John Philip Sousa Research Paper

Sousa’s life was in the public eye each and every day. He knew that he had to be humble with his audiences and not treat them as inferior or stupid by demonstrating intellectual humility (BCEE, 2015c, p.20). Sousa was a quiet man with a keen sense of humor who did not speak excessively. However, when he did speak it was with a purpose. He never spoke down to his audiences either and always catered to their requests. Whenever his band traveled he always made arrangements to speak to reporters and have his picture taken for newspapers. Sousa opened up his life to the public and that is what made him so successful. His personal life and professional life were one in the same and because of that he knew he had to live by a higher standard and be gracious to everyone he met. In addition to intellectual humility, he also demonstrated the virtue of loyalty. John Philip Sousa was an ethical leader because he demonstrated loyalty to his country, his audiences, and to his profession. His loyalty to his country was put to the test in 1917 when the country was about to enter WWI (Baughman, 1998). He had been out of the military for twenty five years touring all over the world with his band when the Navy asked if he would join the …show more content…
Through his support and mentoring he was able to “articulate a clear and compelling vision of the future” (BCEE, 2015b, p.13); for my personal and professional life. When I look back at my life at that time I now realize how lucky I am. By taking his advice and truly listening to him, I was able to look inward at myself and begin to change from the inside out. If I had not taken my mentor’s advice I would most definitely not be serving in the Air Force right now. My life since Germany has not been perfect by any stretch of the imagination, but it has been authentic thanks to my mentor in