My Path to Leadership & Leadership Growth

Wrestling Captain-

In my senior year of high school, I was a captain of my wrestling team. I started wrestling my freshman year and showed a lot of determination to improve and be the best I could be at my chosen sport. By junior year, I was on the varsity team and was a mentor to incoming freshmen teaching them how to be aggressive on the mat and better themselves at home. I was voted in by my teammates at the beginning of my senior season to be one of three captains of the team. (A) I loved being a captain because I felt like I had great influence over how the team operated and interacted and I made efforts to improve the school’s perception of the team. (B) Out of all of it, the most difficult aspect of being a team captain was interacting with the athletic director because he was intimidating and the old wrestling coach that was somewhat sour with the way things had previously ended. (C) If anything, I learned to be patient with learning subordinates and how to instill a sense of motivation to improve themselves by showing them the benefits of hard work.

 

Company Corporal-

At the end of my fourth class year, I was selected to be a company corporal for my third class year based on my merit, sense of responsibility/duty, and love for discipline. (A) It has been the hallmark of my time here at VMI and I have many fond memories of Hell Week and formations with the Old Corps. I loved relaying orders from higher to my squad and being someone my squad was comfortable talking to. (B) I struggled the most with getting my squad members in trouble for being late because I felt like they might be upset with me, but from that, I learned that it is important to retain your sense of duty even when it might cause other people pain. Staying true to the mission is the most important aspect of being a leader. (C)

 

Marathon CIC–

I am currently the CIC for the marathon team due to being an active member previously and performing well at races and although I have not held the position for a long time, I have already loved the passion aspect of what I am doing. (A) Running is a core love of mine and I take great pride in the work I put in for my small group of runners. (B) The hardest thing is not pouring all of my energy into the club and losing sight of everything else. So far I have learned that when you are taking leadership in multiple things the most important thing to do is divide out your time so no opportunity is neglected. (C)

Followership Typology

I had the opportunity to take a “Followership Questionnaire” formulated to determine active engagement and independent thinking. Active engagement describes the motivation of the individual to pursue group involvement and be an engaging member of the team. Independent thinking is the individual’s need and ability to understand what is happening and their experience with critical thinking. This survey was based on a 1-60 scale and based on the scores of the two subsets, your followership typology would be revealed. I scored a 32 in independent thinking, which when compared to cadets was slightly below average with the bottom 13.6% of cadets, however, my active engagement score was 50, which fell within one standard deviation of the mean. The typology I fall under with these two scores was somewhere between an exemplary (because of my over 40 score in active engagement) and a pragmatist (due to being between 20 and 40 independent thinking score) follower. Other follower typologies I could have fallen into include alienated followers, which are low in active engagement but are high in independent thinking, passive followers who are low in both subsets and are likely to be useless to the mission aside from when they are intrinsically motivated, or conformist followers that are extremely low in independent thinking but high in active engagement. Exemplary followers are high in both subsets and pragmatist followers are able to change their followership style depending on the situation they are in, preferably whatever is most practical to the leader (Kelley, 1992). 

The VMI Leadership Journey

My fourth class year was no easy task. I successfully broke out eventually and suddenly all the pain and suffering was finally worth it as I had earned the privilege of calling myself a cadet at long last. The journey was by no means easy. I spent nearly two months alone with little to no contact with the outside world. My psyche was severely scarred and I was eventually forced to go on medical furlough to recover from my mental wounds. This was not your typical ratline in any sense, but I learned a great deal about myself and leadership as well. The ratline is meant to present and teach the extremes of followership, which is imperative to learning how to be a good leader. Based on my followership typology, I would have been attempting to be the best follower possible through my pragmatic approach most likely by demonstrating that I was tactically and technically proficient as a “good-for-nothing” rat. (D) Third class year continues to build off the followership aspect, but adds in some authority to teach the rats small tasks and tidbits that can be useful in their journey. At this point, my active engagement with the group would have begun to show as I was learning what was expected of me as a corporal and performing as well as I knew how with what little experience I had. (E) Finally, second class year I expect to be a drastic change in leadership from follower to leader. At this point in my cadetship, I expect to be in command of many more souls and wield more influence due to my experience and life here at VMI. I also as a second hold the responsibility of setting the example for thirds and rats alike. Again, my purpose in leadership would change, shifting to a more managerial role, overseeing corporals in their positions, correcting rats in a less demeaning fashion, and preparing to take the mantle of the executive position of first classmen. My followership typology would finally have the chance to blossom, as my relationship with my superiors would be more intimate and I have the fortitude to act on my own accord to a degree. (F) Next year, as a first classman, I will be overseeing all of the other classes and acting much more like a supervisor, keeping my hands mostly off of the happenings of the Institute as it is the seconds who are conducting the operations of barracks and the ratline. Exemplary followership would need to be the name of the game here. Understanding the organization of VMI, being proactive in planning things for the ratline and presenting them to Comm staff, being an exemplary follower and assisting in the group’s overall functionality at the highest capacity is exceedingly helpful and pays dividends to the other members who might not have the same capacity. (G)

 

Goals for the semester:

1. I would like to improve my self-confidence in disciplining my subordinates and correcting my peers without coming off as a prick or someone that does not care about their feelings.I was successful in this goal. I was able to become much more confident in myself over the semester as I worked through my mental health with a counselor. Talking to someone and learning new methods to take care of myself greatly aided me in reaching this goal. My followers respect me and my peers view me as a more productive and interesting person than before because I put myself out there more often. 
2. Increase my willingness to step up and volunteer for things that others refuse.I put myself out there for multiple things throughout this semester that forced me into places of leadership I had not yet experienced. Without my gradual increase in confidence, so did my openness to experience and helping others. 
3. Allow myself to interact with people that I otherwise would not due to being too shy or cautious of new personalities.I said hello to strangers and smiled often, which contributed to me having the opportunity to get to know new people around me, which has made me even happier to be where I am. 

New Goals for a 6-Month Period

1. I will put more effort into my passions through means of leadership and prove that I am capable of achieving my goal of becoming a Marine Corps Aviator in the process.

2. I will apply for higher leadership opportunities like Drum Major and RDC and not allow myself to be upset if I do not get chosen for the honor to lead. 

3. I am going to make a conscious effort to improve my health as it has positive impacts on mental health and performance in general. This step forward will also have a profound impact on my followers that see me as a role model and will want to do the same.