What Are The Mistakes I Ve Learned In Leadership

Leadership Mistakes I’ve Made and Lessons I’ve Learned from Them
In my time in the Cadet program I’ve made several mistakes as I’ve progressed through leadership roles; however, these mistakes are not without some benefit as I’ve learned valuable lessons from them. I’ve seen my shortcomings with regards to respect and professionalism and those shortcomings have allowed me to see ways I can improve, and how these mistakes are not congruent with my values.
I’ve made mistakes as a leader when it comes to respect on a few occasions. I’ve made mistakes with customs and courtesies more than once. A notable example was when I once corrected another Cadet for not using them while at the same time forgetting to use them myself. Here I had to realize that I had an obligation to show the respect I was requiring of others and be more self-aware when it came to this. In short, the lesson I learned was “don’t ask
of others what you can’t do yourself”. One might argue that this was a case where it would be excusable, this specific instance was at encampment and at the time I recall being very tired. Regardless, this is not a legitimate excuse for such an action, respect is due regardless of how tired a person is.
I’ve made mistakes as a leader in the aspect of professionalism several times.
One significant instance was during a cadre selection exercise for my first encampment as a cadre member. I was in the barracks with several Cadets who I was friends with as we were completing the bed-making exercise, and we were making silly noises and faces at each other, even as we stood supposedly at attention. In this case I had to be more aware of the gravity of this situation, and how it was an inappropriate time and place to be so casual. If we had waited only a few more minutes we would have been free to talk and joke as we wanted. In this instance the lessons I learned could be distilled as “always be aware of the impression you give” and “patience can make all the difference”. One could argue that there was no serious harm done, since both myself and those Cadets I had been with received positions on cadre that encampment. Nevertheless, we damaged the impressions we’d made with those that saw us, and had betrayed our integrity, regardless of whether we received positions on
Cadre.
These lessons and insights I’ve gained have given me resources to be a better leader in the future. I now make fewer mistakes in these areas of leadership. I’ll continue to make mistakes, of that I’m certain; but, I can say I’ve gained a greater appreciation for these tenets of leadership.