The Direct, Organizational, And Strategic Levels Of Leadership In An Organization

Superior Essays
What is a leader? What does it mean to be a leader in an organization? What are the leader roles and leader actions? These are some of the questions this course has explored. Leaders are not born; they are created by principles of morals, values, beliefs, and most importantly actions. These principles of leadership complement the Direct, Organizational, and Strategic levels of leadership the U.S Army employs. Direct leadership is the face-to-face first line of leadership commanding a handful to several hundred soldiers. Organizational leadership commands several hundred to several thousand soldiers through levels of subordinates and are responsible for establishing policy and the organization’s working climate. Strategic leadership focuses …show more content…
Integrity, emotional stability, and social intelligence are three critical soft skills that are required to lead. Leaders at all levels rely upon soft leadership skills for setting the example, teambuilding, encouraging innovation and motivation, and problem solving. These skills are typically not easy to observe, are developed over time, provide each leader with a unique portfolio and outlook. Interpersonal skills are essential to direct leadership. Army leaders provide mission guidance and mentorship to soldiers daily. They must be able to communicate effectively or otherwise certain tasks will not be accomplished on time or to standard. More importantly, a trusting relationship is needed in the development of soldiers as future …show more content…
This phase defines the consolidation of knowledge regarding a particular activity, task, or processes in one person. When that one person leaves, knowledge leaves with them. Functional work teams are the remedy to the “single point of failure” situation in military organizations. The military is one of the best organizations to apply functional work teams as members have specialized jobs but still preform the same function. Effective leadership is still an essential element of leading functional teams. Military leaders must clarify team values, set expectations, and influencing members to have ownership in the success of the team and organization. In addition, leaders must be the first to trust others and share information. Subordinates cannot accomplish their delegated tasks or duties assigned to them if information is lacking. Military leaders are obligated to model the way for team to be

Related Documents

  • Improved Essays

    I Want To Be An Nco Essay

    • 634 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Being a leader has many different meanings. In the US Army, being a team leader or NCO means that I am not only responsible for myself but for my peers and subordinates as well. It also means that I am a part of helping to up hold the goals of my company and continue to help build great future leaders. As I plan on building my career in the Army I am obligated to dedicate my time in ensuring the safety, and growth of my Soldiers. By doing this I will always lead each Soldier as an individual and fairly.…

    • 634 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    I choose to take a different outlook, I believe that true leadership is taking what the military gives you and making better people out of them. Resulting in better sailors and finally, the outcome is an elite fighting force that works as a team and can accomplish any task, including the ones that they themselves do not believe they can do. CMDCM Ronald Clark one of my mentors instilled this philosophy…

    • 1447 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Jones discussed the importance of a leader’s ability to influence followers and provided support by presenting the strength of charismatic leadership traits and situational leadership theory within a military setting. While the strengths of both the personality and the chosen leadership style may be valid determinants of leadership success, they do not always correlate to long-term shaping of follower readiness. Specifically, in the case of situational leadership theory, the research of Vecchio, Bullis, and Brazil (2006) concluded that “it has yet to be demonstrated that leaders who attempt to emulate the prescriptions of the theory will have higher effectiveness” (p. 418). Their findings placed more value on the positive effects of leader-member…

    • 285 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Decent Essays

    What is a leader? How does one achieve true leadership status? Good leaders are made not born. If a person has the desire and will, he can become an effective leader. Good leaders develop through a continuous process of training, and experience.…

    • 265 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Fenlason Leadership Style

    • 550 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Completing assigned tasks and set goals is always the priority to the overall success of a platoons intended mission as well as increasing longevity of the life and health of all soldiers in the squadron. “To accomplish given task, an organizations’ leader and or leaders must efficiently and effectively carry out the primary management functions of decision making, supervising, and making the most of an organization manpower and allocated resources (Mintzberg, 1979). “In doing so leaders can adopt and adjust specific styles of leadership to assist in mission completion. This book report will compare and contrast the leadership styles and characteristics of SFC Rob Gallagher and SFC Jeff Fenlason from authors Jim Fredericks’ “Black Hearts: One Platoon’s Descent into Madness in Iraq’s Triangle of Death”, explaining how their similar but different styles of leadership helped and or hindered their units’ mission failures and success.…

    • 550 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Decent Essays

    “Key Qualities of Leadership” Individuals involved within leadership roles can “make or break” a company. Without key qualities of leadership, an individual cannot fully provide their customers or its employees with the experiences they deserve. Without proper skills and reinforcement, leaders cannot foster a positive workforce or support their employees. Without certain key factors a leader or manager becomes just another employee, and not the leader they are required to be. Having leaders with the skills such as honesty, accountability, the ability to inspire and to delegate, and basic communication skills are all necessary parts to becoming proven and respectable leaders within a business.…

