George Washington Leadership Lessons Essay

George Washington’s Leadership Lessons by James C. Rees with Stephen Spignesi, written in 2007, offers us a delightful insight into the leadership lessons that our country’s first president can teach. Simple to read yet detailed enough to give us deep insight; the book draws from hundreds of sources and draws quotes from the over 20,000 letters President George Washington wrote in his lifetime. In short, this book is not a biography of him, but a reflection on the type of man George Washington was and the many great lessons in leadership we can gain from him. The book references all aspects of his life, rom his military career and presidency as one would expect, to his decisions as a young man and emerging leader trying to set forth his foundation to greatness. George Washington’s …show more content…
A good leader must have yearning to learn and the courage to make mistakes. The lesson in this book made that very apparent. As CEO of GE, Jack Welch wrote, “I’ve learned that mistakes can often be as good a teacher as success.” We see ourselves making the same mistakes repeatedly in the military. Why does this happen? One wonders. I believe a lot to do with it is our leaders inability or sometimes egotistical believes in themselves prevent them from learning. It is a lesson in leadership I will carry with me to all aspects of my life. The third, a leader does research and development, I believe ties into this course as a whole. In order to be a better leader, a leader must devout time and effort into learning to be a leader. If I cannot do the research into the task I at hand, how can I effectively develop it as a leader? Often as a Warrant Officer I would pull from previous experiences and “winged it” to get by. I failed from time to time. Dedicating my time to research and develop a task can lead to results that others will want to follow and abide by. Researching and developing myself as a leader, can help take me to new