it is done

Well that's the end of the line for this. On Saturday I received my diploma and commission as an officer in the Army. I have vacation until July 6th, then I report to Fort Lee, Virginia for my Quartermaster Basic Officer Leader Course. So ends one chapter and begins another in my life.

it's moving day!

This morning Steve and I woke up to the sounds of moving trucks pulling into the area (what normal colleges would call the quad). The government pays to move our stuff from station to station, so today people can take their stuff (up to 10,000 pounds) to the movers and it'll magically show up at their next post or wherever they choose to send it. Just another indication that the day of our graduation is coming and it's coming quick!

guest writer!!

I've finally fooled someone else into doing my work for me! My friend Susan has graciously offered her thoughts for your consideration this week...as we prepare to graduate on Saturday!! I can't help but relate to a lot of what Susan says, all I told her was that the theme was "what are you thinking about as you prepare to graduate?" I think she done good...

4 DAYS!!! (holy crap)

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Jumbled thoughts from a jumbled cadet

As my final week at West Point is beginning, the more apprehensive I feel myself becoming. I want to leave this place so badly that I cannot help but think that something is going to prevent me from doing so. I’m not one to get in trouble; I’ve never walked an hour. Still, there is that feeling that as I start to hope and get excited about graduation that something will snatch it all away.

I’ve also started to write thank you notes to the teachers I enjoyed having. I’m not sure how the real world works. Sure, I’ve gotten brief glimpses of it from time to time, but soon I will be a part of it. Everyone says it is good to keep in contact with old instructors for letters of recommendation later on, or even just as mentors. Since I’m not sure how that works exactly, I’ve decided the first step is to say thank you. After that, I guess I’ll just send them emails every few months in attempt to forge a professional/personal relationship that transcends the classroom.

It’s funny how the end of something is the beginning of another. I’ve hated West Point with a passion for the past few years. Sometimes I’m alright with it, and sometimes I even like it a little bit. For the most part, however, I have spent a great deal of time hating it. I don’t like mountains. I don’t like when it is cold for so long. I don’t like and cannot begin to comprehend how people can fail to adhere to the simplest rules/regulations. The weather has started to turn nice again, and everything is turning green. It makes me happy beyond imagine, for it means graduation is coming. Everything looks beautiful that it tries to make you forget the wicked winter that wouldn’t seem to end. I’ll be leaving West Point ecstatic that it is over. People say that cadets start to miss West Point on an average of 16 months after graduation. I don’t plan on ever missing West Point. I may look back and remember, but I do not think I will ever want to go back to the time when I was a cadet.

leadership philosophy (tenet 3)

See this post for background if you don't know what they heck I'm talking about below.
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No leader exists without subordinates, and no organization exists without a mission. Here lies the third tenet in the compassion cornerstone- caring for your mission. Not only must a leader know the tasks to which they are assigned, but they must also take the time and make the effort to know, understand, and internalize the mission. The leader must buy into the mission of the organization they belong to before they will perform it at an acceptable (or higher) level. I would like to lean on my experiences in teaching backcountry hiking and camping skills to Boy Scouts at Philmont, a national Boy Scout camp in the Rocky Mountains of New Mexico. Philmont is home to not only a Boy Scout camp, it also hosts some of the most rugged terrain, unpredictable and extreme weather, as well as the challenge of transforming 10 or 12 individuals into a functioning team.

The first part in caring for your mission is knowing your mission. As a Ranger at Philmont, it was my job to welcome, prepare, and teach a group of scouts the skills necessary to survive a ten day backpacking expedition. My time was short- two and a half days to train them up on everything. This was my immediate mission, very easy to see, understand, justify, and execute. The skills and techniques were all established, so passing them on was not a difficult task. The mission was important because their survival literally depended on it. If the scouts were not competent in performing first aid, proficient in navigating with a map and compass, and knowledgeable in commonly encountered emergencies and how to react accordingly, their lives and the lives of their crew were in danger. I cared about my mission as a trainer because of it’s sheer weight and importance.

Other goals of the program were to produce a functioning team, where each member identified with the crew leader and with the needs of the group. Confidence was built by entrusting each member with daily tasks- navigating, pace setting, and cooking. One of the concepts the Rangers were instructed on was the stages of group development. Philmont used different terminology, but the concept is exactly the same. It was our job to help the group get through the forming stage in base camp, the storming stage on their first one or two days in the backcountry, and into the norming and performing stages by the time we left them on the third day. If a group progressed into the norming stage, they had most likely recognized the crew leader as their leader, developed a sense of cohesion, and performed the techniques taught to them without having to be reminded. The mission in this case was to make sure that the group not only understood the essential tasks and could perform them, but also to help them progress through the stages of development so that their time was not only more enjoyable but also safer and more fruitful. Compassion is again a factor. I cared that the scouts I was assigned to were adequately trained and prepared to face the worst of circumstances. I cared not only because their safety was involved, but also because the whole trip is a developmental experience in which they get to practice their own leadership, perhaps for the first time, and bond with other scouts. The hope is that they take their learned skills and leadership experience and transport it to their home and transfer it to their friends and other scouts.

