Personal Philosophy of Leadership

Throughout my years in the Army, I have developed my leadership philosophy based on the observations made of the good and bad leaders under which I have served. Good leaders always consider their soldiers first and put their needs in front of their own. My leadership philosophy has three major components that ensure leaders are considering soldiers first. The three components are communication, teamwork, and counseling. Leaders should always be willing to communicate with their soldiers, and soldiers should always be able to come to their leaders with any concerns or problems they can’t fix on their own. We should stress teamwork throughout all aspects of the Army. When soldiers feel they are part of a team, they are more motivated to successfully perform their duties. Counseling helps to ensure soldiers know how they are performing. It provides an opportunity to address any performance issues and recognize achievements. My leadership philosophy is carried out through these three components.

Personal Leadership Philosophy

I believe I am only as successful as the weakest soldier in my platoon. As a leader, it is my responsibility to educate, train, and mentor Soldiers. I was told a long time ago by my mentor that you are not born a leader; you are taught the traits through life lessons, military education, and growing as an individual. Throughout the 18 years of my military career, I have been lucky enough to serve under multiple leadership styles that have molded my leadership philosophy. I have had great leaders and terrible leaders. The good leaders always made it a point to put the needs of their Soldiers above their own and treated everyone equally. The bad leaders were only concerned with their careers and were out for themselves. I will outline My leadership philosophy in three components.

The main component of my leadership philosophy is communication. I believe that as leaders we should communicate to our subordinates as clearly and concisely as possible, to ensure they are informed and are set up for success, regardless of the situation. Communication is not a one-way street; I want soldiers to come to me and ask questions about anything pertaining to their military career or their personal lives. I will do my best to answer them correctly or point them in the right direction to get the answers. I want to be informed about problems that our soldiers are dealing with. There is nothing worse than hearing about soldiers’ personal issues from people outside the section. Soldiers should feel they can come to me with issues or problems. I will do my best to help them any way that I can. Without communication, we will not be able to complete our mission.

Another component of my philosophy is teamwork. We base everything we do in the Army on being a member of a team, whether it be cleaning a bathroom or shooting gunnery on a tank. Being a member of a team doesn’t only help cut the workload, it helps build cohesiveness and at the same time brings everyone closer together. There is nothing more rewarding than being able to look at a completed task and know that a group of individuals came together to become a team. I believe becoming part of a team brings out the best in everyone and will make coming to work more enjoyable. When people enjoy coming to work, they are willing to accomplish any task.

The last component of my philosophy is counseling. I believe that counseling is not only used negatively for poor performance but positively when doing a good job. It is our responsibility as leaders to inform our soldiers through counseling when they accomplish anything either good or bad. I will document performance through counseling for lower enlisted soldiers, and on the Non-Commissioned Officer support form for NCO’s. I believe counseling is an opportunity to clearly define expectations, address any performance issues, and recognize overachievement. I feel it is very important to provide feedback to each soldier.

In summary, I have developed my leadership philosophy based on the observations made of the leaders under whom I have served. I feel there are three major components that ensure leaders are taking care of Soldiers and putting them first. The three major components are communication, teamwork, and counseling. These three components are important in the fulfillment of my leadership philosophy. Leaders should always be able to communicate with their soldiers, and soldiers should always be able to come to their leaders with any questions or concerns. We should stress teamwork throughout all aspects of the Army. When soldiers feel they are part of a team, they are more motivated to successfully perform their tasks. Counseling helps to ensure soldiers know how they are performing. It provides an opportunity to address any performance issues and recognize achievements.

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