Discussion G

When I attempt to picture myself above my current state, I envision myself as a retired First Sergeant who actively participates in policymaking on matters of national security. This will require a smooth transition to change by accepting the process of transformation rather than opposing it (Kegan & Lahey, 2009). I also think of myself as a person who takes the lead in promoting social change at both community and local levels. This is because military professionals must find something to do following their retirement. As a result of the challenges that I faced during my tenure as a First Sergeant in the Pennsylvania Army National Guard, I am driven by the desire to be one of the members of top policymaking team in the military in order to push for the agendas of addressing such concerns. They include encouraging diversity in the army and ensuring that the military also takes part in other tasks such as conflict resolution. The current stage of my professional personal journey is that I am a newly retired First Sergeant. That being so, I see myself learning and using the knowledge and skills that I have acquired in military to push for policy changes in order to improve national security.

In the event that I am in the final hours of my life, I would take a look back at the things that I did and smile at my achievements. I would be proud of the extremes that I went to protect my country from external aggression. I would also be happy about the steps that I took to disseminate intelligence information to subordinate units. The information was crucial for our successes in moving forward and overpowering our enemy soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan. In light of the above, I want to be remembered as a patriot who was ready to risk his life by taking the lead in launching various operations that wiped out terrorist groups and establishments in the Northern parts of Iraq. I am proud that the little things that I did contributed immensely to our success at large.

At the moment, I am a retired First Sergeant of the military. I believe that my personal career has not reached its decline. On the contrary, I am on the verge of soaring into new heights when it comes to issues related to military. In connection to that, I am in the process of advancing my level of education in military studies, especially when it comes to policymaking in the military. To achieve this objective, I will be actively taking part in motivational speeches that are meant to encourage extraordinary men and women in uniforms to improve their performances. In addition, I am going to promote and encourage social change at the community levels. My social change initiatives will focus on persuading community members to join hands and address social problems such as teen pregnancy, alcohol and substance abuse, insecurity and radicalization, as well as gun violence. When seeking to answer this question, the images that come into my mind is a person who is sitting with top leaders in the country to develop ways of solving the insecurity challenges that we face on a regular basis.

As a retiree, there are various habits that I need to let go. One of these habits is learning to assess orders, and then follow them. The path to good leadership requires learning from past mistakes and history (George, Sims, McLean, & Mayer, 2007). Usually, officer training leads to a slightly dissimilar mindset from the enlisted person, but one which is still founded on the presumption that every person around is within a fixed chain of command and understands their roles and authorities clearly. For far too long, I have been wired to follow orders without evaluating them. This weakness may affect me in my future career life in other areas. Therefore, I am working towards rectifying this habit in order to regain my sanity and rational mind. This is because good leadership requires soberness of the mind and the capacity to empathize with followers’ feelings rather than merely issuing orders to be followed (Goleman, 2008).

References

George, B., Sims, P., McLean, A. & Mayer, D. (2007). “Discovering Your Authentic

Leadership”. Harvard Business Review. Boston: Harvard Business School Publishing.

Reprint Number R0702H.

Goleman, D., Boyatzis, R. (2008). “Social Intelligence & the Biology of Leadership”. Harvard

Business Review. Boston: Harvard Business School publishing. Reprint Number R0809E.

Kegan, R. & Lahey, L.L. (2009).  Immunity to Change:  How to Overcome it and Unlock the

Potential in Yourself and Your Organization.  Boston:  Harvard Business Press.  ISBN

978-1-4221-1736-1