Effective leadership styles
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601midsample.docxEFFECTIVE LEADERSHIP STYLES
United States Army Effective Leadership Styles We Were Soldiers Once…And Young John Zappala 7/11/2014 Good selection of the flick MSA 601 Central Michigan University; Professor John Zappala
As our text points out (p. 71) those visionary and inspirational charismatic leaders who are good team builders generally do the best. (Kinicki & Fugate, 2012). One of the great leaders of our time, possessing many identifiable leadership qualities that I believe to be charismatic is Lieutenant General (Ret.) Hal Moore. LG Moore wrote the book We Were Soldiers Once….and Young with the journalist James Galloway. I am going to explore his effective leadership style, reflect leadership theories from our text to his style and point out how this can be applied to other organizations for mission accomplishment. LG Moore wrote the book on the business of leadership. Good start
A brief refresher of the conflict. On November 14, 1965, a then LTC Moore led 1st Battalion, 7th Cavalry Regiment, 1st Cavalry Division in a week long battle in the Ia Drang valley of Vietnam. This was the first battle of the Vietnam War to pit Americans directly against the Vietcong and the first time that air assault and air mobility was used by the US Army. LTC Moore’s leadership style aided in his unit being able to persevere in battle despite the overwhelming odds of being greatly outnumbered by the enemy. (Moore (Ret.) & Galloway, 1992)
Our text explains how a team of researchers found that good leaders were perceived as exhibiting certain behaviors (p. 91): (1) assigning specific tasks to group members, (2) telling others that they had done well, (3) setting specific goals for the group, (4) letting other group members make decisions, (5) trying to get the group to work as a team, and (6) maintaining definite standards of performance. (Kinicki & Fugate, 2012) LG Moore displayed that he possesses qualities that directly relate to these behaviors throughout the book. LG Moore had a vision, he imparted confidence, he had compassion, he setting high standards, he was flexible, he was prepared, he never asked of his men what he himself would not do and always, always, lead from from the front. He conscientiously applied his philosophy as displayed when he flew into the Ia Drang on the first helicopter and flew out only when the very last of his men was removed from the landing zone. (Moore (Ret.) & Galloway, 1992)
In a video produced by the US Army LG Moore explains his 4 principles of Leadership as he adhered to them during the battle outlined in the book We Were Soldiers (Head Buttler):
“Principle #1: 3 Strikes…and You’re Not Out. Leaders must constantly display the will to win, by their actions, words, tone of voice, and look in their eyes…no matter what. Inspire confidence and be visible on the battlefield.
Principle #2: There is always one more thing to do to influence any situation in my favor, and after that one more thing, and after that one more thing.
Principle #3: When there’s nothing wrong, there’s nothing wrong…except that there’s nothing wrong. This is when leaders should be most concerned.
Principle #4: Trust your instincts. They are a product of your education, reading, personality, and experience. Act fast, impart confidence to all around you, don’t second-guess your decisions, and make things happen”.
These principles are directly related to the behaviors good leaders display as explained in our text. There you go
As related to human capital, the productive potential of an individual’s knowledge and actions (p. 8), LG Moore valued great leaders, he was not a leader who was threatened by others strong leadership styles or someone who promoted average leaders just because they were non-threatening to him. He believed that everyone had the potential to be a great leader, leaders are built not born. He valued the successes of his subordinate’s leadership and continually provided encouragement and feedback on their progress. We Were Soldiers, the book, included this theory wonderfully, it displayed how a person can fail or rise on the belief that their leadership had in them.
I found a quote from LG Moore on the internet (Head Buttler) and I would like to relate his philosophy back to the concept of Internal social capital as described in our text as the productive potential resulting from strong relationships, goodwill, trust, and cooperative effort (Kinicki & Fugate, 2012).
“In the American Civil War, it was a matter of principle that a good officer rode his horse as little as possible. There were sound reasons for this. If you are riding and your soldiers are marching, how can you judge how tired they are, how thirsty, how heavy their packs weigh on their shoulders?”
LG Moore’s theory outlines that you must experience what your soldiers experience, being a positive role model, in order to understand fully what you are expecting of them, this action builds mutual trust, confidence, camaderie, and respect in an organization or in this case Battalion.
In conclusion I would like to point out how LG Moore’s leadership style could be applied to other organizations that contribute to mission accomplishment. For example, take a football team; mission accomplishment would come in the form of a game win. In order to win you need to build a cohesive team through practice and both bad and good times. All teams find themselves in difficult situations at some point. A long hot practice with little sleep and in an uncomfortable uniform, while the team coach in shorts and t-shirt sits yelling plays from a bench in the shaded sipping coke. The team players are bonding going through an uncomfortable painful practice. It would be more beneficial for the coach to be out participating on the field with his guys, building a mutual trust, respect, and positive role modeling with the organization.
We Were Soldiers Once…..and Young a historical book provided excellent examples of effective leadership styles that can be used on the battlefield today as well as current professional organizations.
Bibliography (n.d.). Retrieved July 11, 2014, from Head Buttler: http://www.headbuttler.com Army Leadership FM 6-22. (2006, October). Department of the Army. Competent, Confident and Agile . Kinicki, A., & Fugate, M. (2012). Organizational Dynamics Fifth Edition . McGraw-Hill Education . Moore (Ret.), L. H., & Galloway, J. L. (1992). We Were Soldiers Once...and Young: Ia Drang-the Battle that Changed the War in Vietnam. Presidio Press.
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