The Importance of Outstanding Leadership in the Army

Outstanding leadership is the foundation for molding a Soldier and, more importantly, a Non-Commissioned Officer (NCO). When NCOs stand next to their Soldiers and lead from the front, they show the following three core leadership competencies; Leading, Developing, and Achieving. All leaders are setting the standard by providing purpose, setting a positive environment, and giving clear motives as the foundation for all soldiers to construct themselves to be effective and successful leaders.

Demonstrating confidence, listening actively, and displaying character are just a few traits that describe how an NCO leads from the front.

When NCOs demonstrate confidence, they are not only showing you how well they can do their job, but also they are showing you that they are strong, proficient, and experts in their craft. Being an expert in your craft is a huge accomplishment for any Soldier or NCO because not knowing how to do your job could get people killed in combat.

Also, showing confidence directly relates to leading by example because showing that you can do your job to your Soldiers and peers and being confident are all related and can prove that you are a good NCO. Also, listening actively is a huge trait for an NCO because, as a team leader, squad leader, and platoon sergeant, your job is to be a dad or mom for Soldiers. When a Soldier comes to you to help solve their problems or has a question, we have to be there to help and understand them and their issues, so being there and listening actively and actually understanding what they are asking from us can help them out and show that we have respect for them to see what their problems actually are.

Finally, displaying character is a good trait to have for us NCOs because we, as a team, have to show our true colors and who we actually are. Soldiers can tell when a person is being phony and will lose respect for them. Also, who wants a fake leader instead of someone being real and actually showing them how to lead and be that person who they can come to when they need us?

Building teamwork, encouraging initiative, and teaching Soldiers skills are the main three traits I use the developing competency. When building teamwork, you have to have cohesion. Cohesion entails knowing your soldiers and building and molding them into great Soldiers. Building that teamwork is important because you have to have it to accomplish the mission and to be a smooth team.

When you don’t have that teamwork, people slip and don’t do their jobs, which results in a mission failure. Encouraging initiative is important because if your Soldiers don’t have the initiative to go and do the tasks to the standard that you put out or they don’t show up to work, then how will you have cohesion or teamwork? When a Soldier takes the initiative and puts in that hard work or does the right thing when no one is looking, that is a good Soldier and someone who you can count on. Teaching Soldiers skills is a huge factor that comes into the units’ readiness as a whole.

When an NCO teaches Soldiers skills, they aren’t only making them experts in their crafts, but they’re also teaching them something that they might keep for the rest of their lives, or that could potentially save them in combat. Soldiers are your bread and butter as an NCO, and making them the best they can be and perfecting them, and having them perform is a great feeling when they are successful in stressful times.

Achieving results is an admirable accomplishment that everyone in the unit sees. Providing direction and guidance is necessary to the Soldiers because of the servant leadership vs. followership philosophy. Not everyone is cut out to be a leader, so they need someone to tell them when and where to go or what to do, which is fine. Also, when a leader achieves results, they get recognition, and that recognition is admirable because it could mean that they did a job well done and give that person a boost of confidence. An NCO’s job is to take care of Soldiers and accomplish the mission; both of those are achieving results and getting the job done.

In conclusion, the core leader competencies provide a clear and consistent way of conveying expectations for Army leaders. We have seen how these competencies come into play, which is leading, developing, and achieving. Honestly, these are a great foundation for any Soldier to build themselves off of and to learn and prosper. These competencies will improve over an extended period of time. (Core Leader Competencies (ArmyStudyGuide.com). (n.d.).

References

1. Core Leader Competencies (ArmyStudyGuide.com). (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.armystudyguide.com/content/army_board_study_guide_topics/leadership/core-leader-competencies.shtml

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