One of the key points of the psychodynamic paradigm is the “inner theatre” (Northouse, 2016, p. 301). This stage (or perhaps stages) is filled with people who have influenced us and our experiences in life (Northouse, 2016, p. 301). Whether the influences are good or bad, they are still able to permeate our life.
My senior year of high school I was named Captain of the lacrosse team and Captain of the field hockey team. Most recently, after what seemed like forever, I was promoted to the rank of Sergeant this past June. Unofficially and without the rank I have now, I was always a leader. Fast forward to present time, and I am now officially recognized as a leader in the eyes of the United States Army. Looking back on my life and the different jobs and experiences I have had; I realize that a big part of the leader I am today started from me Captaining those teams so many years ago. I’ve had many influences on my leadership style over the last 10 or so years. Of the eight leadership archetypes described in our book, I would designate Melody Shotwell, my lacrosse coach, as #7 “the coach” (Northouse, 2016, p. 322). Coach Shotwell was the constant, ever present cheerleader in our corner. She was empathetic to every players situation, a great communicator, and always had genuine confidence in our team. My high school was the most diverse high school in our county; my graduating class had over 27 different languages and dialects that were spoken. Due to the amount of diversity at my school, you can imagine that our interpersonal relations were sometimes on the brink of disaster, but with Coach Shotwell they never were. This was probably the most important leadership lesson I took away from Coach Shotwell. I learned that empathy and the ability to motivate your followers are two things that can go a long way.
My first squad leader, Staff Sergeant Kimberly Lewis encompasses #8 “the communicator” (Northouse, 2016, p. 322). Staff Sergeant Lewis taught me how to be approachable, open, and responsive to followers. She would always recite this quote by Colin Powell, “The day soldiers stop bringing you their problems is the day you stopped leading them. They have either lost confidence that you can help them or concluded that you do not care. Either case is a failure of leadership” (Harari, 1996). In the Army, whether it is the mission, the equipment, or the people, something is always changing. Now as a Sergeant with my own followers, I’ve had to learn to adapt to said changes and to trust my troops in certain situations, which in turn has led them to trust me.
Over the next 18 months I will start my transition of being in the military to being a civilian. As I look back on the leaders that influenced me, it gives great encouragement that I will be able to carry these leadership lessons with me into the next phase of my civilian life.
References:
Harari, O. (1996). Quotations from Chairman Powell. Retrieved from https://govleaders.org/powell.htm
Northouse, P.G. (2016). Leadership: Theory and Practice, Seventh Edition. Los Angeles: Sage Publications
Brad Price says
It has always interested me on how we are shaped by people from our past. That is why I believe the psychodynamic approach should be used to help explain the different thesis associated with leadership. As Northouse said, “this stage is filled with people who have influenced us and our experiences in life (Northouse, 2016, p.301).
I learned a lot of my leadership skills from my high school football coach. He always said school work comes first. He would get reports on how we were progressing in our studies. If we were slipping he would let us know we could be sidelined until we got our grades up. He also challenged us to be better tomorrow than we were today. I still take those lessons from what feels like a life time ago and use them today.
References
Northouse, P. G. (2016). Leadership: Theory and Practice (7th ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications.
jld6236 says
First and foremost – thank you for your service. Also, congratulations on your promotion to Sergeant, that’s great news! I found the psychodynamic approach to leadership incredibly interesting. Understanding what drives you, and what made you the person you are today can help you grow and become an even more effective leader. It’s so important to consider this factor as it’s possible for an organization to have all of the right stuff on paper, but fail because the psychological, social and emotional processes that exist between leaders and their followers are ignored (Northouse, 2016).
It seems that you’ve have plenty of great examples in leadership throughout your life. Similar to Melody, I also personally identify as a coach in some respects. I tend to be positive, open-minded, am a great listener and have high emotional intelligence, which are all in line with the qualities and abilities of the coach archetype (Northouse, 2016). Also in line with the coach style, I have a very hard time being tough when needed and tend to avoid confrontation (Northouse, 2016). How did Melody deal with these issues? Did you have an opportunity as captain to assist her with any deficiencies in her leadership style?
References:
Northouse, P. G. (2016). Leadership: theory and practice (7th ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications, Inc