should get out of the mess and start focusing on the unit issues and not just focus on my department. In conclusion the Chief Academy has been an opportunity to get away.
Work on myself professionally, marriage, and improve my leadership skills. I have met a group of people at the academy that have been there as my support network away from home, for the last five weeks. My group and instructors have helped me to get myself into a little better shape, by pushing me thru scheduled workout programs, and group physical exercise on the weekends “Stephens death march” on the weekends. I learned I can be an effective leader by explaining to junior members the big picture, and relating it to the younger generation. I truly enjoyed my five weeks at Chiefs Academy, and getting away from the world. To the academy staff “Ya’ll have a cool gig, gracias” Labori
Out.