Leadership at the crossroads

Title

Language

English

Source

Philippine Armed Forces Journal Volume IX (No. 6) June 1956

Year

1956

Rights

In Copyright - Educational Use Permitted

Fulltext

leadership at the Crossroads B~ L{eutenant Colonel Ignacio Coloma, FS I HERE are several definitions. A leader has his own duties and of a leader-usually depend responsibilities. How he discharges ing on the point of view. such duties and responsibilities are The military have theirs. personal to him. An analysis of So do others in business and allied how a leader behaves, in general, activities. shows that common denominations But, to the layman, a leader is no can be arrived at for all of them. other than the man at the top. Stat- These denominations are three: nameing it in another way, he is the head ly, (1) leadership in his lillf'i (2) of any group or organized body. administrative leadership; and (3) Among the men in uniform, he is the leadership in social affairs. individual with the highest rank. All three must exist. . Deficiency There are also differences in pre- in one usually determines the degree rogatives. A "commander," for in· of success of the leader himself. The stam:.e, implies authority over a mi- preponderance of em:h over the othlitary or naval body. On the other er depends on the nature of the of· hand, a• "leader" has influence and fice heil.ded by the leader. directing power. A "head" has au. A man is a leader in his line when thority in addition to executive pow. he excels others in that particular line. This form of leadership takes In the true traditions of the military service, the success or failure of an outfit is either one's personal glory or defeat. To know the duties of a leader is one thing; his performance of these duties is another. A leoder should not be a fossilized being. He must be dynamic and be abl~ to know who, when, where and how he leads PHILIPPINES ARMED FORCES JOURSAL <iYilion• ond ormy per>onnel perform (/eri(o/ lerYke for rhe ormy. II ;, ;, oflo"clu /ih lhi1 where lhe odmini•lroli .. obi/iry of the rhief ond hi1 oui•lonl• come inlo ploy time to establish. It is only attained he approximates the perfect leader as a result of determined effort by as the books would have it. the prospective leader. It actually The tendency when a- specialist is takes years of preparation to become a placed at the head of an offici' othleader in one's line. Although some er than that pertaining to his line, have suddenly become leaders in is that he will unwittingly put em. their line, the "rise" is definitely phasis on the line of work in which the exception rather than the rule. he is familial·. That is but catural. The man at the top need not be But this should be minimi:~;ed, as far an specialist, indeed. He should in- as possible. stead be a generalist to be able to A GHQ assignment, for instance, underst~d all the factors affecting should have an AFP-wide mentality the office so that he can coordinate and not merely a one-way line of them. But, if a man can be a spe- thinking affecting, for exampie, only cialist first, and generaliat second, the Philippine Army or the like. In 1s the factotum of it all. However, in the true traditions of the mili. tary service, the success or failure of an outfit is either one's personal glory or defeat. The usual method of insuring the efficiency of an organization is to have an able assistant, a deputy or an uecutive officet·. With such an assistant, the office will function regularly even if the top man has no administrative leadership. Never theless, the chief has to stamp his approval on matters requiring policy decisions in connection with the administration of his office or business. There is therefore a need for thf' chief to lead the accomplishment of end-results in his outfit and in administrative matters which he only can solve. Administrative leadership, natural ly, does not pertain to the minute details of administration. Not even to the middle management portion of it. These are done by subordinates. The boss must concentrate his eHorts in the "bigger" things for the office or business. Others call this divL business, the principle is the samt. sion of labor. or delineation or author. A production specialist should not ity. only think of production when he An organization, big or small, is becomes the president. Whether he necessarily a social unit. People likes it or not, he will be forced to work there and other people deal gear his thinking to the business as with it. The requirements of the a whole which includes, financing, social amenities of life cannot be marketing as well as labor prob- avoided. Hence thl' necessity of solems. cial leadership by the chief or leadThe success of an office or busi . er. ness depends upon its organization Social leadership for a chief or 811d management. The leader is na. leader does not mean that the chief turally responsible for the efficient should be a social climber, the best orgaTiization and management of his "cha-cha" dancer in town, the best office. Viewed from the outside, he party giver, or a socialite par l':< or •mol!, i• i <mil. To ll>e 'eoder, ll>e require· omeniliu of Hie connol be O>'oided. Abou pidure Wuolrolu onocc,uionw"•••"i•oHendonce i•cofledupon. cellence. Far from it. tesy as required by the customs of Instead, it is enough that the the service is one of them. Some top man acts as guide to whatever say the word is public relations. little social aff~rirs his office o1· bu. In the past, there has been some siness may have. An example is the individuals who have shied <rWay usual Christmas party in December. from positions of leadership because Should he compel his subordinates to of social demands of the office. They contribute over and above their simply cannot afford the sacrifice. means? Should he forget the occa- But everything ha-s its price. And sion altogether? Should he see to the price tag for a leader includes it that he exhibits his ability to drink the inevitable personal expenses due in the party? Or, should he guide to the social activities which is his subordinates so that, in case a quite considerable, party is decided, everybody will enjoy? Just how many pet· cent is social The expression, really, is "Hats off leadership compared to the role of to the chief." He is respected and leadership in one's line or adminisadmired. As a result, he is invited trativc leadership, no one can acto this or that social party most of- curlltely state. But to be sw:e, the ten than not because of his position. three must all be there. And selling When he accepts the invitation, he the services of the office ot· bustrepresents the office which he heads. ness, through social leadership, is at As off-shoot of the social leader- least entitled to one third attention, ship requirement of the top man of or a little more, by the leader, if he an office or business, there are qua. as a top man is to retain hili posilifications that are "musts." Cour- tion for sometime.

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