Coast Guard Principles

1. The privilege of working with highly influential individuals, and having the opportunity to be continually challenged are boons to one’s career; consequently, success accompanies failure, and growth as a leader begins. Positive behaviors are reinforced by prompt open recognition, while adverse behaviors are addressed privately, and are a cause for self-reflection. Learning from these incidents has shaped the leader I’ve become. Leadership as a definition continually evolves in my world. Notwithstanding, there are elements that remain permanently anchored in this definition, such as: respect, purpose, collaboration, heart, trust, and spirit. Carefully managing team synergy, harmonizing their dynamics, and maximizing the advantages of their

Speaking with genuine conviction about the higher meaning purpose of our work. One important tool to use in the improvement of this behavior is Coast Guard Publication No.1, in particular the Coast Guard’s Principles of Operation. Using the principles to explain to followers the methods used by the service to carry out its various statutory missions is key to fostering a mindset of understanding and acceptance. Furthermore, it highlights the core values of Honor, respect, and Devotion to Duty, and bolsters mission performance. As leaders we not only need to convey how our organization operates, and what it expects from it’s members, but generating emphasis on personal conduct and purpose is just as important. Promoting and exemplifying the Creed of the United States Coast Guardsman will serve to inspire others to connect to the past, find purpose in the way service members carry themselves, and be reminded of the great importance their cause brings to the nation. Likewise, the Coast Guard Ethos should be used to impart the sense of duty in all we do, and serve as a daily reminder to all Coastguardsmen that our purpose is to protect, to defend, and to save the citizens of the United States of America. Making a concerted effort to apply the essence of the Creed, the Ethos, the Core Values and, Operating Principles concurrently, should provide a conclusive description of who we are as a service, how we are as service members, how we perform our missions, and who we

In conclusion, one’s philosophy will most likely change over time, based on experiences, relationships, successes and failures. In the words of one of the greatest men to have inspired my journey through the land of leadership “your word is your bond, without it, there is nothing”, “stay one step ahead of disaster, and run hard” and “when it gets too rough to ride, get off and walk for a little while”. Therefore, leadership is about trust; trusting those you serve with, and most importantly ensuring other’s trust in you; having the vision to know where to go next, and getting there; lastly, knowing what to do, and when to do it. Leadership should be an adventure, continually exploring new paths, building relationships with the strongest of foundations, all in search of a common higher purpose. Leaders create and environment where all can thrive in its dynamics; be challenged by peers, subordinates, and seniors alike; at the same time being inspired by those who perform the greatest of feats. Leaders do the right thing, and do it right the first time, they build upon their best work, and are incessantly aware that how they do things, makes them who they