Power. In the end,
this is what drives many leaders to do what they do – they want the power to
control their own destinies and that of others.
I can honestly say this isn’t what drives me to lead. My experience has been that I would rather
step back and let others take the show 90% of the time however when things
start to mess up I have to step in (something inside of me pretty much forces
me to step up). So, essentially I have an
uncomfortable relationship with power. I
accept that I need it in order to get things done but I also don’t want to be
perceived as power hungry or abusive with my power. The bottom line is I have no problem getting
personal power because that comes about from me doing what I am supposed to
do. I must be knowledgeable about my
craft else I risk the lives of 150 guys so expertise power is something I want
to have. Along with that, I work
incredibly hard so I take effort power as a compliment, and the same goes with legitimacy
power. Attraction is something that I
don’t necessarily work for but I’ve been told I’m rather charismatic so I guess
I have that also. All of that being
said, I’m not doing those things to achieve power - it is just a by-product of
what I do when I try to be a good officer – and the same goes for positional power.
Looking at the characteristics of a likable person, I would
say that I hit the majority of them and maybe miss on one or two. I think I support an open, honest, and loyal
relationship with people (definitely the loyal aspect of it), I provide positive
regard and acceptance (I’m not going to say unconditional because if you act
unethically you will lose my support), I have endured sacrifices for the sake
of others, provide sympathy and empathy if needed, and am know to shoot the “sh!t”
quite often. I think the one thing I is
on is being emotionally accessible. On
more than one occasion I’ve been told that I come across rather coldly at times
and I think this is due to my almost unshakeable logical train of thought – I just
don’t let my emotions or others get in the way of thinking logically. As a result, when people are looking for me
to respond in an emotional manner I usually do not meet their expectations.
I would say that I am decent influence in both directions of
the Navy. I certainly have influence
over my Midshipmen and I think I have a pretty good handle on what sort of
person I am. With that being said, I
could probably understand my boss a little better. While I know what his preferred style is and
where his strengths and weaknesses lie, I don’t really know what his goals and
objectives are (his personal ones that is) or what some of his professional
goals are aside from being a great NROTC unit.
I also only have a basic understanding of what pressures are on
him. I’m not really sure how to go about
gaining that knowledge from him unless I explicitly ask him what his goals are
and where the pressure on him comes from, but I do know that he wouldn’t take
too kindly to me asking those questions.
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