How I see my leadership philosophy evolving All leadership philosophies evolve over time. Whether it’s from positive or negative experiences a change is inevitable. The purpose of this paper is to explain how my leadership philosophy has evolved from a direct to an organizational-level leader. I will briefly discuss a few areas to support my argument and which I have personally seen growth within myself.
My salient points are organizational leadership and focus, self and situational awareness and adaptability. Organizational leadership and focus in my opinion are the key elements to a successful cohesive unit.Leaders develop programs, systems and plans. This has been the easiest trait to identify change as now I’m responsible for implementing the above and making recommendations that will affect battalions under my oversight.
It is important to provide focus and a clear intent to aid in execution. As an organizational-level leader, this will/may include providing purpose to a staff to allow them to maintain a pulse of the organization and enable them to understand what is happening higher and to subordinate units. This is a definite change as up to this point it was pretty much spelled out for me with little room for deviation.You are left to react to what it is they want and have little room for personalizing. Knowing yourself and what is needed to maximize effectiveness of those around you are crucial in a leader. Leaders need to understand their style and behavior and how it will affect the organization.
I believe most leaders fail to realize the subtle difference between the two and have a tendency to merge them together. I understand the difference as what I say and what I do respectively. For me it is important to minimize the gap between the two and set the standard for excellence.I have always had the ability to clearly lay out what it is I expect from my unit, section or team and what they can expect from me.
It is a time to get everyone on the same page and go forward as a cohesive team. This is a time when leaders must recognize that organizations can’t be rubber stamped with the same philosophy that got you by on the unit level. It has taken time and experience to allow me to focus on a broader population and hone my skills and efforts on the next level. Every leader’s goal is to lead, especially command on the next level.One must realize that some organizations function like a well oiled machine because of previous leaders that have instilled a culture and implemented systems that have them at their current state while others were victim of some form of toxic leadership and require work to reach greatness. It is our job as leaders to recognize the difference and adapt to what is needed in order to achieve the desired effect.
I look forward to the challenge of implementing my organizational leadership philosophy that is mission and vision focused, develops others and gets results.The following has outlined what is important to me as I develop into an organizational-level leader. Organizational leadership and focus, self and situational awareness and adaptability are key factors that shape the best organizations I have seen during my time in uniform. Up until this time I have mainly focused on company and below level organizational skills. By having to focus on a much broader level this will give me the opportunity to show how I have grown personally and professionally in my 19 years of service.
