Leadership Reflection Paper

Running head: LEADERSHIP REFLECTION

Leadership Reflection Paper

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            Leadership is an important part of the business world. If there is no one to take charge the organization would soon fall apart. Being a leader is not easy. Many people are thrust into leadership roles and are either incapable of leading or are too inexperienced to lead. In my life, I have met people who were not ready to lead and how they acted has influenced how I view leadership. Just being in a leadership position does not make a person a leader; a leader has to inspire the people with either personal skills or knowledge.

            In the Marine Corps, a corporal is a squad lead. He is in charge of a group of lower- ranking Marines. During my first year in the Marine Corps, I attended the promotion ceremony of a person being promoted to the rank of corporal. This person had been a critic of the people that were a higher rank then he. He often complained about the pointless tasks they had us do and the total lack of respect they showed to the lower ranks. After obtaining some level of authority his attitude toward his now fellow non-commissioned officers was very different. He would yell and scream at the smallest incident. He took the power he had and let it go straight to his head to the point where the people that were under him would go out of their way to make him look bad. This event taught me that being a leader means working with your subordinates and not taking your position so seriously that you make them resent you.

            Near the end of my military career, I witnessed another promotion. This time it was a corporal that would be in charge of me and the other Marines in the platoon. Before being promoted, the Marine was often late to daily formations and he did not know how to do his job at all. Even though he had been in the military a few years, he still acted like a civilian, almost as if he still did not understand the Marine Corps culture. Things did not change after this man was promoted; he still did not know how to do the jobs in the warehouse and we all knew it. Since all his subordinates knew he was in over his head, we would often disrespect him in front of higher ranking Marines. He was often pulled to the side by his superiors because he had made a mistake on some paper work. When he was asked a question, it was always “I do not know” or” go ask the sergeant”. His inability to run the warehouse became so obvious that our sergeant stopped going to the corporal when something needed to be done. The sergeant had known me for years and he knew I could do my job and I could get my peers to work harder than the corporal ever could so he started to give me the tasks that needed to be accomplished. A few times, confided in me that I would have made a much better non-commissioned officer. This event not only gave me practical experience in leading people but it also taught me that to be a good leader, you must have confidence in your abilities and decisions as well as a superior knowledge of the job. The people that work under and over you can tell if you are ineffective as a leader.

            Being a leader is about respecting the people under you and knowing their jobs as well as your own. But do not ever think you may know more than they do just because you are the one in charge. Learning from failure, both yours and someone else’s offers some of the best examples of what makes or breaks a leader. A person who remembers having to follow under a weak leader and is able to identify what made that person wrong to lead has the potential to use that experience to his or her advantage. A leader is someone people want to follow and not someone people have to follow. A person can be in charge and still not be a leader. It is important to always remember that when in a position of authority. Respect and knowledge are two of the most vital elements a leader must acquire. Understand that if you respect your people and have the knowledge required to be in your position, then leadership will happen naturally. A good leader does not force people to perform; a good leader creates an environment where they want to perform.