One must be able to honestly examine oneself in order to be an effective leader. If you cannot be honest with yourself you cannot be honest with others. Therefore, in not allowing yourself a truthful introspection, you diminish your ability to make credible decisions for others. As a commanding officer, platoon leader, and officer candidate, I am very aware of the necessity of introspection. The foundations by which Marine Corps cadets are encouraged to construct themselves upon are the Marine Corps leadership traits and principles.
Endurance is a leadership trait I believe I surpass in. Endurance is the ability to withstand pain, fatigue, stress, and hardship. As a cheerleader I am required to physically persevere throughout every routine no matter what the given conditions are. Yet as a sister, daughter, and leader I have to mentally persist. When my family is mourning a loss or hardship I do not let it reflect on my face in front of them because seeing others grieve only builds the tension. When things could be better at home I do my best to leave my problems at home and deal with them after practice. Leaders have an obligation to their subordinates to always be there for them physically, mentally, and emotionally. All the same, a leader must always be able to make sound and timely decisions for their people.
The act of enduring ones own discomfort at the expense of the comfort of others is unselfishness. This, too, is a trait in which I have acquired. From sharing my lunch with a friend who could not afford her own to lending my sweater to friends, cadets, and family that forgot theirs, I have displayed this trait often. It is easier to tolerate your own discomfort when you know that it is the cause of someone else’s comfort. Unselfishness becomes difficult when you are in the cold and freezing even as you wear your sweater, and then noticing another person is in need of one. Still, that is trait that enables you to take off your sweater and give it to the person without.
For everything we excel in, there is another we fall short of. Tact is the ability to deal with others without creating offense. I notice that at times when I am put in a situation where I am already under stress, my tact is not as good as it could be. Despite the fact that my intentions are usually good, sometimes I let my relationship with a person illustrate itself in my reaction to a situation. When I first joined MCJROTC, I could hardly talk to a particular cadet without being snide because that cadet was a constant reminder of a person I have chosen not to associate myself with. While I can now hold a civil conversation with this person, I still catch myself, every now and then, being sarcastic to this person without reason. Consequently, I have become aware of my need to improve on obtaining tact.
Knowledge, while it is of great importance to the MCJROTC program, is another trait I struggle with. Knowledge consists of several aspects. Among these are: comprehending a science or art, the array of one’s information, and understanding your Marines. The aspect in which I falter most in is that of the array of information. If you give me a topic I am eager to learn about, I can memorize facts and regurgitate them like it’s my second language. However, when it comes to mathematics and other subjects I do not take interest in, it is hard for me to analyze, process, and the understand the given information. Knowledge is crucial to everyone but most importantly to leaders because you cannot expect your followers to learn something you yourself refuse to study.
Know yourself and seek improvement. This, to me, is a primary principle. No one is perfect. No one will ever so much as near perfection, but it is important to strive to be the absolute best person you possibly can be. I know where my weakness and strengths are and that is important because how can you improve yourself if you do not know what you do and don’t excel at? I do trust that there is always room for improvement; however, I also believe that you should strengthen your weakest links before improving the ones that are already strong. When I make a mistake of course I get frustrated with myself, but I listen to and accept the constructive criticism given to me. Sometimes I know I have made a mistake but I am not told where my mistake was. In this event I look for the mistake myself and if I do not find it I will ask others what I did wrong and how I can correct it. Knowing yourself is how you figure out what to improve. Improving yourself creates a better you.
On the contrary, I am weakened when it comes to keeping my cadets informed. Keeping your Marines informed is a highly important principle that I must attain a better grasp on. There have been several occasions in our JROTC program where changes have been made and a few cadets did not receive the word. Sometimes it is due to my own forgetfulness and other times it is simply a bad communication system. There have been times when I know I explained something to every cadet in the platoon and there was still a cadet or two that did not understand due to the way I explained it. As a leader I need to develop a better communications system and improve my communication techniques.
All Marines and Marine Corps cadets are encouraged to build their leadership off of the 14 traits and 11 principles. As a leader I have done introspection and will continue to do so throughout time. Every leader must be able to look within themselves and make enhancements in accordance with their self-evaluations. Introspection and improvement are two things that should never cease to occur. Accompanied by the Marine Corps leadership traits and principles, introspect and improvement will construct excellent leaders.
Posts
0 comments:
Post a Comment