    • 499 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Effective leaders come from all sizes, colors and religions. There are countless qualities that build an impressive leader. The two that are crucial, in my opnion, are effective communication and respect. Displaying these and other qualities is important and doing so has impacted my life as well as the lives of the people around me. Effective communication is a key component of leadership because many problems arise from substandard communication skills and when appropriate commendation is handed out it is more likely that the entire group will thrive.…

    • 352 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    At some point, every leader probably thinks about how they want to lead and what is important to him or her as a leader. During the CSC coursework, I wrote my command philosophy, which gave me an opportunity to reflect on past leaders I had encountered, and project how I wanted to lead in the future. The command philosophy was a statement, written to the members of the unit, about what I valued as a leader. As a foundation for how to approach this philosophy, the CSC coursework described USMC General Lejeune’s teacher/scholar leadership approach (USMC CDET, 2013a). This approach to leadership rests on a foundation of ethics, directly supporting an ethos of core values, mode of conduct, leadership principles, and leadership traits (USMC…

    • 1720 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Clear and concise guidance in leader development provides leaders with the basis to assess their strengths and needs to determine goals for developmental improvement. The Army leadership requirement model was created through lengthy study and practice. It provides leaders with a set of attributes and competencies and the knowledge expected of them. The model provides leaders with a reference point throughout the progression of leader development. “Leaders must improve in all the leader competencies, become more knowledgeable about the way the military operates, and understand how to operate in complex geopolitical situations.”…

    • 987 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Why Do Leaders Eat Last

    • 1222 Words
    • 5 Pages

    “Leaders Eat Last”: A Discussion of Army Leadership Qualities The Army invests a substantial amount of its time and resources into developing leaders. Due to their influence over their soldiers—and the world as a whole—leaders offer purpose and value to the Army profession. Because of their commitment to the development of leaders, the Army established a set of attributes and competencies that define an Army leader. Entitled the “Army Leadership Requirements Model,” these leadership standards dictate the core values, characteristics, and proficiencies that every emergent leader should strive for.…

    • 1222 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Great Essays

    I. Introduction Throughout history leadership principles are implemented to inspire and motivate young leaders. The Army defines leadership in ADP 6-22 as, “the process of influencing people by providing purpose, direction, and motivation while operating to. accomplish the mission and improve the organization.” The Army has a history of producing superior leaders.…

    • 1432 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Leaders are the first experts in the profession of Arms and they must mentor and set the example for others to follow. They are to be confident and educated in their decision making because their choices effect not only themselves, but their subordinates as well. HR Leaders have a responsibility to communicate effectively with their soldiers and know how to successfully solve problems through critical and creative thinking to accomplish assigned missions, as well as overcome any obstacle. They need to ensure the proper training and development of their Junior Enlisted Soldiers and understand the concept of knowledge management. It is important in the S1 world to know all regulations and ensure that protocols and procedures are being followed to avoid potential problems and bad customer service.…

    • 502 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Although the author may have some outdated lessons, the general leadership tenets can be applied in both the tactical and technical domains regardless of time or branch. Leaders must prepare themselves both in the self-development domain and the institutional domain in order to be successful in the operational domain where soldiers’ lives are at risk. Dedicated preparation then allows for further development through the experience gained in the operational domain which could otherwise not be trained or taught. Like in the ending of the book, even with extensive preparation the probability of losses is still apparent; however, with the given training it can further mitigate any extensive losses to a certain degree. The inculcation of these tenets allow a junior or even a senior leader to have the foundation necessary to continually improve…

    • 1026 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The most important role in leadership is a noncommissioned officer. Noncommissioned officer or should we say “NCO” has been a very important factor in the United States Army, for a very long time and is known to be the back bone of the Army. Respecting the noncommissioned officer in the army is critical. They have been carefully selected to train and guide soldiers to the right path. A noncommissioned officer has mastered all the basic soldier skills they have earned their respect by serving in the United States Army and providing outstanding performance and everything that they do which is why everyone should show respect.…

    • 1001 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Connective Team

    • 957 Words
    • 4 Pages

    (Wellens, Bernthal & Phelps, n.d., pg. 22). Successful leaders must be flexible and that flexibility should extend to the way they structure their organizations and their members. Clear and concise communication while staying positive and respectful will offer value to and from members and assure, not demand reciprocation. Guarantee, yes, guarantee that all members are properly trained and equipped after hire. Proper training should be of extreme importance to maintain the team’s progression is consistent and in harmony.…

    • 957 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays