Leadership through the Lens of Six African-American Limited Duty and Chief Warrant Officers of the San Diego Navy Mustang Association

OBJECTIVE
The purpose of this research study is to shed light on the unique leadership experiences of African-American Officers in the United States Navy.

METHODOLOGY
Six African-American Active Duty Limited Duty Officers and Chief Warren Officers in the San Diego Mustang Association were interviewed using an opened-ended survey question methodology, and completed the LPI and the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator. All participants had more than 23 years of active duty service in the United States Navy, and at least 19 years of leadership experience.

KEY FINDINGS
Enable was the most frequently used leadership practice, followed by Challenge, Encourage, and then Model and Inspire.

The author notes: “A comparison of the competencies of a successful mentor and the Five Practices of Exemplary Leadership assessed using the LPI reveals sizeable overlap. The validity of the LPI as an assessment instrument, the inclusion of the concept of developmental networking (Higgins & Kram, 2001) into mentoring, and the comparison of leadership practices and mentorship traits supports the claim that the LPI should be a viable instrument for use in determining the leader’s likely success in mentoring subordinates and contributing to the development of future naval leaders” (p. 86).