Leadership Development IAW (FM 6-22) influence people by providing purpose, direction, and motivation while operating to accomplish the mission and improving the organization. Most think that the purpose of Leadership is to develop more leaders, while some believe it’s to send messages through others in need of learning. “Hold yourself responsible for a higher standard than anybody else expects of you. Never excuse yourself,” Henry Ward Beecher. An effective Leader hold themselves and others accountable to high standards for many reasons such as how they live, how they speak, how they lead, and how they act, that all shows through their actions and words. How’s that you wonder?
(FM 22-100) Be, Know, Do. BE is the trust and ability to lead soldiers despite of the situation. KNOW is the skills and experiences needed to lead soldiers, and DO is the Leaders knowledge and what they stand for to motivate, give their soldiers a purpose, and direction. Leaders can use face to face means of communicating purposes through demands. A leader providing a direction includes communicating on what to do to succeed in a mission. This enable followers to adjust to changes in situations through modifying plans. A leaders motivation is to really understand the needs and wants of others. There are some who have a high level of internal motivation and doesn’t need much to get the assignment done. Others will need comfort, a push, and feedback to get to the high level of motivation.
A Leader may not realize it but, they live by the acronym LDRSHIP. Loyalty comes before any of the 7 Army Values. Loyalty is accomplishing your job, your performance, your mission the best way you can in an honest manner, despite how you feel about the supervisor or colleagues. Loyalty is having the backs of your team as you all perform a task. Duty means more than just performing a task, it means accomplishing the task as a team. Not only does Duty have to deal with accomplishing a task but, Duty comes with responsibilities a Leader should know about. (A quote about responsibility ). In order for someone to be a Leader they must show and earn Respect.Treat others with pride and respect while anticipating that others should do the same. Regardless of the situation a Leader will never show disrespect to anyone. A leader would respectfully handle anything with care, especially if they have someone who looks up to them. Great Leaders have Selfless Service, they understand that the ability that they have is not about them. Their ability live to ensure the well-being of the people who follows their lead. Honor is holding each value and living them daily. “It is true that integrity alone won’t make you a leader, but without integrity you will never be one,” Hilary Hinton Ziglar. Having integrity is a big thing when being a strong Leader.They gain trust with many people, friends and family. Risking your own personal safety for your comrades can be Personal Courage. Facing fear, danger, or adversity is all apart of personal courage. Leaders can build their personal courage by everyday standing up for and acting on the things that they know are honorable.
There are three levels of leadership according to (AR 600-100). The three levels are direct, organizational and strategic. A direct leader is like a team leader or squad leader, you are the soldiers front-line. Direct leaders are responsible for building a bond together with their team, as well as applying the policies to an understanding so that the mission gets accomplished. While on the other hand an organizational leader deals with higher rank such as a battalion or brigade. They have to be the leaders that are good at complicated decision making and have to understand the full operation on whats going on within their level. Strategic leaders are in charge of extensive associations and impact a few thousand to a huge number of individuals, such as DA civilians and higher levels of the government. .“A true leader has the confidence to stand alone, the courage to make tough decisions, and the compassion to listen to the needs of others. He does not set out to be a leader, but becomes one by the equality of his actions and the integrity of his intent,” Douglas MacArthur.
“A leader… is like a Shepard. He stays behind the flock, letting the most nimble go out ahead, where upon the others follow, not realizing that all along they are being directed from behind,” Nelson Mandela. With that being said a leader doesn’t have to be in front to lead. Leadership development is fundamental to the success of the Army. It helps to build Soldiers and Army Civilians into talented and confident leaders capable of decisive action. Leadership development is achieved through the life- long synthesis of the knowledge, skills, and experiences gained through the training and education opportunities in the institutional, operational, and self-development domains. A key element of leadership development is remaining focused on the steadiness of our leaders and others they lead. By spreading and encouraging a professional power, the Army develops trust on multiple levels: between Soldiers; amongst Soldiers and leaders; amongst Soldiers and Army Civilians; amongst the Soldiers, their families and the Army; and between the Army and the American people. This is the reason the Army is focused on giving quality foundations of instruction and preparing alongside testing encounters all through a profession.