Theodore Roosevelt My Legacy Leader essay
Leadership is crucial for the military as well as politicians. At the same time, leadership is not just the innate quality but it is also the acquired set of skills and abilities, which leaders develop in the course of their personal and professional development. Leadership is particularly important for the military as well as for politicians because they have to perform roles of leaders in the course of their career to reach success. Moreover, leadership is not only a strong element of the professional development of the military and politicians but also a part of their responsibility because the military have to lead soldiers into the battle and help them to reach their unit’s tasks, while politicians also have to be leaders since they represent a large number of people, who vote for them and whose interests they serve. In this regard, I believe that I can also succeed as the military and politician due to my leadership skills and abilities. At the same time, I believe Theodore Roosevelt was the prominent leader, whose experience is worth studying and whose way is worth following, because he was a prominent and successful leader, who was close to his people and who had charisma that made many people following his lead. However, what makes Theodore Roosevelt particularly important for me as a leader model is his proximity to his people since he seemed to be just one of his soldiers, when he was in the military, and he was just like a guy living next door, when he was the President of the US. In this regard, the legacy of Theodore Roosevelt proves the full extent to which effective leadership is important in both the military and politics because, as the military, he united cowboys and led his guys into the Spanish-American war as the true military leader, and he enhanced the position of the US as the world power as the political leader of the country. This is why I believe leadership is the key to the professional success and effective performance in the field of the military and politics.
The importance of leadership in the military and politics reveals the close interrelatedness between these two fields. To put it more precisely, as the experience of Theodore Roosevelt shows, the army is an essential component of any state and a state cannot be strong and successful without the army. At the same time, a strong army cannot exist in a state, where there are no strong, charismatic and reasonable leaders. They can develop the successful policy that makes the state stronger, while the army relies on wise state policies and enhances the state through its deployment to protect national interests.
The army is the core of any state but the effective and successful army can exist only on the condition of soldiers and officers, who can serve to their nation and stand for national interests of the state and its people. Professionals serving in the army, especially those, who want to become leaders, have to be aware of key competences and features that army leaders should match as well as all professionals serving in the army should. At this point, it is possible to refer to the army’s 3Cs, which include character, competence, and commitment. These features are crucial for soldiers and officers because they comprise the core of a true military.
The character implies that an army professional’s dedication and adherence to the Army values, virtues, purpose, identity, ethics, and morals as consistently and faithfully demonstrated in decisions and actions. The respect and adherence to the army values, virtues, purpose, identity, ethics and morals are crucial for professionals working in the military because they should be aware of the background of the organization, where they work and stick to its system of values. Otherwise, there is no room for professionals, who disregard the traditional set of values of the US army. The successful military leadership starts with understanding the army’s set of values, its character and adherence to those values. The leader should not only manifest respect and understanding of those values but also personify them to make soldiers following his/her lead.
The competence means that an army professional’s demonstrated ability to successfully perform their duties and to accomplish the mission with discipline and to standard. Professionals working in the army should be able to perform their duties perfectly, especially leaders. Discipline and fulfillment of duties are primary concerns of soldiers and officers because they are crucial for the army. In fact, discipline and fulfillment of duties determine, whether the army can perform its military tasks successfully or not (Hendrix, 2009). The lack of discipline or poor fulfillment of professional duties by the military can lead to the failure of military operations and undermine the effectiveness of the army. On the contrary, the ability of the army and professionals working in the army to stick to the strict discipline and fulfillment of their duties makes the army, which is properly equipped and supplied, virtually undefeatable.
The commitment implies that the resolve of army professionals to contribute Honorable Service to the Nation, to perform their duties with discipline and to standards, and to strive to successfully and ethically accomplish the mission despite adversity, obstacles, and challenge. The commitment is essential for the successful development of a leader in the military environment. More important, the commitment can contribute to the development of the successful political career. The rise of the political leader committed to his or her nation is one of the essential conditions of the popularity of the leader among people. People adore leaders committed to nation and traditional American values, as was the case of Theodore Roosevelt, for example, who manifested his commitment to the US and traditional American values. This is why his people adored him as the military leader and Americans liked him as the political leader of the nation.
Theodore Roosevelt is my leader of influence, whose attributes and competencies contributed to the military and the community consistently. He was a charismatic leader, who stuck closely to traditional American values. Even though, in some respects, his traditionalism was excessive. For example, he was renowned for his robust masculinity but, in his time, this was a distinct feature of the leader and male domination was traditional in the US in the late 19th – early 20th century (Rofe, 2008). At the same time, he was a charismatic leader with a strong will. For example, he grew as a weak child, who suffered from asthma. However, in spite of his serious health problems, he focused on his physical development. For example, he practiced boxing at Harvard. In addition, he was ambidextrous and proficient in different fields, from biology to history. In such a way, a true leader cannot be skilled in one field only, like the military, for example. Instead, the leader should be like Theodore Roosevelt, proficient in different fields and be physically and intellectually well-developed.
At this point, the development of my leader of influence contributed to his personal growth and development as a soldier and leader (Ricard, 2006). For example, his strong will and physical training, along with his habit to overcome difficulties and challenges, have proved to be very useful for his personal growth and development as a soldier and leader. Moreover, he was a true patriot of the US, who loved his fatherland and believed that the US should play the leading part in the region. This is why he headed his regiment of cowboys in the Spanish American war, while his activities and wins in Cuba had brought him the national approval and recognition.
Furthermore, he had proved to be a true leader, who was recognized and followed blindly by his soldiers (Holmes, 2006). His soldiers really liked him and they were ready to follow his lead, even when operations conducted by Roosevelt were risky. Moreover, it was Roosevelt, who persuaded them to join him and take part in the Spanish American war. Roosevelt was also the leader, who had managed to unite western and eastern cowboys.
The legacy that I would like to leave is similar to the legacy of Theodore Roosevelt. Americans liked him and ignored his pitfalls. The legacy that I want to leave is one that can effectively and positively affect the lives of the soldiers that serve under me and my family. I would like soldiers under my lead to follow me blindly and believe in every move that I make without hesitation so that I could rely on my soldiers and conduct military operations under my lead and responsibility (Oyos, 2011). At the same time, I would also like to be a leader, whom soldiers remember and like. Moreover, I would also like to be a leader, who establishes the family environment within his military unit, when each soldier treats each other as family members and are ready to die for each other. At the same time, I believe that the true military leader keeps growing not only professionally but also personally. For example, while serving in the military I have become a better father and husband and that by being a father and husband I am a better soldier.
Thus, leadership is crucial for military and political leaders. At this point, it is possible to refer to the example of Theodore Roosevelt, who was the true leader of the army and the entire nation. His soldiers perceived him like a father, while the nation perceived him as a true national leader, who stood for national interests of the US and stuck to traditional American values. This is why I would like to be similar to Theodore Roosevelt as the military and political leader. His legacy is worth studying and his leadership model is worth following. As for me, I expect to have the similar legacy and I would like my soldiers liked me and treated me like a father.
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