Essay Sample on Marine Corps Leadership Qualities

According to the Marine Corps Manual Section B, Para 1100.1b. (1), the Marine Corps leadership qualities are inspirations, technical proficiency, and moral responsibility. The importance of each of these qualities, starting with inspiration is to be able to inspire subordinates to become better Marines in and outside of work but to also inspire other people that aren’t subordinates or even Marines at all. This ties into the leader itself being technically proficient and being able to share that knowledge and experience to others as well as increase trust within his superiors, peers, and subordinates. Nevertheless, the most important quality above the last two mentioned is a moral responsibility and to know what is right and wrong as a leader because this can sometimes feel as it can be bent to fit a narrative, but it cannot be that way and it also cannot be shadowed by biased. These qualities can be effectively used to lead subordinates into a more cohesive team that has trust in their leadership.

John A. Lejeune once said that the definition of leadership is “the sum of those qualities of intellect, human understanding and moral character that enable a person to inspire and to control a group of people successfully” and that quote ties in with the leadership qualities listed in the Marine Corps Manual that begins with inspiration. Being able to inspire is one of those leadership skills that separates great leaders from the average ones. I recently started following a Drill Master in MCRD San Diego and I have never been more inspired by an individual that I have not met in person. He just finished his master’s degree, while simultaneously being a realtor, Drill Master, and father, without any outside help. This goes to show that being able to inspire more than just subordinates can greatly affect an outside entity's life and cause the leader to develop more and to continue striving for greatness. Being inspiring to subordinates can cause them to find a purpose in their tasks and complete it with their best efforts. The inspiration within the leader will also cause subordinates to strive to get to the leader's level and become more technically proficient as well.

Technical proficiency is a skill that comes in many shapes and sizes. Many subordinates look up to a leader that not only knows their job but knows their job well and can always find time to teach others. Technical proficiency demonstrates the professionalism and maturity of the leader, especially in situations where the leader goes out of their way to be technically proficient during their free time and learn something that they might not have known before. This leadership quality also ties into the inspiration aspect; being technically proficient inspires subordinates to also learn their job and become more like the leader or even strive to replace the leader one day. A leader having great expertise in their field of work also raises their own credibility and increases trust with superiors, peers, and subordinates alike. This trust allows the leader more leeway to conduct more technical training and to provide subordinates with more opportunities to get trained or to go to special Military Occupational Specialty (MOS) advanced schools. The level of trust from the superiors also allows the superiors to take a few step backs from the leader and allow the leader to lead more openly without supervisor assistance or supervisor watch. Lastly, with this level of trust, the leader must still ensure that he is maintaining his moral responsibility as the leader in his MOS at that unit.

Maintaining a high sense of moral responsibility is the most important leadership quality especially when decisions become harder. It is very easy for some leaders to punish subordinates or put blame on someone else for a mistake but then becomes very hard to reward or praise their subordinates. As leaders, it is very important to praise or reward subordinates in the same manner that punishment happens. According to Stanford University “Making judgments about whether a person is morally responsible for her behavior and holding others and ourselves responsible for actions and the consequences of actions, is a fundamental and familiar part of our moral practices and our interpersonal relationships”, but this does not always mean that every leader has the same morals. For example, I have had to deal with leaders that were very biased and that intervened with their moral responsibility. This caused that leader to become morally irresponsible and caused a very hostile and untrustworthy work environment. The superiors lost all trust in that leader and therefore lost the trust in the platoon as well, therefore causing more micromanaging from higher leadership, all due to our leadership having a moral responsibility that they chose to not follow. Moral responsibility is single handed the most important leadership quality in a leader and can cause grave damage if it is not followed by an unbiased standard.

With all reasons and explanations stated, I have painted a clear picture of the importance of each leadership quality listed on the Marine Corps Manual which are an inspiration, technical proficiency, and moral responsibility. Starting with inspiration, having the ability to inspire your subordinates to become better Marines and citizens, and also inspire other people outside of your command or organization. Inspiration ties directly with technical knowledge, since being an expert in your MOS will continuously inspire your subordinates or peers to be better Marines and assist them in becoming more technically proficient. As I have stated throughout, the most important leadership quality out of the three listed on the Marine Corps Manual Section B is a moral responsibility and to know that to become a great leader, one must remain unbiased while analyzing morals, even if at the moment it might not seem like the correct direction to take. By implementing these three leadership qualities into a normal routine they can be effectively used to lead subordinates to become a stronger team with trust being carried up and down the chain.