MSgt Andrew F. Stokes
Air Force Senior Noncommissioned Officer Academy
General George A. Custer When we talk about General George A. Custer you may fail to realize that he was a murderer of innocent men, women and children and how his failed leadership led to his death. In this paper you will see that General Custer is not an Ethical nor Visionary Leader. First you will see that his failed visionary ability, through the lack of individualized consideration and not creating an Inclusive Environment, led to his death and that of his regiment. Next you will read that his failed Ethical Leadership through his strong drive for success and use of language traps turned into …show more content…
By 22 he had made Major, by 25 he was promoted to brigadier and could not get enough of this lateral movement. His drive for success put a terrible negative connotation on his ethical behavior. So much so that he was willing to kill all the Indian men, women and children of the world to get promoted. One sunny day General Custer and his troops rode in on the Cheyenne Nation where they slaughtered 103 Indians (Mass, 2016). His clouded judgment wanted to hunt down those that escaped, not taking time for the individualized consideration of his men; only thinking of how this will effect his next promotion. He decided to send a small detachment to chase them down, all of which confronted a tribe that slaughtered Custer’s men. In the Custer: Lesson in Leadership article by Schultz in 2014 it stated that, “he was willing to do anything to get promoted.” During his short rise to power he would often lead his troops up a similar drive of promote or success by instilling Phrases, Statements and …show more content…
Due to my experience I was moved into a Senior Master Sergeant Position in my work-center. During the first two month’s it was very difficult for me to supervise six different nationalities, all the same rank as me. At first I wanted to put them all on the same standards as the Air Force, trying to instill our core value. My actions, decisions and behaviors created a non-effective inclusive environment, like that of General Custer just prior to his Battle at Little Bighorn. The moral of my section lowered because I started using the U.S. personnel more, not giving equal responsibility to all; contributing to an increase in aircraft documentation errors. My German Captain sat me down and discussed this, trying to help the situation. Had I known this earlier I could have changed my approach and focused more on the individualized consideration of the other nationalities, maybe creating an inclusive