My Leadership Credo "Mission Accomplishment"

My Leadership Credo "Mission Accomplishment"

My training to become a United States Marine began when the bus reached Marine Corps Recruit Depot, Parris Island, South Carolina. I was awakened from a sound sleep by a screaming man telling everybody to get off the bus, and get outside on the yellow foot prints. This was my first encounter with a Marine Drill Instructor. He had my undivided attention, and I followed his order without hesitation. Right before my eyes the building blocks to how to be a leader of Marines was being revealed to me. At the time I did not put two and two together, but my philosophy of leadership, "Mission Accomplishment" was born. Not until after completing my primary military occupational school in Memphis TN, and received orders to Marine Corps Air Station Tustin, located in Southern California, and checked in to my new command Heavy Medium Training Squadron 301 that my philosophy of leadership became known to me. This occurred

when The first day I checked into the Avionics Division I had my initial indoctrination with the Avionics Chief. This proved to be a defining moment in my military career. In a 10 minute conversation with Master Gunnery Sergeant (MGySgt) Donald D. Dewitt, he revealed my weakness as a leader. He also revealed how to use my strength's to accomplish a mission. By being firm, fair, and consistent, in my leadership, I could strengthen my weaknesses and ensure mission accomplishment.

Being firm, fair, and consistent in my leadership style has always enabled me to achieve mission accomplishment. Right from the beginning, being a firm leader proved to be my toughest challenge. I inadvertently alienated others and made myself unapproachable to both my peers and subordinates. I accomplished this by micro managing, stating my opinions and wishes, and issuing orders with too much force. My professional demeanor I projected was of a Model Marine, "with no heart." I never questioned the firmness in which I trained and led my Marines to accomplish the mission. My immediate superiors always praised me on my conduct and mission accomplishment. They would always say, "If you want a job done right, you are the man." With reinforcement such as that, it never occurred to me that I had had a flaw in my leadership style.

I subsequently transferred to a unit that was more "troop welfare" oriented toward accomplishing the mission. My new superiors, picked up on my shortcomings when dealing with my peers and the forcefulness I used when I was dealing with subordinates. My immediate superior informally counseled me concerning the negative impact I was causing within the work center as well as my lack of concern for "troop welfare." Eventually, I was formally counseled and transferred out of the work center. Only then, did I decide to reevaluate my leadership style. What I discovered was my style of firm leadership was sound; however, my execution was less than perfect. I realized then that I needed to adapt and modify my leadership style. I had to learn to factor "troop welfare" into the equation, and to achieve mission accomplishment. Once I made the appropriate changes, I became more effective as a trainer, and my fairness as a leader increased immensely.

Being a fair leader is a necessity. This characteristic of leadership has helped me gain my Marines' confidence and trust. I accomplished this through initial,

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