Describe your thought process as you developed your research question.
Throughout my 19-year career in the military, I have experienced multiple forms of leadership. Despite serving as a noncommissioned officer for over three-quarters of my job, I fully understand to be a good leader, and we must learn to be a good follower. The military has a natural pyramid hierarchy with enlisted personnel following commissioned officers. There is no question with this form of authority. Sometimes, as much as I want to support someone because they are a good leader, I find myself led by someone driven by toxic behaviors, and I have to patiently wait for the next good leader to enter my workplace. That wait can often be unbearable and an experience I have fought in my career to shield from others. Before the class, I had a conversation with a commander where she asked for my advice as a Senior Noncommissioned Officer with plenty of enlisted professional development training. She stated her primary concerns were how her young officers were experiencing interpersonal conflicts with staff and this was more of a growing trend than an isolated event. This class presented a perfect opportunity for me to research toxic
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It includes destructive, abusive, or manipulative behaviors. These leaders often prioritize their own interests over those of the organization or their team. Toxic leadership also includes characteristics such as being narcissistic, controlling, and lacking empathy for others. Toxic leadership behaviors are extremely prevalent in "Nice White Parents" Episode 1, "The Book of Status,". First of all, the white parents' actions are toxic.
It is up to those striving to be leaders and those who already are leaders to determine how it is seen and treated. One way in which the rank structure is viewed is that of a pyramid. The reasoning behind this is that the person who is in charge sits at the top of the pyramid and commands all those who are below him. The type of leadership the commander or CO deems necessary determines how he or she leads their subordinates. A commander would first, have his sub commanders, i.e. his 1stsgt, company gysgt, and platoon sgt’s.
The book Lincoln on Leadership states, ‘Delegate responsibility and authority by em-powering people to act on their own (Phillips, p.48).’ President Lincoln also exemplified this leadership principal. In Lincoln on Leadership, the author noted that Lincoln executed capable leadership through delegated responsibility, authority, and empowered his subordinates to per-form independently. As a leader, it is my responsibility to develop mental confidence and a sense of independent action in the Marines. Once a man is taught correct principles, he can govern himself.
There are many examples of Toxic Leadership within the ranks of Special Forces. Though leaders in Special Forces are heavily developed, trained, scrutinized, and vetted, Special Forces is not immune from ineffective and/or narcissistic leaders. Special Forces officers are intended to be the upper echelon of the Army Officer Corp; however, there or those inflexible and arrogant officers that snake their way through the qualification course and foster a toxic environment immediately upon assumption of command on an ODA. I have experienced the repercussions that exist as well as the divide created between team leadership and the detachment due to Toxic Leadership. A result of this Toxic Leadership is the death of a Green Beret that took place
Through the past 11 years that I have been an enlisted Soldier, I have seen the value of leadership and the effect good and poor leadership can have on Soldiers and
Likewise, in the military, if ones meets certain criteria he/she moves up in rank. Moreover, leaders in both settings lead their team to a common goal; the military is working to keep the US people safe and corporate wants to turn profits. Civilian and Military leaders keep a watchful eye on subordinates pinpoint their strengths and weakness and build on those strengths to benefit the team as a whole. All in all, though certain aspects remain the same, a clear contrast can be seen between the civilian workplace and the military. Leadership in the civilian setting tends to be selfish as the thought is “How can I use you to help me?”
As per the Army Doctrine Publication 6-22, “Toxic leadership is a combination of self-centered attitudes, motivations, and behaviors that have adverse effects on subordinates, the organization, and mission performance. This leader lacks concern for others and the climate of the organization, which leads to short- and long-term negative effects”. One would think that leadership gets better as you move up in rank in the military but I have a different take. I think is something that needs to be address in an educational manner. Regardless of the rank of the individual, soldiers in the military must complete a series of training before gaining their military occupation specialty and their rank.
Among these five characteristics; military expertise, honorable service, trust, esprit de corps, and stewardship of the profession, I believe that military expertise and stewardship of the profession are the two characteristics that make a leader excel in the presence of their peers. ADRP 1 defines military expertise as, “Military expertise is the design, generation, support, and ethical application of land power, primarily in unified land operations, and all supporting capabilities essential to accomplish the mission in defense of the American people”. In order to gain trust from your subordinates for them to follow your guidance, a leader must have military expertise. Without being an expert in your field, subordinates will not trust your guidance provided unto them. ADRP 1 defines Stewardship of the Profession as, “Stewardship is the responsibility of Army professionals to ensure the profession maintains its five essential characteristics now and into the future”.
In developing this paper on leadership, I examined what was most important to me as a leader. As I reflected on my leadership philosophy, I thought about my experiences and the principals that I have learned through my own self-discovery and the observation of other leaders that I have had throughout my life. My leadership philosophy paper will focus on what leadership is to me, core values, and knowledge of others. In thinking about my definition of leadership, I thought of what was most important to me in and as a leader.
These are just a few of the army values and how they play an important part in an effective leader and follower’s day to day
Leadership in the Army is the fundamental foundation of the organization. Leaders like Officers and Non- Commission Officers implement and set the standard of leader to soldiers. These leaders ensure the Army soldiers are trained and prepare for any hardships they face. The term Leadership can be defined differently based on the organization in which the term is applied to. In the Army Leadership can be described as a "characterized by a complex mix of organizational, situational, and mission demands on a leader who applies personal qualities, abilities, and experiences to exert influence on the organization, its people, the situation, and the unfolding mission" (ADP 6-22).
Leadership Thought Prior to 1900 The earliest study of leadership thought would be the “Great Man Theory. This theory conceptualized leaders as a single “Great Man” who knew everything and influenced others to follow him. In leadership discourse, the Great Man theory—an assertion that certain individuals, certain men, are gifts from God placed on earth to provide the lightening needed to uplift human existence—is associated mainly with Thomas Carlyle (Spector, 2015, p.250). The focal-point of this theory is that leaders’ skills are inherent and set that them apart from those around them and that these traits enable them to assume roles of power and authority.
The leadership or lack of leadership displayed by a sergeant can effect on how the organization is seen by the community. The rest of the management can have great goals and objectives, but if the first-line supervisor 's leadership ability weren’t as good than his or her subordinates toward the implementation of those goals, would be just plain ideas. "Sergeants must be able to organize, plan and evaluate their officers to reach department objects. Frustrated police personnel can lead to negative productivity." (Baker, 2000, chap 5, p. 89).
Leadership, as defined by the Army, is ”the process of influencing people by providing purpose, direction, and motivation, while operating to accomplish the mission and improve the organization.” (FM 6-22, 2006, pp. A-1). In order for any organization to be successful, there must be an effective leadership structure with productive leaders. In the Army, like in any other organized group, a good leader is able to motivate his or her subordinates to achieve the given goals in a specified time frame. To reach a multitude of goals effectively and efficiently, the Army recognizes two major levels of leadership, tactical leadership and organizational leadership, which work together to create a cohesive force.
The strategy used by the military leaders is by having a good mental health and intellect the can grab the ability to understand and acknowledge their strengths and limitations with will help them to be more