When and When I Do and Do Not Incorporate Leadership

I’m not always a leader. Except for when it genuinely matters; when a leader is needed. When are Leaders needed? 1. When the lives or wellbeing of others is in danger and you’re a part of a group tasked with getting those in need out of danger. 2. When you’re in a group and your team mates are fighting amongst one another, or are jeopardizing the mission. Those are really the only times I’m good at being a leader. But when it doesn’t matter, I find I’m not too good at it, I just feel like a fifth wheel or something.



A while back, I enlisted in the Alaska Military Youth Academy. During the War Games (with Paintball Guns) was when I needed to be a leader and over time the Staff Sergeants chose me to be the Platoon Leader of my half of the Barracks. In the Barracks, even though I was their leader, I didn’t hardly ever give orders or bark at them, or push them too hard or anything. I encouraged them. A good leader builds up his team, not himself. It’s not about barking orders or being the boss, it’s about gaurenteeing the safety and wellbeing of your Platoon, (or team or whatever). When we were in Chow Hall and I saw one of my cadets not eating their food, I would encourage them to eat their food because with the PT and War Games they needed as much protein as they could otherwise their blood sugar would be in the basement and they could potentially cause the whole Platoon to suffer. I would encourage them and if they still didn’t want to eat and preferred to whisper with another cadet were the only times I took the “strict route” because if they were caught by the staff sergeant instead of me the entire platoon would have to do pushups. So I decided to have the two people that were having fun do pushups and they ate their food, but for the most part nobody had a problem with me being the leader and they liked me a lot better than the staff sergeants haha.



During the War Games, however, was when I really had to be a good leader because if we lost the whole platoon got punished. With 72 cadets on the platoon, you can understand the pressure I was probably under; if I failed I would have 72 angry hormonal cadets on my butt for who knows how long, and that would also limit their progress. What was key was knowing each cadet as intimately as possible. Talking with them as much as you could when permitted to, and knowing their individual strengths, as well as how other respond to them and also knowing the enemy and how my cadets respond to them. Fear? Anger? Not gonna happen. A few cadets got angry at me because I didn’t give them the position they wanted, reasons were a few, they’re strengths weren’t useful in that area, or their was a cadet from the Grizzly Barracks they had a feud with and if it got heated my cadet could be cited, perhaps even expelled and the entire platoon would be punished as well as the other one and the games would end. My orders were to do this cleanly, quickly and efficiently. I told them that we would wait for them to come to us and that we were to under no circumstances head out into the open, but one of my cadets did, he got fired upon, hit, and “killed” and the others now knew to stay behind the tree line. We were just going to snipe them. I had recon over in the east, and the kid was strong, real strong, but his eyesight was even better, so he didn’t get to be on the frontlines, instead he was the one watching all our backs and he did a good job. We heard over the radios very frequently where the enemy was and in the end only one of my team mates was “killed” and they’re platoon, Alpha and Bravo Teams were annihilated because we were smart enough to stay put and npot rush into things and the other teams were too restless and rash and cocky because they’re leader sucked. He was a Napoleanic Bully in my opinion. Afdter a few weeks other cadets were writing to the Commadant requesting to be sent to my platoon! I kind of felt uncomfortable. Like, I didn’t like that everyone adored me and looked up to me, not that it was overwhelming (though it was that too) it just felt uncomfortable, I don’t really like being “praised” or anything like that, but it was really remarkable that other cadets wanted “The Platoon Leader from Unit 4”



Trust, Respect, Virtue, Kindness, Care, Love, Freedom, and Safety in mind for all are the bones of a good leader. To break it down even more, Compassion, and Insight are the two basic things you need to be a great leader. This is all my opinion based on my experiences. Teams should be like families, and the “leader” is either the Big Brother type or the Momma Bear type, (Good male leaders are typically “Big Brother” types who’s primary concern is the wellbeing ad bettering of their team mates and the “Momma Bear” type is typical in good female leaders, women who will not compromise their teams safety for anything, who would sacrifice themselves in order for their team, their family, to prosper.) Just my observations; there was a terrific leader from the Female Barracks there and she seemed like a momma bear, she was “The Platoon Leader from Unit 3 that Occasionally Scared the Platoon Leader From Unit 4” haha XD



--Superboy

1- Wow! Very long, detailed, and well-written. Also I had no idea that you had such experience with any military type of training. That's a great thing to have.

2- Sometimes being a good Leader means knowing when not to lead, but rather just be one of the guys/gals. Equal to the others and being friends with them, and as you said, getting to know them personally. Communication flows much more easily, simply, and consistently, rather than awkward and so spread out.

3- In Marine Boot Camp, very often, everyone suffered for one's mistake except for the one who made the mistake.

4- Part of being a Leader means balancing out the Manager and Teacher. I actually addressed this point in my most recent blog post. About those guys who wanted a position you didn't feel they were qualified for, and then they got mad at you for it. Did you try to communicate to them in a way that they could understand, and the reasons why you felt that it was in the best interest of the Platoon? And were these more of permanent positions or just positions in the War Games? It could be possible to make sure that they are trained for the positions so that in the future they could be better qualified for the positions that they were seeking.

6- Do not feel guilty for earning the respect you deserved. If you knew a Leader who you grew to gain a lot of respect for, would you want them to feel guilty for it? Believe me, I do understand that feeling, however I do try to realize that it's just a self-defeating attitude that is a way to hold a person back.

I've been at this from a young age myself. Mostly my whole life, but I think I actually started patrolling when I was 5. I went around my neighborhood and places with a wooden sword from medieval times. I've even had various superhero type clubs I led when I was younger. Then when I was 16, I went to a NJ Army National Guard Program, and graduated High School from there after about 6 months. Then when I turned 17, I joined the Marines. So I can understand and relate what that is like. But, continuing to learn things, do things, you'll be even more experienced so when you are older, you'll be that much more experienced. And the younger you start out with learning such things, the more natural it is for you when you are older.