Just as the diamond requires three properties for its formationcarbon, heat, and pressuresuccessful leaders require the interaction of three propertiescharacter, knowledge, and application. Like carbon to the diamond, character is the basic quality of the leader. But as carbon alone does not create a diamond, neither can character alone create a leader. The diamond needs heat. Man needs knowledge, study and preparation. The third property, pressureacting in conjunction with carbon and heatforms the diamond. Similarly, ones character attended by knowledge, blooms through application to produce a leader.General Edward C. Meyer Chief of Staff, Army (1979-1983)What is leadership? Leadership is the ability to provide others with guidance; purpose and direction, while inspiring and motivating people to be productive and efficient. Leadership is needed on all levels of life and is the basis for which we become good role models and lead by example by exhibiting the attributes needed to inspire the masses or ones employees, or subordinates in general. There is a difference between a leader and a manager or supervisor. One who leads encompasses all of the responsibilities that a manager and a supervisor exhibit. In life we need structure and a positive influence from someone. Most people need a person to lead them in order for some to fully expose their true potential. To be a good leader you must first be a good follower. How can you lead if you are unable to take constructive criticism or allow for yourself to be counseled by your peers or management? There are many different types of leadership and styles of leadership. We can first look at the way leadership is defined in the military and the look at how leadership is in corporations or company management.Military leadership is critical to the survival of soldiers while in combat or even in the garrison environment. There are different levels of leadership in the military these levels are identified by the rank that someone has attained through their years of service. The military is broken down into enlisted personnel, officers, and warrant officers. In these three groups each group has a different level of leadership as well as different individual responsibilities. I will first begin to explain the role of the enlisted personnel who are responsible for the training, mentoring, counseling and the overall professional development of junior enlisted personnel. The rank of Corporal is the lowest Army leader in the Non-commissioned officers corpsDifferent organizations require a different type of leadership to fit the needs of that particular organization. We can take for instance the Army and the way that leadership is defined and structured throughout this very complex organization that is responsible for over 400,000 soldiers. Within a unit, leaders are responsible for the cohesion and discipline that enables soldiers to effectively train for, fight and win the nation's wars. But more fundamentally, Army leaders at every level have a solemn duty to embrace values. As Heraclitus said millennia ago, "A man's character is his fate," and the destiny of the lead is bound to the leader. Those soldiers whom sergeants train, captains maneuver and generals commit are first America's sons and daughters. Given the great responsibility leaders have to the nation and to its people, the Army is committed to values-based leadership that reaches for excellence everyday.(armystudyguide.com)FM 6-22 defines the Army leader as An Army leader is anyone who by virtue of assumed role or assigned responsibility inspires and influences people to accomplish organizational goals. Army leaders motivate people both inside and outside the chain of command to pursue actions, focus thinking, and shape decisions for the greater good of the organization.(FM 6-22)According to the Army FM 22-100 Leadership is influencing people by providing purpose, direction, and motivation while operating to accomplish the mission and improving the organization. The most important words in this definition are influencing, purpose, direction, motivation, and operating. We will go into briefly of what each of the above mentioned words are and what their purpose is as it pertains to the Army leadership and also how these same traits can be directly transferred into the civilian or private sector of America. First, lets discuss the word influencing. Having the ability to influence individuals is a must as a Leader in the Army. Leaders have to be able to get soldiers to do what they need them to as this directly correlates to operating and improving the organization. Army leaders influence their soldiers by setting the example, as well as the words they speak. Communication is the biggest way to influence troops because through that communication a soldier should be given purpose, direction, and motivation. Purpose provides soldiers with a reason to do things. It does not mean that a leader has to explain every decision to please their subordinate, but that soldiers must earn their trust. They must know from experience that a NCO cares about them. They must also know that one wouldnt put them in harms way unless there was a good reason, and the task was essential to mission accomplishment. (AR 600-100) Army leaders must also provide direction. By providing direction leaders assign tasks to soldiers in a priority sequence to ensure the resources are available and that soldiers understand the standard that the army has set forth for them to follow. By providing direction to the soldiers you give them purpose also. So purpose and direction go hand and hand. They build upon one another. The next step is to motivate. Motivation is the ability to inspire soldiers to continue to work through adversity without giving up in order accomplishing the mission. Motivation is accomplished by challenging soldiers, assigning responsibility, allowing them to work on their own, giving praise for a job well done, and providing them with professional growth and performance counselings. By giving them these basic freedoms leaders are able to rely on soldiers like this and not have to micro-manage them and are sure that the job is going to get done. So the motivation that is given leads us to the operating. Leaders are responsible for the planning, preparing, executing and assessing the mission. By laying down the foundation and making the necessary arrangements to allow for soldiers to complete the mission with little risk.Management is the person or persons controlling or directing the affairs of a business, institution, etc (Management, n.d). In employees eyes a manager who is in charge of the organization activities; someone who they look up to display characteristics of a leader. When managers are in-effective in managing their employees they also lack leadership capabilities. Effective leadership produces employees who are eager to contribute to the organization success (DuBrin (08/2006). Management and leadership are different and do not mean the same thing in workplace environment. Management is more focused on the simplicity which involves the order and uniformity of how things flow in the workplace. Leadership is more focused on the revolution and competiveness surrounding the workplace organization. Leadership is the process of influencing others to achieve certain goals. Effective leadership is often seen as the outcome of leadership qualities (traits) which some people have and some do not (Leadership, 2006). The type of leadership a manager posses will define their style of management. The styles of management can be competitive, accommodative, sharing, collaborative, and avoidant. Competitive style of management is trying to attain the goals set forth at the cost of others; being dominant to others ambitions and goals in order to achieve your goals. An example of competitive management style is when a manager is more concerned with his/her own self advancement within the organization than his/her employees such as taking advantage of learning opportunities but not allowing employees to take advantage of the same opportunities. Accommodative style is trying to please others with neglecting your own needs. A manager who has an accommodate style has more concern of his/her employees than her own creating a vision that only sees does not involve everyone. An example of accommodative management style is having your team of employees working a project that requires management input but due to some of your employees dominance you decide to ignore your feelings and neglect your input to keep the employees happy. At the completion of the project you propose to your boss that is was a group project although you really did not have any input on the entire project. Sharing is dividing everyone wants so that all parties can come to an agreement that satisfies everyone. When you demonstrate a sharing management style most employees enjoy this style because this shows you are concern with their ideas as well as your owns. A manager who has a sharing style may allow its employees have a choice on a new system the office is thinking about purchasing for the office. Allowing the employees to have an input since they will be working on the system more and if they enjoy it they will be more willing to accept the change. Collaborative is combining everyone ideas into one so that everyone will gain and both sides prevail. Collaborative management style is more acceptable by employees since both theirs and management needs will be met. Avoidant is removing oneself from being the one who makes the final decision making the teams resolve the issue themselves. No one likes this management style because the manager is unconcerned to both parties.