Importance of Values for Future Leaders in Today's Military
...n the path least desired, despite the temptation of the world. Fortitude is the force within me that recognizes what is best, regardless of whether or not the rest of me wants what it not. Fortitude is holding on to your honor, integrity, and faith, despite the consequences. Devotion, my forth value, is defined as, “ardent, often selfless affection and dedication, as to a person or principle.” What does devotion mean to me? Devotion is the commitment to a person or organization, backed by never-ending perseverance and loyalty. Devotion is never leaving someone’s side, regardless of the consequences, regardless of who it watching. When someone does something wrong in your name, and soon find themselves in trouble, devotion helps you be by their side, assisting them in their moment of need. Finally, intelligence is defined as, “the capacity to know or understand; readiness of comprehension; the intellect; the capacity to acquire and apply knowledge.” What does intelligence mean to me? Intelligence is the knowledge gained from academic studies, from lifetime experiences, and through the shared wisdom of other people and organizations. Intelligence is the ability to conceptualize one’s surroundings and the talent to differentiate what’s right and what’s wrong. I think that there is a clear pattern that connects my top five values. All five values require both an internal craving and a considerable amount of work to achieve, and once achieved, kept. Honesty, in all circumstances, does not come naturally to me. There are times that taking the easy way out and lying would make life so much simpler; but in order to be a better man, honesty must prevail. Faith takes work when what you have faith in, whether it is a person or an organization, fails. Fortitude, by its very definition, takes work and desire. Devotion is similar to faith, in respect to the fact that devotion can be lost very easily when things do not go well. Furthermore, intelligence takes work because there is no foreseeable summit to what an be learned; the more you work for it, the more intelligent you will become. Do my values correspond with my daily values? As much as I want to answer the question in the positive, I feel I would be doing myself an injustice by doing so. One of the primary reasons why I chose honesty, faith, fortitude, devotion, and intelligence as my primary values is because they are standards that I want to hold myself to. In some respects, my daily actions do not deviate too far from my primary values. However, in other respects, I am not always honest, I am not always devoted, and I do not always display fortitude. I do believe, however, that as I grow older, my actions in general display those values more often then when I was younger, which indicates that my daily values are corresponding with my principal values. I am constantly modifying my behavior so it more closely aligns with my values. Saying this, however, means absolutely nothing unless my behavior actually does change to match my values. It is easy to say, ‘I treasure honesty’, and then cheat on a test. It is simple to say, ‘I value devotion’, especially in the realm of religion, but not value what it takes to be religious. There are many examples of people’s actions that do not align with their stated values. This happens because it takes work to be a good person. The world we live in sells sin on every street corner; it tempts us with sex, gambling, and drugs. With all of the pressures of the world beating down on me, it would be the easy way out to slip a few pills and hallucinate until I pass out in my own vomit and confusion. The path to being a good person is not an easy one to follow, and it takes more then just stating values… it requires you to follow them. I believe that my values of honesty, faith, fortitude, devotion, and intelligence compliment the values of the United States Army, and as a result, they contribute to my development as a leader. My values contribute to my development as an officer in the Army, and they contribute to my growth as a leader outside of the Army sphere. In terms of being a leader in the Army, I believe my values are precisely what an officer must utilize in order to be an effective leader. An officer must be honest to his or her subordinates. An officer must be faithful to them, as well as to the Army. An officer must be devoted to themselves as well as their job. An officer must treasure their intelligence, both in the academic realm as well as their militarily knowledge. Finally, an officer must display great fortitude in times of struggle, and endure difficult situations with admirable strength. My values also contribute to my growth as a leader outside of the Army sphere. The greatest leader of all time, in my opinion, was the son of the Lord, Jesus Christ. Although I do not aspire to be the kind of leader Christ was, nor will I attempt to have the kind of leadership impact he had, I believe that my five primary values are values that Christ employed and endorsed. I seek to be a tool of His worship, and I believe that by forever working towards obtaining those key values, the Lord will better be able to utilize my abilities in His name. Leaders that appreciate the importance of strong, compelling values display certain actions and behaviors. Leaders that value trust provide their subordinates chances to succeed without ‘helpful hands’ or ‘watchful eyes.’ Leaders that value integrity reward those who always perform above required efforts, even when no one is watching. What actions and behaviors would I display that result from the utilization of honesty, faith, fortitude, devotion, and intelligence? Exercising honesty, I ...