Platoon Leadership Style Analysis

Business Issue
Due to recent events and reports of a changing environment, my supervisor has dictated a change in mission requirements that increases the number of personnel and equipment performing each mission. While the intent of the order is pure, the actual execution has caused an increased strain on both resources and planning of my platoon. In reality, the additional requirements are a precaution more than a necessity, which increases the difficulty for myself and my mid-level leaders to fully accept the change. Therefore, much of the frustration for me personally has been in the difference of leadership styles of my supervisor and myself. Additionally, the strain between the mid-level leaders and the leadership of the platoon can be
As a platoon leader, and especially in regards to this situation, I demonstrate qualities of an employee-oriented leader, which means I place importance on interpersonal relationships and the needs of my employees (Robbins & Judge, 2009). I have developed this leadership style because Philippians 2:3 teaches “Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider other better than yourselves” (NIV). Hence, in every decision I choose I place the employees first, which is why implementing a policy that causes additional stress on the employees than positive benefits is difficult for me. Alternatively, my supervisor is a production-oriented leader; he is concerned with accomplishing the task at hand even if the employees suffer. Conflict in leadership styles. Since the requirement does not line up with my intuitive leadership style, I have trouble motivating, inspiring, and conveying the greater goal to my subordinates in order to implement the plan as a leader should (Fisher, n.a.). Moreover, in order to fully place my employees above myself as Philippians2:3 teaches, I had to understand my supervisor’s intentions so I could implement the program without causing strain on my
Initially, the platoon leadership empowered the mid-level leaders to perform a majority of their daily tasks and missions. Due to the new requirements, the allocation of the roles within the team were altered. Since numerous resources were not available to the mid-level leaders, the platoon leadership took over the majority of the scheduling tasks. Consequentially, the mid-level leaders became frustrated since their flexibility to operate independently was removed. As the leader of the team, I used transformation leadership to teach the mid-level leaders to consider the overall goal of the platoon and not just focus on their own self-interests (Fisher, n.a.). Ultimately, once the mid-level leaders understood the purpose of the changes and the ultimate platoon goals, they accepted their new