James Wilkendorf

Having been in several senior leadership positions, this course had a lot of areas of improvement. 

Learning that Leaders need to be able to Follow is probably one of the primary foundational elements within the military.  Understanding that, generally, people may not be aware of that idea is fair, however the loose and tenuous application in the examples here made it very difficult to pick out.

Reply to Angela Watkins's post:I completely agree.  Also, without context, the answers were nebulous in their eficacy.  Leaders do several of the things, if they are effective.  Ineffectively, I feel, they could do one or none.

I've been in leadership positions on several levels, including teams of 3, as an instructor of 20, as a manager of 30, and as a director of nearly 100.  Leadership is fluid, and yet there is a steady current which needs to be constant beneath the surface.  Dependability is a word I have tried to embody, that there are things that will always be true, and one of those is that I will listen.  I may not answer how it is hoped, and that can be both good and bad, though the aforementioned dependability and steady center of my style… >>>

I have done both, honestly with varying degrees of success.  I learned to manage first, as a junior enlisted, then transitioned toward leadership while maintaining managerial responsibilities.  Looking back, I also feel that true "leadership" is often stifled in a great many military organizations when considering the innovation and origination ideals.  Far too frequently the organizations resist change and innovation in favor of "tradition" and "proven results".  Thusly, there are people in the military who become convinced they are "leaders" when truly they simply degrade the leadership value of others.  For myself, I strugged greatly against that, and largely failed. … >>>