Toxic Leadership Self Analysis

Leadership is the process of influencing people by providing purpose, direction, and motivation to accomplish the mission and improve the organization (Department of the Army, 2012). In order to be an effective leader, you have to be able to provide a positive influence on others. Leaders influence others to complete the mission or attain a purpose. The means of influence include actions to relay motivation. Positive, empowering influence comes by knowing how to lead, relate to others, and free others to manage tasks (Department of the Army, 2012). A workers’ performance may be dependent on the leaders’ influence. Leaders have to ensure that they are careful when providing guidance as it could affect the mission at hand. Having a positive influential …show more content…
Toxic leadership is a combination of self-centered attitudes, motivations and behaviors that have adverse effects on subordinates, the organization, and mission performance (Department of the Army, 2012). It is my decision to determine what type of leader I want to be. After 8 years in the Army, I can’t name one supervisor that I can call a leader or say has made a positive influence on myself and my career. I find it very sad because everyone is entitled to good leadership. Growing up in the army as a private, I have always had people that were “in-charge” of me. I say that because I never really had a leader that I could look up to. As I witnessed my fellow battle buddies talk about how negative the leadership was, it made me realize that I did not want to be that type of leader to my Soldiers because I couldn’t fathom my Soldiers not having respect for me or speaking foul about me to other Soldiers. So I have taken what I’ve learned from my past experiences and implemented my own leadership …show more content…
An essential factor in leadership is the capacity to influence (Bacon, 1994). There is major difference between a boss and a leader. A boss is someone that is known to be in charge of something or tell others what to do while they sit back and watch. A leader provides guidance and direction and leads from the front by physically showing or fluently relating information on how to get things done. Whenever my Soldiers are working, I always ensure that I am right there with them. This lets them know that they are not alone and that we will work as a team to get things done so that they are not overwhelmed with so much to do and so little assistance. It gives me a sense of pride knowing that my Soldiers will go the extra mile for me and speak so highly of me to others because of the credible leadership that I bestow upon