What Makes A Good Leader

The purpose of this paper is to acquaint the readers with an ethical issue with NCOERs that I came across while serving as a First Sergeant. I was appalled to learn that leaders and raters are writing inaccurate and irrelevant NCOERs and making them less effective, because NCOs are not applying themselves. NCOs expect to be evaluated fairly, objectively, and want to be receiving an NCOER that will allow them to excel for further promotion and assignments. An NCO wants to have the faith that their rater is competent enough to give them a proper rating, good or bad, on their

1st platoon did the exact opposite, with leaders publicly ridiculing and berating their subordinates in front of other soldiers. The diminishing unit cohesion led to a lack of respect between subordinates and superiors. Due to the overwhelming amount of disrespect within the unit, no clear and concise standards were ever set in regards to professionalism between subordinates and superiors. The subordinates were blatantly disrespectful, mouthed off, undisciplined, and did not swiftly follow lawful commands set before them. The leaders lacked communication, direction and were unable to set any boundaries between their subordinates. This led to inappropriate friendships, which in turn led to many undesirable behaviors being ignored.

Forbes contributor Tanya Prive lists ten qualities that make a great leader: honesty, delegate, communication, confidence, commitment, positive attitude, creativity, intuition, inspire, and approach (Prive, 2012). The greatest leaders exemplify most or all of these attributes, and Tony Hsieh, CEO of Zappos, is no exception, although he particularly excels at “commitment” and “inspire.” Zappos has made multiple appearances on “Best Places to Work” lists and is famous for its unique culture. Hsieh says that company culture is his primary focus as CEO, and he only hires those who fit into the culture. Hsieh is so committed to creating positive culture that Zappos offers new hires $2000 to leave after orientation if they do not feel like Zappos is for them (Reiss, 2010). Hsieh’s commitment to building culture is nearly unrivaled in the business world, as is Zappos commitment to customer service. The number one “commandment” at Zappos is “deliver WOW through service” (O’Brien, 2009). For years, Zappos, led by Hsieh, has been committed to having the best customer service in the industry, and Hsieh is a master at inspiring the people who work for him to embrace this vision. The employees at Zappos have clearly bought into his vision (as did Amazon when they bought the company for over $800 million). Hsieh has said that having a vision is the first thing an entrepreneur needs to have and employees and customers will sense that vision and enthusiasm. He wrote in his book

In the Army and throughout every branch there are certain customs and courtesies that every soldier and military member must follow in order for there to be order and discipline on a daily basis. Customs and courtesies are put in to place to show respect for Non Commissioned Officers and for Officers of all rank.

Every person has a different definition of what makes a leader. Some feel a leader is inspirational, while others regard leadership as someone who can give criticism and make the tough decisions. Each definition is unique, and each is vague. This is why the definitions of leadership people use aren’t always accurate. Bolman and Deal, however, do an excellent job of presenting four frames of leadership people use to successfully—or unsuccessfully—support and lead a group of people. The four frames presented by the authors are: human resource, symbolic, structural, and political. The human resource frame is used by leaders to empathize with their followers, the symbolic frame is used to inspire and unite followers around a vision, the structural frame is used to emphasize the importance of a process, and the political frame establishes competition and focuses on creating allies.

In the world today, there are leaders everywhere such as Parents, Pastors, The President, CEO of Companies, Supervisors and World leaders just to name a few, these individuals can be good or bad, for you or against you. A leader is a person that sees things through in order to make change either in the mental growing aspect of one’s life, the economics of the world, or spiritual belief. The characteristics of a good leader are the leaders’ ability to inspire others willingness to leader and integrity.

Everyone should be treated fairly. When leaders treat everyone fairly it can build a strong morale, better relationships between the leader and direct report and then trust will be established.

As we continue to learn about leadership, we continue to see the importance of having certain qualities. There are differing opinions on what traits hold more importance than others, but in the end, each quality plays a specific role in forming an excellent leader. Three qualities that preform a role in the equation, and that needs strengthened in my own leadership skills, are enthusiasm, persistence and charisma.

Firstly, in the garrison, the common ethical problem is cheating. Soldier would cheat in the height and weight procedure, during the APFT, or in the training. However, these problems can find a snowball, and it will bigger and bigger, and in the worst case it can cause fatal incidents, so the leader must maintain the ethical awareness. In wartime, the biggest challenge is maintaining the morale without any ethical issues. In the era of mass media, soldiers are a deliberate element of the organization, and this small element can cause a big influence to the whole organization’s morale. If the leader mishandles this elements’ ethical issue the team’s morale could drop and it endangers the team’s

Because of this inherent hierarchal quality, respect must be established between the ranks to ensure that tactical operations continue to fit within a strategic plan. Additionally, in order to successfully mobilize a military, some sort of structure must be enforced to ensure critical elements such as communication, discipline, and accountability are properly maintained. If hierarchal respect, particularly in the sense of customs and courtesies is not maintained, the effectiveness and efficiency of a military is inhibited. In combat situations, if this respect is not well established, it can put the lives of soldiers in danger. Furthermore, in most cases NCOs have more combat experience or, at least, more experience in their MOS. In this sense they are better equipped to lead lower enlisted soldiers into combat situations, to protect their soldiers, and to ensure the completion of the mission. This is why they have earned the position of a non-commissioned officer in the first place and should therefore be respected. I can understand the logic behind this point of view.

There will always be issues in a person’s place of employment. Everyone would love to work in an environment where everyone got along, where everyone knew what his or her roles were and stayed in their lane. Most of all people enjoy working in an atmosphere where the managers provide a sense of pride and welcome to all employees. The attitude of the staff is usually a direct reflection of the person in charge. If the top person seems never to be happy or is a strict micromanager then the attitude of the work center is going to reflect negatively to this. If the manager is viewed as having a low work ethic or uncaring about the job, employees will soon develop that same low work ethic or begin to not care about the production of the work center, this is called the organizational culture of the work area. Nahavandi, Denhardt, & Denhardt, define organizational culture as “the set of values, norms, and beliefs shared by members of an organization” (2014, p. 39). Most people believe that those of us in the military do not face the same issues that our civilian counterparts encounter. Everyone knows that service members live by a creed of integrity and strive for excellence in all we set forth to do. However, just as one would find in the civilian sector the organizational culture in the military also has its time where managers or leaders do not present the best image for others to follow. The military has issues, with favoritism, racism, and sexism just as

In my line of work, I am required to work directly with both officers and enlisted on a regular basis. How I choose to conduct myself has a significant impact on those around me. Sure, I could show up to work and take the role of the test pilot that only focuses on maintenance, or I could be that informal leader that strives to improve my unit. Call me a glutton for punishment,

It is important for nurses to be good leaders? Discuss qualities you have observed in nurses that exemplify effective leadership in action? How do you think the observed behaviors help to improve patient outcomes?

When I was in a unit a few years ago, I saw a couple of members who was receiving rewards and recognition that probably did not deserve it. The members were above average at their job, but were constantly late, and would have an excuse for everything. There was a supervisor who had reprimanded them for their

What makes a good leader? This is a question asked constantly, especially in the educational fields, and especially by the film Dead Poets Society. This film is a portrayal of the battle between the modern view of leadership and the traditional, as it clashes in a prep school with unruly teenage boys. Here we see a struggle between a young teacher with a new vision and the leaders of a school with principles it has followed for years. In the midst of this struggle we also see the next generation of leaders rise up and fall. This is a representation of leadership at its best, and its worst, and sometimes it falls somewhere in-between. However, the main theme of this movie is the stark contrast between two leadership styles. These leadership