Civil Air Patrol Earhart Exam Study Questions

Concept of an officer

A professional, expert soldier, and true leader

Before the early 1800s, what determined the appointment and advancement of officers?

Wealth, birth, and political influence

Meritocracy

Allowing individuals to earn positions of standing through their talents, abilities, and accomplishments

Who shall commission all officers of the United States?

The President

What is the oath of office?

The officer's pledge to uphold the duties of the office they are about to enter.

What is the oath of office's key principle?

To support and defend the Constitution against all enemies

What is one core responsibility for officers, and all leaders?

To honor the trust of the public

Why do all leaders in positions of power have an obligation to the public at large?

Power requires consent

The public rules

What is one common practice to honor the public trust?

Joining a professional association

What is a professional association?

An organization that works to advance a specific field, help its members advance in that field, and uphold public trust

Examples of professional associations

Air Force Association

American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics

IEEE Computer Society

Tactical Leadership

Directly leading others in specific everyday tasks

Indirect Leadership

Leading with and through others, guiding people you might not interact with day to day

Four kinds of indirect leadership

Leadership from a distance

Leadership through a link

Leadership through creations

Upward Influence

Leadership from a distance

A leader who is assisting with the development of individuals who don't directly report to them

Leadership through a link

The form of indirect leadership you probably see most often in CAP: Leaders working through subordinate leaders in the chain of command

Leadership through creations

Art, music, writing, philosophy can be vehicles of indirect leadership when their messages are able to influence others

Upward influence

The ability to influence your leader and others in positions higher than yours.

What does indirect leadership require?

More conceptual skills and fewer task-related abilities

What do indirect leaders have to be?

More thoughtful and self-controlling than direct leaders

What is extremely important when leading through a link?

Personnel selections

Indirect leadership is only as good as the link who is delivering it to subordinates

Indirect leaders who work through a link are more what?

Cautious and deliberative

What if an opinion being expressed goes against the official view of the organization?

Dissent

Why do people often choose to keep their concerns to themselves and hope things will turn out okay?

Individuals speaking in opposition (dissenting) to a plan can be labeled as disloyal or causing trouble, and be punished or marginalized

Why did the Soviet Union fall after 1991?

Individuals did not want to dissent due to fear of being punished

When can dissent be worthwhile?

When done respectfully

Guidelines on dissenting with respect

Use the chain of command

Stay professional and in control of your emotions

Don't simply complain about problems; propose solutions to them

Pick your battles

Only criticize an idea if you can summarize it in a way that allows someone who supports it to admit your summary is fair

Handling dissent

Dissenting might be very difficult for those you outrank

Make sure you aren't unconsciously shooting down dissenting views

Avoid reacting defensively

Assume good faith

Thank people for being brave enough to speak up

Moral Relativism

Ethics are what society decides they are. There are no universal, set-in-stone moral principles

Moral Objectivism

There are some universal moral principles that are independent of anyone's opinion

Examples of moreal objectivism

Core Values

Religion

Virtue Ethics

Achieving happiness and fulfillment through virtue

What is virtue

the perfection of the soul

Becoming all that you can be

Authentic Happiness

According to virtue ethics, happiness brings about true fulfillment

if we are rational beings, we reach our full potential

Virtue as the path to happiness

Virtue Ethics says that the focuses achiever attains both virtue and happiness

True reason and balance

Striving for virtue requires rational thinking and constant deep thought. Only this way can a person stay true to reason. With reason, there's also balance or discovering where a person's best self fits. Virtue is the middle of the two extremes

Habits of character

Virtue ethics says that virtue is developed through habit

Duty ethics

German philosopher Immanuel Kant believed that a system of ethics should be based on what a person is obligated to do

The categorical imperative

To see if an action is moral, imagine if everyone acted that way

(Kantian hypothetical)

The Concept of Duty

Positive duties: Things you actively do

Negative duties: Things you refrain from doing

Perfect duties: always in effect and have zero wiggle room

Imperfect duties: balance a duty to act with room for personal preference

Practical Imperative

People have reason, which guides morality, and they have inalienable rights

Utilitarianism

Producing the greatest amount of happiness for the greatest amount of people

Using reason to measure happiness

The gerater the happiness that something produces, the higher its value

Justice

A just society leads to greater happiness, and utilitarians values happiness most of all

An ethic of selflessness

Selfless actions are worthwhile because of their result: increased happiness. Other motives for acting selflessly are irrelevant to them

Behaviorism

The organized systematic use of rewards and punishment to control behavior

What does the behaviorist style deliver?

Very tangible results, positive or negative, that recipients cannot ignore

Modeling

About demonstrating good behaviors as a role model

The leader's example

A leader's status as a role model is the most powerful way to develop character in others

Developmentalism

Focus on a person's moral development over time

Who was a major voice for developmentalism?