The seemingly simple idea of compassion is what drives me as a leader. Its execution is not always so easy however. It takes a good sense of self and a caring attitude for yourself, your subordinates, and your mission. These are not attitudes and ideas that happen overnight, but rather something that can and should be practiced and reflected upon. The utilization of a mentor, the third leg in the Leader Growth Model, completes the learning process.

leadership philosophy (tenet 2)

See this post for background if you don't know what they heck I'm talking about below.
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Showing compassion and caring for those you lead is step two in my philosophy. The people you lead are essential to accomplishing your tasks and in achieving your vision. Without a caring spirit for your subordinates, their needs will likely suffer. No human acts at or near their potential while their needs, regardless of complexity, are denied by those to whom it is entrusted. Leaders must know and address the needs of their people, which starts with the simple yet essential idea of caring. Care enough to find out what your subordinates need, care enough to find out how you can make their life better, and care enough to act on such knowledge.

This is a great instance to bring in and apply Maslow’s hierarchy of needs theory. This theory is visualized as a pyramid, with the needs of the individual starting at the bottom with the most basic needs and progressing to the top and the higher-order needs. The trick is that the basic, lower order needs must be fulfilled before one progresses to the next higher need. At the very base of the pyramid are physiological needs- biological maintenances such as food, water, clothing, and shelter. Next are safety needs- security, protection, and stability in daily life and everyday occurrences. Third on the hierarchy theory are social needs- a sense of belonging, personal and fulfilling relationships, and love and affection. When these lower-order needs are met, the leader can start looking at higher-order needs of their subordinates. The fourth step on the pyramid is esteem- respect, prestige, recognition, need for self-esteem, and a personal sense of competence. At the very top, the fifth level of the pyramid, is self-actualization- the need to fulfill oneself and use one’s abilities to the fullest extent.

I have been privileged to see first-hand how this theory can be applied alongside with this tenet of caring for your subordinates. During the course of my service year, I spent a considerable amount of time “on duty” at a transitional house for the homeless. The stated goal of the program was to take individuals that were stable (not mentally ill or victims to substance abuse and addiction) and give them a place to stay free of charge, as well as other individualized assistance, to aid in their rise from difficult circumstances. We wanted people to gain full-time employment, save their earned money, and eventually get their own apartment. Here is a clear application of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs theory. Many of the people that we took into the house were below the first level of the hierarchy of needs, so we got them started on the path to success with things many take for granted- a place to come home to every night, a bed to sleep in, a shower, and three square meals. It is amazing what a solid dinner and a good night’s rest can do to cure a downtrodden soul. The need for safety was also met by our program. This was not only the physical safety provided by locks on doors, but more importantly the stability of having that same home to retire to every day, surrounded by the same people. Those same people provide the third level need. Personal relationships evolve and bring a greater sense of purpose and joy into a person’s life. We often saw with residents that did not get along with each other an inability to focus on their individual needs and goals of getting out of homelessness. Conflict resolution by the staff was key so that the residents could focus not on the conflicts at hand, but rather their needs.

By simply providing a safe, secure, and consistent environment for a homeless person, their lower-order needs having been met, they are ready and motivated to better themselves and make tangible progress. It is easy for the leader to provide the lower-order needs, but impossible to do so with the higher-order needs of esteem and self-actualization. This is not to say that the leader’s involvement flat lines at the low to high transition, but rather that the type of assistance they provide becomes less concrete and more abstract, perhaps in the form of encouragement. Inside all of this, however, remains a constant and caring sprit by the leader. The leader must care enough to only to provide the lower-level needs, but also to encourage fulfillment of the higher-level needs by the subordinate.

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.

leadership philosophy (intro)

I came across something else that I wrote last year for a class. This assignment was to write out our leadership philosophy, which is more of a favor than an assignment. It's an important thing, in my opinion, for everyone to have a base philosophy in life, an idea of what motivates them and guides their thoughts, words, and actions.

This was a pretty long paper, so I'm gonna break it up into four parts. Today is the intro, and then following three posts will be the three tenets of my leadership philosophy.

(by the way, if you have something you'd like me to talk about here, please let me know in a comment or email!)

8 days!!

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What should I think about when attempting to identify my leadership philosophy (LP)? To start, the PL300 course guide states the simple question, “what do I think about leadership?” It then goes on to say “identify what you believe about leadership in the form of a principle or tenet.” I would not label this as the most clear mission statement that I have run across in an academic assignment, but I think the intent is to identify the characteristic that drives my leader actions, that motivates me to excel as a leader, that I live by every day, and that forms my interactions with others, especially those I am appointed over. When I start thinking about LP in this manner, there is only one word that I consider and that describes me and my main motivation as a leader- compassion. Through various experiences in my life, I have come to believe that compassion must be at the cornerstone of a leader’s thoughts and that a leader must let compassion drive their actions every day and in every interaction they have with those they lead and even those they simply come in contact with. Compassion need not take on a connotation of love, but is manifested as a caring attitude for oneself, one’s subordinates and team, and one’s mission.