John Paul Jones, A True Leader

A detailed Summary of John Paul Jones, A True Leader

Leadership is a trait that not many people are able to show. Everybody has the ability to be a good leader, but there are only a select few who are able to express their leadership qualities. When we are born we are all the same, then as years go on people learn different things and express ourselves differently. A good leader must always lead by example, so most of our great leaders come from a family of leaders. John Paul Jones is an exception to this theory. He was one of the greatest leaders that the United States Navy has seen.

John Paul Jones was from a poor family and he always dreamed of coming to America. He started showing signs of good leadership at an early age. When he came to America he was unable to, neither speak the language nor read it. One of the principals of a true leader is to know yourself and seek self-improvement. John Paul Jones knew who he was and he sought every opportunity to improve himself. When he actually got to America he fell in love with it, and he was set from then on to improve himself to American standards. He learned to avoid the low company on the shore and to associate himself with the gentlemen. He took every opportunity to meet gentlemen,

listening to their conversations and imitating their manners and speech. He was able to teach himself to write and speak the appropriate language of the Americans. In fact, his letters that he wrote were marked as more superior than those of officers who had a formal education. He also learned how to navigate on his own, which is truly a difficult task. John Paul Jones truly improved himself better as a gentleman.

John Paul Jones did not always show good leadership in looking out for his subordinates. While he was captain of the ship Tobago, he made a bad decision that caused a death. He refused to advance the wages to his seamen, who wanted the money to go and be with their friends of the native land. The man in charge of the rebellious group confronted Jones and there was a fight between the two. Jones ended up killing the man and then he fled the island, with the advise of a friend. He failed as a leader to influence through empowering his men. He did not reward, recognize, or even listen to the men. The mistake that he made was not severe, but it could have been avoided if he had just listened to his men.

John Paul Jones has had his up's and down's when it comes to being a leader, but I think that most people would qualify him as a good leader because of the battle of Flamborough Head. The battle was in September of 1779, and Jones was with only two other war ships, which were prizes. The men that fought with him were of his choice and they fought gallantly because they liked fighting and they were devoted to John Paul Jones. Jones was always quick to motivate his men during the battle. When he was bumped by one of the enemies he hollered out, "I have not yet begun to fight". Also, when his men did a good action, by getting really close to another boat, he was quick to praise his men by saying, "Well done, my brave lads, we have got her now; throw on board her grappling-irons and stand by for boarding". He both mo

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Approximate Word count = 1321
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: People