Full Range Leadership Development Essay

Leadership, as defined by the Air Force is the art of influencing and directing people to accomplish the mission. Accordingly, leaders within the Air Force are detrimental to the growth of Airman, providing structure to the organization, and to ensure overall mission accomplishment. Consequently, I found Full Range Leadership Development (FRLD) the most valuable concept in module 5. More specifically, the subpart I found more valuable is the leadership system; which is composed of the leader, the follower, and the situation. This lesson principle resonated with me because I am both a leader and a follower. As such, I am often put in situations where I have to make decisions, I have to develop subordinates and peers, and I have to follow lawful orders even when I do not agree with them. In other words, the three components of the leadership system affect each other differently; yet, we must intertwine these elements into our leadership development to ensure we are effective, as both leaders and followers. To expand on this concept, as leaders, we must attempt to display character strengths, virtues, and ethical behavior at all times. This is easier said than done, as we must consider each individual’s personal ethics code, values, upbringing, etc. Nonetheless, failure to

In order to survive in today’s Air Force, we must be able to constantly change and adapt. However, the challenge is getting our subordinates to change and adapt at the same pace. This is where effective followership comes into place. For example, in order to get our subordinates to accept and adapt to the never-ending changes, we must be able to understand and buy off on the changes first. I believe it would be extremely difficult to convince a subordinate to welcome and adapt to change if we cannot do it ourselves first. In other words, we often have to be both a leader and a follower, depending on the