Psychologist Lawrence Kohlberg

6 Stages of moral development

Obedience and Punishment

Individualism

Interpersonal Relations

The Social order

Social Contract

Universal Principles

Obedience and Punishment

A toddler will sit still just to avoid being punished. She isn't thinking about fairness yet

Individualism

Children just want to know what's in it for them if they follow the rules

Interpersonal Relations

Older kids and teens learn that to be like, they have to treat others as they want to be treated. They try to conform to the group's values or the expectations of authority figures

The Social Order

Older teens and adults develop reasoning from a law-and-order perspective

Social Contract

The thinking at this stage is individual "rights," majority rule, and democratic principles that are higher than mere written law

Universal Principles

Being in balance with one's conscience, regardless of external pressures

How can you put Kohlberg's theory to use, molding the character of cadets?

Make the cadet predict the outcome of the situation

Have the cadet identify the rights and virtues at stake and any temptations or treachery that might come into play

Reexamine the problem or situation by asking "what if?

Ask your follower to identify the weakest link in their own argument

Recall if a similar issue has come up before and how it was handled

Reasons to follow Kohlberg

It allows individuals to be themselves and explore morals and values

Weaknesses of Kohlberg's theory

Focus on moral thinking, not moral action

5 levels of conflict legitimacy

Parallel conflict

Displaced conflict

Misattributed conflict

Latent conflict

False conflict

Parallel conflict

There is a clear and agreed-upon conflict

Displaced conflict

A disagreement is being addressed, but it's not the real issue

Misattributed conflict

An inaccurately understood conflict attributed to the wrong person

Latent conflict

A situation where there is a real conflict, but it's not being said out loud

False conflict

A situation where there's a perception of disagreement between two sides, but in reality the parties agree

Interpersonal conflict

Distal context

proximal context

conflict interaction

proximal outcomes

distal outcomes

Distal (background) context

Every conflict has some sort of history or background. A long history between the two individuals, such as family or a friendship since grade school, provides a rich distal context

Proximal (immediate) context

Immediate circumstances, the emotions that are being felt, and each person's goals for the conglict

Conflict interaction

The moment when two sides engage in conflict

Proximal Outcomes

Immediate outcomes of the conflict. Each side digests how it went and if they're satisfied with the results

Distal outcomes

Long-term results, which tie into the quality of the two sides' relationship heading into the future

Managing Conflicts

Describe

Explore

Map

Evaluate

Analyze

Allow

Reframe

Strategize

Develop

Achieve

Describe

Describe what you see through factual observation

Explore

explore ad consider the universe interpretations of the event/behavior

Map

Map the dimensions of the conflict, participants, and process

Evaluate

Evaluate your interpretation, and identify if there are positive and negative reactions to the event/behavior

Analyze

Analyze the causes of the conflict in light of:

Relationship Issues

Substantive Issues

Procedural Issues

Allow

Allow each party to voice their perspective and experience, which validates each party's worth and right to be part of the discussion

Reframe

Reframe a fuller definition of the problem based on an understanding of multiple perspectives

Strategize

Develop a constructive strategy for daeling with the conflict

Develop

Develop a range of alternative approaches or solutions, and collectively test them for viability

Achieve

Achieve solutions that take into account interests, not positions

5 main styles of negotiation

Insist Strategy

Cooperative Negotiating Strategy (CNS)

Comply Strategy

Evade Strategy

Settle Strategy

Insist Strategy

Isn't interested in a lot of negotiating or compromise; it has a specific goal and doesn't waver from it

Cooperative Negotiating Strategy (CNS)

Used in situations when both sides trust each other. They both want two things: reaching a mutually satisfactory result and keeping a good relationship

Comply Strategy

Defers to the other party and allows them to get what they want. Concerned with keeping a strong relationship with the other party

Evade Strategy

When the Negotiator isn't very concerned about the outcome. they either don't see the issue at the center of the conflict as very important--they have other, more important priorities--or they don't have the energy to resolve the disagreement

Settle Strategy

Willing to meet the other side halfway

Teams

Groups of people who work together toward a common goal

Organization

A body of individuals--a team--working under a defined system of rules, roles, and procedures to achieve identifiable goals

Mintzerberg's model breaks an organization into five components that fall into two groups. What are the groups and their components?

Line:

- operating core

- middle line

- strategic apex

Staff:

- technostructure

- support staff

The Line

includes the workers and leaders who accomplish the organization's mission

The Staff

Does not directly carry out the organization's mission. Instead, their focus is supporting those who do, with specialized skills

Strategic Apex

Have authority over the entire organization and are responsible to outline the mission, devise the strategy for achieving it, and ensure objectives support that mission

Middle Line

They interpret the mission, develop plans for how their area of oversight will support the mission, and define how the operating core will execute those plans

Operating Core

Includes the frontline workers and foot soldiers, whose efforts directly affect the organization's ability to carry out the mission

Technostructure

made up of people who specialize in an area to help the organization run, such as human resources, training, finance, and planning

Support Staff

Made up of specialists who provide administrative, financial, logistical, and other support to the mission areas of the organization