Reference no: EM133651492

Part 1: Leadership Philosophy

1. "Tell me what your leadership philosophy is for this organization. I don't have a lot of time, so I need you to make it as concise as possible."

A leadership philosophy defines the core values, principles, and behaviors that guide all leaders in your organization. It provides needed consistency. It supports alignment between leaders. It helps anchor your organizational culture. My leadership philosophy for this organization is people first and mission always. I want my organization to always be ready to answer the call. My motto is stay ready and be ready. Leadership style will remain fluid throughout my tenure because there is a time and place for everything. I will know when it is time to turn it on and motivate my team or when to lead with an iron fist (least preferred leadership style). To sum it up, I have the servant leadership style.

2. "How did you come to that philosophy, what traits and leadership characteristics do you think are important for a leader to possess, and how do those apply to your leadership philosophy and the success of your organization?"

Traits and leadership characteristics that are important to possess are integrity, sound decision making, and high emotional intelligence IQ:

• Integrity in a leader is important. Everyone wants an honest, trustworthy, and reliable leader and coworker. Leaders with integrity act in accordance with their words (i.e. they practice what they preach) and own up to their mistakes, as opposed to hiding them, blaming their team, or making excuses. I will do what is right when no one is looking.

• Sound decision-making is important because a leader need to have the ability to objectively assess situations or circumstances using all the relevant information and apply past experience in order to come to a conclusion or make a decision.

• High emotional intelligence IQ leaders has the ability to understand and manage their emotions. They know their people and know how to communicate their thoughts. Leaders must have self-awareness, self-management, social awareness and relationship management. I will use this trait to understand my strengths and weakness. Bring the best out of my team. I will celebrate the team wins, even if it's a small win. I will motivate and mentor anyone on my team that needs it.

3. "How does your philosophy align with your 16 Personalities (MBTI) assessment?"

My MBTI assessment type is ESTJ. I am a fair, efficient, and objective leader. I like making tough decisions and getting my team to fulfill a task quickly and efficiently. I am down-to-earth, practical, and sensible. When I make a decision, I consider the pros and cons and determine the most logical process. I also like to brainstorm with my team before making a final decision.

4. "What leaders in your life influenced your leadership philosophy and style?"

• CDR (ret) H: Taught me the importance of being great at the job. He inspired me so much because he was a Mustang with over 36 years of service. I still admire him till this day. He is a no-nonsense and get the job done right the first time.

• AKCM (ret) N: Taught me how to lead from the front and how to not take any excuses from people. Also taught me how to care for your people. He was one of the many senior enlisted leader that has had a profound impact on my leadership style of mission first and people always.

• CAPT V: Taught me the importance of family, and work balance. He led by example. He had a saying "work will be there tomorrow."

Part 2: Interview Summary

Background: I interviewed a super star O-5 (CDR V) who will take command soon. He talked about his tour experience on a CG (Cruiser) ship.

Most Challenging Leadership/Command Issue: Overall lack of manning in the Supply Department for a deploying Cruiser. Culinary Specialist were going to be 6 of 16 (~38%) and Logistics Specialist were slated to be 6 of 12 (50%), with no senior enlisted (E7 or above) in the department until ~4 months into deployment - only two E6s in department.

Decision-making Process: Utilized personnel by cross-training (learning other jobs that is not normally a job the Sailor would perform on a day-to-day basis) to ensure we were supporting the mission while communicating with leadership where we would plan to take risks and/or provide degraded services.

Skills/Competencies Used: Constant and transparent communication was key, both on and off the ship with key stakeholders. Trying to determine where we could receive temporary personnel to fill voids and expedite the transfer of Sailors (when possible) to increase overall manning. Additionally, decision making to continually prioritize requirements based on urgency and need. Then communicating when certain priorities/requirements would not be met in a timely fashion based on manning and give realistic timelines for completion.

Preparation: Communicate any issues early and often to any stakeholders. Additionally, empower and trust Sailors with increased responsibilities (if deserving and when possible).

Outcome: Had a successful ~8 month deployment. However, the deployment was extra tough on Sailors within the department to make-up for manning shortfalls. Had to ask they work more than expected and take on increased responsibilities.

Decisions They Would Change: Communicate earlier with other entities to see if any additional personnel could be utilize across other commands. My shipboard leadership was aware of the pending issue on deployment, but in their preparation for deployment, was not their top priority. If I asked earlier, there is the potential I could have found other Sailors to join us on deployment until our manning increased.

Criticisms: He blamed himself, for not utilizing every resource possible prior to deploying.

Resources Used: Continually consulted peers to seek advice. Constant communication with team to ensure they were able to handle the increased workload. Minimizing requirements while not effecting the mission or morale.

Part 3: Interview Analysis

Manning issues are common throughout the Navy. Whether you are on a ship or at a shore command. Every leader dreads manning shortfalls. Especially when you have to deploy for over 6 month. Vice Adm. Roy Kitchener said this about manning shortfalls, "We need to man our ships to the right requirement across the OFRP [Optimized Fleet Readiness Plan], not just when they are ready to deploy." That is not a long-time solution," Kitchener said. "It adds stress on our Sailors, and thereby the force."

The culture of the organization reflects the attitude and example of the leader. Schein states, "Cultures and leadership are two sides of the same coin in that leaders create cultures when they create groups and organizations." Leaders must have forward thinking and stay ahead of the any issues that might arise.

In this case, CDR V had to work through a manning shortfall while on deployment. Manning shortfall is not an easy thing to balance. Only a few leaders know to how to overcome a manning shortfall and meet the mission requirement at the same time. CDR V leadership philosophy is people first (servant leadership). He was concerned about their well-being. He had to balance their health and the mission. He is concern about culture because he wanted his Sailors at their best.

My leadership philosophy parallels CDR V. Thanks to AKCM N's mentorship, I learned how to put people first and mission always. Before AKCM N mentored me, I was a mission, mission guy with somewhat low emotional intelligence and really did not consider people's feelings. I really appreciate AKCM N's mentorship because I look at the big picture instead of being tunnel vision.

In conclusion, what matters the most in leadership is the unique connection forged between a leader and each and every individual member of the team. It is important for a leader to be engaged and stay engaged throughout their tenure in a command leadership role. In doing so the leader will keep their people focused on the mission at hand. As Master Chief Petty Officer of the Navy, Delbert D. Black (MCPON BLACK CHARGE.PDF (defense.gov) states, "Leadership is an attribute that cannot be issued through a supply system or injected by a hypodermic needle. It can only come from an acquired set of values: honor, duty, self-discipline and dedication to service. Our leaders must [also] have patience, understanding, imagination, foresight and an appropriate sense of restraint. I don't feel that I had the same leadership philosophy as an awful lot of the others. My philosophy is to make 'em want to do something as well as you do." I concur with MCPON Black take on leadership philosophy. You have a little bit of all styles of leadership because it is important to have your sole purpose on the mission and think about only the mission. As a leader you must be able to do the things you are telling your Sailors or worker to do. You have to demonstrate this action by action first. Either you have done it in the past or you will do it in the future so you are not a hypocrite. Your Sailors and workers are watching and need a leader that can back up with what they are saying or commanding.