My Leadership Philosophy Paper

For my leadership philosophy, I believe the definition of leadership is the process of being an effective collaborator, listener, manager, and role model which transfers to the betterment of oneself and those around you which in turn builds strong performance and change in the branch of the United States Coast Guard. For leadership, I gear myself towards a collaborative approach.

My reasoning being that after assisting shipmates in the past this approach came to mind right away. This is also true of my role as a school counselor in the civilian sector, I take an active but democratic like partnership type role in that process. This type of approach is based on a distributed leadership style where the leader can learn from those around them

As far as an effective approach goes, being influenced in a positive manner from shipmates, comes into effect for developing a way to deal with issues and constraints in the work setting. An example of this is dealing with staff issues such as scheduling concerns I often have to handle during civilian employment. While working in a collaborative dynamic, I listen to staff on this issue and have developed a plan together for positive change. In that particular situation, I set a meeting with everyone involved and we worked out what type of schedule was the best fit for everyone. I feel strongly that the collaborative and distributed approach that I have demonstrated as a supervisor, I have shown staff that I am invested in making positive changes for the good of the cause. As a leader you will make important decisions, however the input of others around you is important. If you are constantly making decisions you are doing your shipmates a disservice as they are not learning for themselves how to be effective in the work environment. My aim is for shipmates to be able to make their own decisions at times, find solutions, and reflect on

Staff or shipmates can take on this role when they lead a discussion on technology or promote and reinforce the positive stages of change and team building.

For my leadership approach I rely on four areas or domains: planning and preparation, the work or learning environment, instruction, and professional responsibilities. I have learned this approach during my years as a school counselor followed under the Danielson model.

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During my approach, the implementation of surveys to gain feedback as well as force field analysis which is comprehensive in its structure for both assessment and planning has been utilized.

I believe pre and post observations to be a valuable tool as well and have served well. Most importantly, follow up meetings have been conducted and changes implemented based on the data collected. A leader should utilize staff mistakes or weaknesses in areas or domains as teachable moments to be taken as a lesson that can be improved upon. Even shipmates or staff members that display strengths in certain areas can continue work to become even better.

Another benefit of this collaboration is that the supervisor will build a rapport with their staff when they meet to discuss solutions. During this process, it is pertinent that the