leadership philosophy (tenet 1)

See this post for background if you don't know what they heck I'm talking about below.

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Caring for oneself is the base of this idea of compassion in leadership. While this can also be construed and carried out in a negative fashion, the general thought is to take care of yourself before you try and take care of anyone else. This idea makes perfect sense. One cannot be an effective leader of others if they do not have their own lives taken care of and under control. In a show of unbeknownst self-awareness, I made the decision to leave the Academy last year. There were many thoughts and feelings that pushed me in the direction of this decision. First, I was unsure of my desire to commit to the service obligation of five years in the Army assumed by a 2^rd class cadet. Taking an opportunity to fully process and consider this life altering decision was important to me, and fits the aforementioned principle of being sure of yourself before you try and assist others in such matters. With the decision sufficiently mulled over and my commitment complete, I feel better prepared to assist others in making the same decision. My advice in such matters is simply an iteration of my own thoughts and feelings when faced with the decision. So not only did I benefit from the introspective questioning of my motives and wants at this point in my life, but those who ask for and/or receive my advice also benefit.

Of my many motivations to take a year away, one was to square away some facets of my life that I saw as lacking, spirituality being the central component. I made the decision that my faith would be a primary and integral motivator for me as a leader. In another showing of unbeknownst self-awareness, I saw that the very thing that I wanted to be secure in and that I wanted to help me through not only my time in the service but also through life, was the very thing that I lacked the most. I took the experience of others into account as well, some people having recounted to me the difficulties of living a strong faith life while in the Army and especially while deployed in a combat zone. This played a role in my selection of a service organization to work with. Since I sought a stronger sense of faith in my life, I sought out an organization that would help me grow spiritually and that would nurture and encourage an increased sense of faith, as well as encourage new areas of growth and development. All of this took a sense of self-awareness. Without being self-aware at this point in my life, I might have prematurely jumped past a decision and into a situation for which I was not adequately prepared. This self awareness fits perfectly into the idea of caring enough for yourself that you take the steps, no matter how taboo or uncomfortable, to open yourself to new growth and better yourself.

The centrality of leadership revolves mainly about how you influence other people. It is therefore prudent to take lessons learned and consider how you will pass the knowledge gained from those lessons to other people. The takeaway from this idea of caring for yourself is that you cannot be an effective leader without first taking care of yourself, whether it be in a physical, emotional, mental, or spiritual sense. Take the steps you feel are necessary to develop yourself, no matter how drastic they may seem. You will be glad you took the time to figure yourself out and so too will the people you come in contact with. This passing on of knowledge fits also into our next piece of compassion.