I found it very entertaining to read the beginning of chapter 5 where Lt McDonough went through his entire thought process and quoted dialogue of the first time meeting his platoon leadership. This is a very crucial time, as Lt McDonough pointed out, because this is the first impression you are giving the men you are leading, and you know that they do not expect much from you because they know you have no real experience compared to them. Lt McDonough stayed very calm and collected even though he was nervous, and he decided to give direct simple orders that he knew from tactics and guidelines. I feel like this was a very safe and fine way to begin his job. He also mentioned that he wanted to observe how things were run before changing and putting in a lot of new input; which in ROTC we have been told many times to not begin a new leadership role by changing everything. I was surprised Lt McDonough did not introduce himself with a little background when meeting his men, and he did not ask the NCOs anything about themselves. It may have just been seen that the environment was not a good time for small talk, but better to get straight to business.  The whole time meeting his NCOs Lt McDonough did a great job slowing everything down in his head and coming in prepared (prepared because he knew the men would be judging him and he did not want to give away too much about himself, and prepared that he took a few minutes to collect himself and clear his mind before speaking with the NCOs).

I think this entire thought process showed that Lt McDonough has good social skills. He knew the importance of a good first impression and he was able to pick up the social cues that the men were trying their best to figure him out, just by their body language and what they chose to say to him. He knew that his social skills as an Lt had to be very professional and that he needed to show he knew a lot about his job without coming off cocky or too controlling. Social skills are also something that are always developing; so for this to be the first time Lt McDonough represented himself as a PL it was well done. 2nd Lts are not going to be perfect because of their lack of experience, but having knowledge of your PL roles/responsibilities along with the social skills to perform in different situations is what will make you successful.