MARINE CORPS AIR STATION CHERRY POINT, N.C. -- Noncommissioned officers with Headquarters and Headquarters Squadron here honed their leadership skills recently in preparation to run a five-day Lance Corporal Leadership and Ethics Seminar, March 23-27, for the squadron’s aspiring junior leaders.
During the five-day course, sergeants with H&HS learned to conduct guided discussions and become more knowledgeable about leadership and ethics in the Marine Corps in an effort to condition more than 250 lance corporals before they pick up corporal.
“We are learning to better instruct and lead the junior Marines in guided discussions,” said Sgt. Royce Williams, a special reaction team member with H&HS. “As a result of the class, we will be able to teach the junior Marines how to have better guided discussions amongst themselves to better lead when they become NCOs.”
The Lance Corporals Leadership and Ethics Seminar builds on foundations instilled at boot camp like Marine Corps ethos, challenges within the Marine Corps and Marine total fitness.
Unlike usual courses where juniors Marines are listening to an instructor and are expected to learn the material, the Lance Corporal Leadership and Ethics Seminar allows the Marines to bounce ideas off of each other and brainstorm ways to solve problems with the Marine Corps’ core values in mind.
“The Marines will talk amongst themselves, and the instructor will guide and control the direction of the conversations, to ensure that the Marine Corps topics get covered,” said Williams, a native of Yelm, Wash. “We are going to open the conversations, give them the topic that we want them to learn and then they are going to talk about it.”
Although the NCOs are hoping that the Marines are learning the material, they also want to encourage the Marines to step up and correct problems when they are faced with them.
“As the Marines are learning, we want them to feel more empowered and confident because the answers are not told to them, they must figure it out on their own,” said Williams. “They will realize that they too can come up with answers to problems and be leaders amongst their peers.”
When Marines get promoted, a new level of responsibility is placed upon their shoulders, which requires effective leadership skills, said Sgt. Shinae Vedder, an air traffic controller with H&HS.
“This course will help the Marines think about situations they have been in and how they should or should not have handled them,” said Vedder. “It helps them to see situations from different perspectives and handle them accordingly, which is essential as a leader.”
During the course, the Marines will be presented with various scenarios like personal problems and many Corps related problems that they could face as they advance their career.
“As the Marines become better leaders, they are able to disperse their knowledge to the Marines in their shop, which ultimately creates better leaders in the Marine Corps,” said Vedder.