Whether or not I feel comfortable on the actual act of developing my sources of personal power is a mixed bag...frankly, although I understand the value of exerting influence and the like, I tend to be a passive and congenial personality. But I do realize its something I will have to work on whether I enjoy it or not. I'm not a stranger to these sources of personal power, and I recognize the need to continue improving what I can if I expect to make much of a career out of being a leader.
As for if I'm a likable person? Generally, I'd like to think I am. Admittedly I can be a little daft in the finest of social cues and don't consider myself especially sociable, but I am nodding my head a lot as I read over the table on page 290 of the text. I frequently encourage people to be straight forward with me, and I do my best to be tactfully open with other people, and to be loyal to the people I've had the good fortune to consider friends or trusted colleagues. I consider myself to be for the most part non-judgmental, to possess a very sympathetic ear, and I tend to be very cognizant about the sacrifices or exchanges necessary to maintain balance in my relationships. Overall, although I've never been insanely popular, in recent years I seem to have developed a knack for being a generally likable, or at the very least very inoffensive guy to have around. This has helped me be a member or at least an observer of multiple social circles that I've encountered in recent years, some of which had no connection to the others and could have very broad ranges of personalities.
Regarding how well I'm able to influence up and down my chain of command, I'm more uncertain of that. I do have fairly good working relationships with my immediate supervisor and my commander. I get the big picture goals, have seen more of what the senior leadership has to deal with, and have picked up on strengths and weaknesses. I also try to keep my supervisors in the loop on issues. However, I'm still working on the broader concept of fitting my work styles to theirs, and make improvements to my use of their time and resources. Its not so much that I squander them, but often I try to get by without bothering them. When I do, its usually to get more specific guidance, and at that point, I've ceded some of my influence. Having said that, the fact that a junior officer like myself is able to work closely with senior leadership does suggest a reasonably high level of trust, and although I kind of default to a high level of followership, I think they still respect my input where its warranted or necessary.
Sunday, May 20, 2012
Sunday, May 6, 2012
A520.7.3.RB_SienkiewiczRaymond
In my profession, there is strong recognition for the importance and impact of good coaching and mentorship...so much so that it's mandatory to receive feedback at least once a year, and the organizational culture strongly encourages (read, expects) junior officers to attend the mentorship or career broadening discussion that comes with every visit of a senior officer.
These expectations, however, do not diminish the coaching and mentoring process, for most anyone that plans to be a career military officer understands that most learning takes place in absorbing knowledge from your superiors, as well as your senior enlisted subordinates. Often times, these senior leaders had to demonstrate their capability to rise in the ranks, and it is they who signs off on performance reports and may very well have say in your next assignment. Thus, it behooves the up and coming officer to learn the best of every senior officer they come across, and to integrate it into their developing leadership style.
I do want to add that for me personally, an interest in coaching and mentorship isn't only due to professional tradition, but also because I've come to highly value the feedback I have received over the years. I'm admittedly my own harshest critic at times, and during the coaching/feedback sessions I've received I usually received a more even-handed evaluation of how I'm doing and can draw some motivation. More importantly though, I get a third party perspective on what needs work, which often gives some confirmation of potential areas of improvement I had been thinking about but can just as often bring new areas to my attention. I definitely owe a lot of my leadership development over the last couple of years to having received good coaching.
Most general mentorship sessions are also valuable for me in either reaffirming that even the most experienced leaders had to go through some of the same growing pains I've had to deal with, and sometimes I even gain some additional perspective on focus areas or the kind of leader I'd like to develop into. As cliche as it may sound, there's still something to be said for being able to candidly sit down with someone who has been doing what I'm doing for anywhere from ten to twenty years, and hearing about how they handled challenges that came their way.
Bottom line, having that coaching and mentorship experience is probably the single most valuable aspects of my profession, and even in my daily life has had some of the highest impact on and off the job.
These expectations, however, do not diminish the coaching and mentoring process, for most anyone that plans to be a career military officer understands that most learning takes place in absorbing knowledge from your superiors, as well as your senior enlisted subordinates. Often times, these senior leaders had to demonstrate their capability to rise in the ranks, and it is they who signs off on performance reports and may very well have say in your next assignment. Thus, it behooves the up and coming officer to learn the best of every senior officer they come across, and to integrate it into their developing leadership style.
I do want to add that for me personally, an interest in coaching and mentorship isn't only due to professional tradition, but also because I've come to highly value the feedback I have received over the years. I'm admittedly my own harshest critic at times, and during the coaching/feedback sessions I've received I usually received a more even-handed evaluation of how I'm doing and can draw some motivation. More importantly though, I get a third party perspective on what needs work, which often gives some confirmation of potential areas of improvement I had been thinking about but can just as often bring new areas to my attention. I definitely owe a lot of my leadership development over the last couple of years to having received good coaching.
Most general mentorship sessions are also valuable for me in either reaffirming that even the most experienced leaders had to go through some of the same growing pains I've had to deal with, and sometimes I even gain some additional perspective on focus areas or the kind of leader I'd like to develop into. As cliche as it may sound, there's still something to be said for being able to candidly sit down with someone who has been doing what I'm doing for anywhere from ten to twenty years, and hearing about how they handled challenges that came their way.
Bottom line, having that coaching and mentorship experience is probably the single most valuable aspects of my profession, and even in my daily life has had some of the highest impact on and off the job.
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