The department of defense has complex associations and locations, and therefore there has to be a structured way of handling all the internal affairs and external relations. Leaders in the department of defense have to be trained on specific aspects of leadership under curated programs that ensure they are skilled enough to handle all the matters in the DoD ( Hart, 2017) . The programs depend on the skills of a singular person to apply them, and one of these skills is the recognition of problems and the creation of solutions to the problems ( Hart, 2017) . In addition, the leader will need to have other traits such as transparency, self-awareness, trustworthiness, straightforwardness, competency, and intelligence ( Antonakis & Day, 2017) . Analysis of the skills and traits for a leader in execution of their function will ensure that a person is self-aware and therefore improve upon their skills as a leader.
Leadership Traits for the Establishment of a Positive Unit Community .
A leader in the DoD will need to have traits that will enable him or her to achieve targets of coordinating the functions of the DoD while at the same time forging and sustaining a positive community unit ( Bennett, 2018) . The traits are the qualities that a leader will display to convince other people to trust in their ability as a leader ( Antonakis & Day, 2017) . These traits include honesty and integrity, competence, development of targets and visions, inspiration, courage, broadmindedness, imaginative and straightforwardness ( Antonakis & Day, 2017) .
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Honesty is an integral part of these traits as leaders will have to display it to ensure that their people trust in them ( Antonakis & Day, 2017) . It is crucial to be viewed as a person of integrity and sincerity by other people when occupying a position of leadership. It is also important to display competence which entails morals and reasoning behind actions. Leaders will have to be accountable for their actions, and therefore they will have to display principles and logic behind every decision that they will make ( Antonakis & Day, 2017) .
Visionary leaders develop targets and visions that enable them to create a sense of direction for the organization. A vision of a leader is created by lifelong experiences and life perspectives that surround the training of the leader. Furthermore, a successful leader will have to be courageous in the decision making and display perseverance in his conviction when facing obstacles ( Bennett, 2018) . Finally, successful leaders are imaginative and able to imagine other possibilities beyond their own thinking. It means that the leaders will have to be accommodating to other people’s way of thinking and consider the best outcomes before making decisions.
Self-Analysis for Leadership Traits
As a prospective leader, I am aware of the need to analyze the leadership skills and outlining on the presence and absence of the leadership traits. Self-awareness is one of the most important skills as it ensures that a leader understands their strengths and limitations ( Antonakis & Day, 2017) . First, I view myself as an honest, trustworthy, and sincere person. Moreover, I believe that I will maintain these traits as a leader and therefore ensure that my tenure of leadership is heralded by integrity and transparency in all activities. Secondly, I believe that I have the necessary qualifications in terms of intelligence and therefore decision making. Widespread interest in training and reading has boosted my confidence in my intelligence as I believe that I am capable of considering the best outcomes in any tasks that need my intervention. In addition to these traits, I believe that there is a resulting competence that has developed due to the understanding of the moral and ethical practices and adherence to these standards throughout my life. I also believe that I am imaginative and broad-minded, with the insistence on diversity of contribution being a key principle in my leadership style. These traits enable me to have confidence in my ability as a leader, and therefore I believe that I can establish and support a positive community unit and culture.
Improving On the Leadership Traits
Self-awareness also entails introspection and honestly pointing out aspects of leadership that need to be improved. The aspect that I need to improve is accommodation of other people’s opinions. Years of interactions with various viewpoints have shaped a clear perspective of what I want to achieve as a leader. Therefore, I expect that I will have disagreements with other people regarding the best way of achieving the goals and targets of the DOD. As a result, I will need to improve my dialogue and accommodation skills to ensure that everyone will feel included in the leadership process and decision making. In essence, I believe that leadership is a continuous learning experience and that there will be points at which a leader will be needed to reevaluate and consider other perspectives which will contribute to successful leadership.
How to Achieve the Improvement of Leadership Traits
Improving leadership traits will include developing discipline, seeking information, internal inspiration, and empowering others. Education is one of the most important ways of improving the leadership traits of a leader ( Antonakis & Day, 2017) . Reading is a great way of acquiring further information which ensures that a leader makes informed decisions ( Seaman et al., 2018) . A leader will need to accrue as much information as they can to ensure that they have a broad understanding of their responsibilities ( Antonakis & Day, 2017) . It will also expose them to a wide spectrum of viewpoints that will improve the decision making of a leader ( Bennett, 2018) . I will also work on maintaining discipline in what I do and therefore inspire others in what they do. Inspiring people will ensure that there is good communication and therefore people will develop an understanding and tolerance towards each perspective ( Antonakis & Day, 2017) . Internal inspiration will also contribute to the development of skills that will help me to listen others, develop a will to learn and proclivity to accommodate a wide range of viewpoints ( Bennett, 2018) . The steps needed to improve the leadership traits of a leader are continuous, and therefore I am willing to improve myself each day.
Evaluation against Common Standards
According to Antonakis & Day (2017 ), there are essential leadership qualities that a leader must have in order to be successful. In this case, these will be used as the common standard of leadership as they are widely accepted as essential leadership qualities ( Bennett, 2018) . These qualities include decisiveness, courage, integrity, passion, and confidence. I believe that my traits are of the expected standard when compared to the essential skills of a leader. I believe that I display confidence, passion, integrity and courage in leadership ( Bennett, 2018) . Several other skills are also required as the standard for a successful leader ( Seaman et al., 2018) . I believe that I have displayed these skills such as the ability to improve myself, seeking other perspectives and maintaining integrity in leadership ( Bennett, 2018) . After examination of the leadership traits that are needed in developing a positive unit and culture, I believe that my leadership skills measure up to the required standards and that I can be a successful leader.
References
Antonakis, J., & Day, D. V. (Eds.). (2017). The nature of leadership . Sage publications.
Bennett, D. (2018). An Examination of the Leadership Traits Perceived Necessary for the Ideal Virtual School Leader.
Hart, J. B. (2017). Development and Application of Self-Awareness in Project Leadership: A Multiple Case Study of Department of Defense Project Managers.
Seaman, C., LaPerla, J. T., Schwartz, E., & Bienstock, J. E. (2018). Common leadership characteristics, personality traits, and behaviors that generations x, y, and z leaders find effective for shared leadership: a formal, informal, and rational approach. Journal of International Management Studies , 18 (3).
