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Life and leadership of george patton flashcard

Over the years there have been a number of military men who have led this nation on the front lines, but when these men come to mind, none stand out quite like General George S. Patton.

General Patton was a United States Military officer who was best recognized for his leadership during the Second World War. Patton came from a long line of military leaders, which is no surprise as to why he became interested in the military. At an early age, George Patton set his sights and goals on becoming a military hero, and would become one of the most recognizable ones in history. George Patton had a unique style of leading and had many strengths, which attributed to his many successes as a leader on the battlefield.

As I stated earlier, Patton had a passion for the military at a very young age which directed him toward his goal of one day becoming a military leader. One of Patton’s greatest strengths before and during his role as a leader was his education and immense knowledge of military techniques and tactics. As a young soldier stationed at Fort Riley, KS, he developed a new cavalry saber and training techniques (Hickman, 2012). General Patton’s arguably greatest strength would be that he was a very goal-oriented leader, who was persistent, passionate, knew his purpose, and did everything in his power to accomplish his goal (Sandlin M, 2012). Patton specifically used these three out of the six “ P’s” of leadership to obtain the results he needed.

Strengths General Patton was considered to be a leader who exemplified courage and discipline two more of his many strengths. It is said that fear leads to paralysis in anybody, including great leaders. General Patton overcame his fears by acting on his instinct and making decisive decisions, which often times surprised his enemy leading him to victory. Patton also was a leader with great discipline, which may have been his most recognizable leadership attribute. Patton implemented strict rules that often times were not popular with his subordinates but over time gained him respect and increased morale among his troops. This ultimately led to the tide turning for Patton and the Allied Forces (Leadership With You, Sept.

2012). General Patton is one of the greatest situational leaders of all time, based on his ability to adjust his leadership according to the situation, and surrounded himself with competent people and allowed them to do their job. (Pannone, 2012) (tkdtutor, Feb. 2012).

Weaknesses Even though General Patton obtained many strengths as a leader, he also had his weaknesses that accompanied his strengths. As a leader General Patton was considered to be arrogant and reckless, and overly prideful. Those three attributes alone are a weakness. As stated earlier Patton was very goal-oriented and had his purpose in mind when he set out on his mission and had an intense passion for it. This often times got in the way of his orders given by his superiors. Patton was prideful and believed that there was only one way to do things, and that was his way.

This idea is best exemplified by the “ Tannenbaum and Schmidt Model” on the far left side under Authoritative (Moore, 2012). He (Patton) achieved results but often times he obtained these results in somewhat unconventional ways. General Patton was reckless as to how he went about his military tactics and disobeyed orders which often led to the question of his ethics in warfare. Opportunities Due to Patton’s hard work and knowledge of military tactics and techniques, he obtained his commanding position, and was presented put into position with numerous opportunities. Patton’s first commanding position came during the first World War when he was given the opportunity to command the 1st Provisional Tank Brigade in August of 1918 (Hickman, 2012).

He was also given command of the Third Army of the United States on August 1, 1944. Patton handled his opportunities with Katz’s Three Skill Approach, which is technical skills, human skills, and conceptual skills (Moore, 2012). In his command during his military career he used all of these skills to make the most of his opportunity. He used his technical skill and conceptual skills alike to operate and command his troops using his knowledge and experience to the best of his abilities.

Patton also used his human skills to communicate with his soldiers in order to sustain their morale and respect to extract good results and performance in order to achieve his goal and purpose. ThreatsSince Patton was put into such a position as Commander of the Third Army during the Second World War, there would always be threats knocking on his door (Hickman, 2012). General Patton over the stint of his military career would face threats from many German attacks on the front lines of Normandy, Battle of the Bulge (perhaps his greatest achievement), and Bastogne. Patton not only faced threats from the Germans and other opposing forces, but he faced threats from others within the United States forces. General Patton was a leader that was highly respected and powerful, which is something that most people envy.

Patton was constantly under pressure to perform his best, in order to retain his commanding position. General George S. Patton is considered to be not only one of the greatest military minds and leaders in history, but one of the greatest leaders in general. He was a leader with passion, and drive that was needed to achieve the tasks at hand. Even though he often times operated in ways that were thought at the time to be disobeying and unconventional, he almost always accomplished the task at hand and did so with flying colors.

One thing is for certain, General George S. Patton will go down in history as a truly great and recognizable leader.

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