USCG Leadership Competency-Leading the Coast Guard: Human Resource Management

USCG Leadership Competency-Leading the Coast Guard: Human Resource Management内容摘要：

Deck Plate Leadership Series Article The below article is for publication in your flotilla, division, or district newsletter. EFFECTIVE LEADERSHIP Jeff C. Wheater, YNC, USCG CG HITRON USCG Leadership Competency - Leading the Coast Guard: Human Resource Management Editor’s Note: This article refers to leadership at a Coast Guard unit; however, all aspects of this article do apply to Auxiliary Flotilla Leadership. Looking around, one can see that leadership is everywhere. However, people often disagree with each other as to what constitutes good leadership. “It is determined by how effective it is.” “No, it is based on how efficient it is.” “No, no, no, it is both, plus how happy the workers are at performing their respective tasks.” Leadership is sophisticated and how it is interpreted influences others perspective of work as well as the way their success is measured. Leadership is essential to day-to-day activities in the Coast Guard as well as the public sector. In fact, the study of what contributes to effective leadership is such a broadly researched topic that everyone from Graham Allison to Sigmund Freud to Max Weber has something to say on the subject. Despite the array of individuals with opinions on the subject, it is notable how they all arrive to the same conclusion: There is no single way to lead effectively, but many methods should be used so that the goals are accomplished. Leadership is a study and must be educated through Scientific Management; a study in the efficiency of management. Our Officer and Chief corps (management/leaders) determine this by their individual perception, because every person would see it differently. The principles in the study of management should be used to lead workers and develop followership so that we can provide service to the public and for the public. We have 28 Leadership competencies, let’s look at a couple: Respect for Others and Diversity Management: Develop the science of management. Frederick Taylor was a person who believed that management started as a dictatorship. “Do it this way and only this way.” Twenty-five years of experimentation later, not much changed. He believed that management should “assume a larger portion of the burden and to take primary responsibility for a scientific search for the best way of performing organizational tasks.” (Fry, pg.53) By doing this, management can make itself more efficient before expecting the same of the workers. Unfortunately, government has done just this. It has taken on so much, thankfully more has not fallen through the cracks. However, if we employ Strategic Thinking, we can equally divide the work and responsibility between management and workers. By empowering our people we allow members to become part of the overall solution, thus they can take ownership. This allows leadership to also hold members accountable because of their individual responsibilities to the organization. Final decisions are designed to satisfy at least part of the needs of each of the groups participating. We should always try to be Politically Savvy by concentrating on inter-group bargaining, power balances, and defined channels for group interaction. Effective leaders allow workers to use their experience to develop solutions to problems that come up. For Coast Guardsmen this is very important. Due to 1 Deck Plate Leadership Series Article The below article is for publication in your flotilla, division, or district newsletter. the scope of work performed, and the amount of people who must be assisted every day, employees must be allowed to be independent thinkers or little to nothing would get done. Human Resource Management: Select and train workers. Max Weber was one of the frontrunners in the area of public administration. He pointed the way to an ideal type bureaucracy by analyzing rational bureaucracy. He proposed that objectivity could be used to understand the meaning behind human action. Weber identified three types of authority; legal, traditional, and charismatic, that created a level of respect for legitimate authority. He went on to mention, “Experience tends universally to show that the purely bureaucratic type of administration is capable of attaining the highest degree of efficiency.” Once efficiency is maintained, effectiveness can be achieved. Leaders are often misunderstood and most often criticized for the work they contribute. In order to Lead Performance and Change we should free ourselves from the limitations we p