Military Leadership Philosophy Essay

767 Words4 Pages

The leadership philosophy I have adapted is a testament to the leaders I have been fortunate enough to serve with throughout my military career. I have learned many professional and personal lessons from the leaders I have served with, these lessons have helped shape me into the leader I am today. I consider myself unusually lucky when it comes to the seniors I have had the privilege to work with because I have had a mostly positive experience in 15 years. Over the years I have formulated my own philosophy with the abundance of lessons I have picked up along my military journey. As a leader I did not allocate much emphasis into what my personal leadership philosophy until I was a Staff Sergeant with probably at least 7 years’ time in service. …show more content…

Everything we are and do starts with having discipline. This does not mean that you are ridged in your approach or overtly display yourself like a robot. Simply put, being disciplined means knowing your situation at all times and having the discipline to exercise the appropriate amount of bearing. Discipline is something observed by anyone from outside your organization but it is apparent that those within the unit are all equally disciplined. This measurable attribute can come in the form of being in the right place, right time and in the right uniform. It may also be something as simple as going to bed early enough to ensure you are on time for the next morning’s formation. If you have disciplined Soldiers you will have a unit that stands out without even doing anything extra, they simply standout because they conduct themselves appropriately at all times.
The second principle of my philosophy is Respect. Without respect what do we have for each other? Respect means respecting yourself, your fellow Soldiers regardless of their rank or position, respect for the uniform, your mission and the Army and so on. The aspect of respect ties directly into discipline and one is not achievable without the other. First if you do not respect yourself how can you respect others? Respect is seen in simple tasks like making sure your uniform is always clean and serviceable or that you treat the fellow Soldiers in your squad with equal respect you afford to