expository essay

How Management Applies in Military Leadership
Name
Institution
Abstract
Leadership is connected to power in that leaders use their power to influence people to do what is right. A leader can lead to the success or failure of an organization thus there’s need to have a competent and qualified leader. A manager is said to be rational and emphasizes more on goals resources, the employees and organizational structure (Zaleznik, 2004). For a manager to be successful, he or she must be a problem solver. This requires one to possess the skills of identifying the cause of any problem and solving it critically. In this work, we are going to focus on management and leadership in the military. The military can be identified as an organization on its own since it’s a body that has well-established systems, structures, and leadership. The military is an important body in any government that seeks to provide security and safeguard the territories of any country thus its leadership is not taken for granted. Military leaders are usually experienced people who have high intelligence and enough experience to serve in such positions. These people act as both the managers and leaders thus are equipped with the right skills to serve under these positions. Someone’s personality, as well as psychology, impacts a lot on their leadership it’s a good trait for one to seek the acceptance of their decision by other members of an organization rather than imposing their will onto others thus there’s need to develop various managerial skills.

In military trust and support from subordinates is necessary something that cannot happen by use of forceful powers. Some of the skills required for this include ambition. A leader who is ambitious paves the way for others to also pursue their goals and vision.
How Management Applies in Military Leadership
Introduction
Military leadership can be defined as the process that seeks to influence people, motivate, give direction and provide purpose to improve the organization’s status and pursue its mission. Leadership and management are a bit different but both crucial aspects of the military. Managers are said to be controllers, organizers and problem solvers who majorly organize resource with a focus on the organizational goals (Charan, 2018). Managers identify problems, solve them and identify the best means to be followed to achieve desired results as well as motivate people to increase their contribution to the development of an organization. Self-confidence is another skill that makes one a role model. In military people need to be motivated, and one way of doing it is by helping people develop confidence in what they do which starts with the leader. A confident leader boosts the morale of his subrogates and drives out fear when trying new activities. Good leaders should also be opportunistic and belief in positive outcomes at all times. This creates positive energy within the whole military group.
Leadership and management are interdependent factors. For one to be a successful manager, they also need to incorporate some of the values and principles of a leader. On the other hand, a leader also needs to learn some of the practices of management. In running an organization, one might be faced with some situations that will require them to act as a manager and others will require you to behave like a leader. For instance, while the allocation of resources is seen as a responsibility of management, a manager who is a good leader will work on ensuring equal allocation of the same resources.
For any leader to be effectively prioritizing the welfare of the employees is mandatory. They need to safeguard the lives and health of all people inside the organization; in turn, the employees develop a sense of belonging and give out the best for the sake of the organization. This also happens in various military organizations. Leaders are said to establish personal relationships with their subordinates, and this makes their leadership work easier.
In military one of the most important things that leaders seek to establish is trust (Gallagher, 2016). A leader has to win the trust of his or her followers which leads to loyalty thus one develops confidence in his employees to perform their duties excellently. In the military, the value of selfless is also emphasized where the leaders should be able to sacrifice their safety for the sake of the employees. A leader should also question themselves whether they are capable of performing the same role they delegate to their subordinates and if it’s safe to undertake such responsibilities.
As indicated above management impacts leadership in any organization and this is also seen in the military. The impacts or roles played by management in one becoming a military leader can be discussed by identifying the roles and principles of management that are important in military leadership. We are going to discuss some of the managerial skills to understand this statement better “how management applies to being a leader in the military.”
One of the managerial skills that are highly valued in any organization is teamwork (Kleinberger, 2015). Everything done in the military requires team effort which responsibility of the leader to ensure that all members of a team pull together their efforts for excellent work. Teamwork requires working together with different people to accomplish same set objectives. The leader is required to choose the right people for the same team to ensure achievement of quality team results. People put on the same team should have same interests and goals to achieve so that they can focus all their energy on the same thing.
Dedication is another skill of a manager that calls for one to go out of their way to achieve whatever goals and objectives are set. A military group can never succeed without a dedicated leader. In most cases, followers use their leaders as role models and if this leader is not dedicated then probably the subordinates will not show dedication as well. Just like any other manager, military leaders are required to be accountable. Accountability comes in when we are talking about resources as well as the actions taken. A good military leader should be accountable for the resources used in their activities as well as time. One should be able to account for all the working time, and the activities carried out every day and the resources used for the same. They should be in a position to explain the cause and reason for certain results.
Managers are system creators or structure creators. A military leader should establish a good working system in case one is not put in place (Kleinberger, 2015). The system created should ensure success within the military organization. The drive is a character required by all in life. One needs to have that self-drive that pushes you to accomplish your plans. A military leader needs this trait so that they could be able to work even without someone to supervise them. Self-drive comes along with a passion for what one does in life.
An organizational leader should have a higher purpose for what they do apart from what they are required to achieve by the organization. This calls for one to establish personal goals and objectives on top of those written down by the organization. People join the military for different purposes alongside the main one who is protecting the country. Military leaders should have other purposes which they aim to achieve such as assisting people and making significant differences in the society, especially where they serve. This acts as a motivation to keep people going despite all the challenges and struggles faced in military work.
Conclusion
Management is an important part of the military leadership that should be embraced, borrowing the skills of management while practicing leadership in military leads to success and achievement of desired results. All those management skills are mandatory for any leader in any organization that highly values its employees and customers. Above all these skills selfless is the most important of them all since it creates a culture of trust and loyalty. These two traits help one to have the support of his subordinates thus less resistance and increased corporation within the organization. A military leader who lacks the support of his followers cannot make it. A leader who is ambitious paves the way for others also to pursue their goals and vision. This leader should also establish a vision and mission statement that people accept and believe in.
Reference
Gallagher, C. (2016). Muddling Leadership and Management in the United States Army. armyupress.army.mil. Retrieved from http://www.armyupress.army.mil/Journals/Military-Review/Online-Exclusive/2016-Online-Exclusive-Articles/Muddling-Leadership-and-Management/Charan, R. (2018). Six Personality Traits of a Leader. military.com. Retrieved from https://www.military.com/veteran-jobs/career-advice/on-the-job/6-traits-for-improved-leadership-skills.htmlKleinberger, A. (2015). 6 Traits of Exceptional Military Leaders That Apply in the Business World. entrepreneur.com. Retrieved from https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/242228Zaleznik, A. (2004). Managers and Leaders: Are They Different?. hbr.org/2004. Retrieved from https://hbr.org/2004/01/managers-and-leaders-are-they-different