A Review and Reflection on
“American Caesar: Douglas MacArthur 1880-1964”
by William Manchester
“I am concerned for the security of
our great Nation; not so much because of any threat from without, but
because of the insidious forces working from within.”
VUCA stands for Volatility, Uncertainty, Complexity,
and Ambiguity. Volatility refers to the dynamism or the constant change
while Uncertainty renders the lack of predictability. Complexity
stresses entropy and chaos while Ambiguity argues diversity of literal
and connotative meanings. A VUCA environment imposes an unparalleled or
asymmetrical nature of global events and landscape.
Our world experiences this kind of environment for
change in all aspects of our life is constant. Therefore, we are
challenged to learn and possess innovative and flexible political will
and cognitive skills. Our decisions should be adaptable in response to
the uncertainty of occurring events. Though the way we address the
arising complex problems, our solutions must be sophisticated or
detailed yet easy to understand. We should constantly consider
leadership, influence, natural phenomena, and resources as we enter in decision-making
undertakings. Universally accepted values should never be compromised
with the ever- changing and relative world. We need to be sensitive to
the different cultural and lingual differences and to be respectful to
the proper context.
These things should be inert in us. They should be
applied beyond the pedagogical aspects in our schools and even in
hospital settings; we must internalize on them or apply them in our
lives. As a nurse leader, I think that serving as a mentor should be
applied on the workplace, being a role model by doing my best and by
doing my best I will imply that only the best is expected from my staff
and of course providing it with freedom to question my methods so they
can understand. By respecting on differences, I will give them the
liberty to create their own way of working within the organization as
long as they don’t hinder the rules of the organization.
Douglas MacArthur lived his life under a volatile,
uncertain, complex, and ambiguous environment. Communication has not yet
reached its utmost level of accuracy and fidelity. Laws that should
balance government affairs, civil society, and private life are still
budding. This kind of life which our contemporary society now enjoys has
created a relatively disarray.
But through the positive aspects or character of
Douglas MacArthur, he was able to thrive and succeed. He relied on the
undeviating values that had been established already centuries ago.
We can internalize on the Caesar-like
character of Douglas MacArthur. His life was not only part of history of
World War II, West Point Texas Military Academy, American politics, and
Korean War but his legacy flourished in our civilization. As a nurse
leader, having a positive character like Douglas MacArthur is very
important to keep my staff motivated for them to perform well. This
includes in dealing with their performance, stress, burnout,
punctuality, and other factors that affects them. Supporting and
understanding them in a way that it would be beneficial for them and
also for the organization.
Nursing Leadership
Our goal is to ensure
the development of the organization where we work in, by improving the
quality of care that our patients are receiving, which we can do by
applying various useful leadership qualities and styles in nursing. Also
by having patient satisfaction, encouraging our staff to empathize
patients, knowing their needs, and providing quality health care for
their well-being are our goals.
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