Introduction
The uncanny personal magnetism possessed by General Norman Schwarzkopf enabled him to work with a diverse group of people. His magnetic personality was due to his capability to lead a team to victory during the war. He demonstrated his effective leadership skills through different tours in Vietnam (Ucar et al., 2021). In addition, he demonstrated effective leadership when he worked as a logistics coordinator during the George Bush administration.
Schwarzkopf is commonly known for leading the military alliance that defeated Saddam Hussein in a mission called Operation Desert Storm. His leadership skills significantly enabled all the wars that he won. His leadership skills also helped him to win battles within a short duration.
Leadership Skills
Military leadership is usually measured in leadership capability to manage human resources to accomplish the assigned mission. Therefore, Schwarzkopf displayed his superb management skills when he organized and supervised victorious troops against Saddam Hussein’s army. Schwarzkopf possessed both organizational and people skills that helped them to be successful.
A military general should have people skills because they help in the leading group of soldiers to war. If generals or commanders lack people skills, they cannot connect with other individuals in the military, which will lead to failure to inspire confidence in the troops. During his leadership, Schwarzkopf used applied human skills, and this made his leadership effective (Ucar et al., 2021).
When it came to his capability and the ability of those who served him, Schwarzkopf displayed a high level of sensitivity. He was so considerate to others, which is why he valued the perceptions and values of other people in his group. Due to his considerate nature, it was easier for him to reject other people’s opinions if they negatively affected the mission.
Alternatively, he would make minor compromises if they would bring out high-performance levels in his team. Developing competence in understanding and appreciating other people’s cultures showed how he had a high level of human skill. It should be noted that he acquired human skills from his father, who mentored him when he was a soldier.
Leadership Styles
Schwarzkopf’s main leadership style was transactional because he valued group performance and compliance (Ucar et al., 2021).
Due to their transactional leadership style, he developed a strategy that defeated Saddam’s organized army. Another leadership style that he used was democratic because he was the leader of U.S. soldiers and other military groups across the world (Ucar et al., 2021).
The armies that came from other parts of the world included: Spain, Canada, Portugal, Saudi Arabia, France, the Philippines and South Korea.
Schwarzkopf used an autocratic leadership style, but he rarely applied it because it is considered strict (Ucar et al., 2021). In some instances, he used an autocratic style when rejecting opinions from his group members that he thought would compromise the mission.
Conclusion
All leaders need to have a particular leadership style to stir the growth of their organization. Schwarzkopf has demonstrated crucial leadership styles that are needed for effective leadership. Although these styles have disadvantages, it is suitable for a leader to select a style that they feel suits them.
References
Ucar, A., Alpkan, L., & Elci, M. (2021). The Effect of a servant and transformational leadership styles on employee creative behavior: The moderating role of authentic leadership. International Journal of Organizational Leadership. Web.
General Norman Schwarzkopf- 78 Today. slicethelife. (2022). Web.