Different Leadership Styles In The United States Army

As a Soldier in the United States Army, your leadership style began at a very young age. Your style is influenced by the things you value, your deep rooted beliefs and the life experiences you have had along the way. I want you to think about your own personal experiences as your learn to understand these two dominate styles of leadership. The Army provides us a clear definition of leadership in ADRP 6-22, which states “Leadership is influencing people by providing purpose, directions and motivation to accomplish the mission and improve the organization”. This definition provides a clear foundation to draw upon when we begin to understand the broader elements which are key in any leadership style. Transactional leadership adds the elements of reward and punishment into the leadership style. Conversely, transformational leadership provides inspiration and leading by example to accomplish a set task. While both styles can be seen as different they can each provide elements that when used together can have positive results. In order to influence people you must know those people. There are careful considerations that must take place. For instance, consider their experience and their individual motivating factors. What gets one person up
Of course anyone who has been in any organization for an extended period of time may observe patterns as well. After my own time growing and developing in both institutional training and self-development I learned that the two styles I have most observed have functional names. When studied further, these styles can offer a great deal of insight and have a profound effect when applied intentionally. The two styles of course are transactional leadership and transformational leadership. Although it could be thought that any leadership can transform organizations and people for the better, transformational leadership is a single style of its