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Document created: 1 June 2008
Air & Space Power Journal - Summer 2008
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PIREPs |
| Editor’s Note: PIREP is aviation shorthand for pilot report. It’s a means for one pilot to pass on current, potentially useful information to other pilots. In the same fashion, we use this department to let readers know about items of interest. |
Leadership is unlocking people’s potential to become better.
—Senator Bill Bradley (D-NJ)
Today’s Air Force needs strong leadership at all levels and role models to serve as great examples for our Airmen. They help all of us become better. Authors have written much on the subject of leadership over the years; it remains a complex, multifaceted art with countless attributes. Strong leaders affect the attitudes of their people, prioritize the organizational “big rocks” to provide focus and direction, and display courage while making tough decisions.
Strong leaders affect attitudes. Attitude is everything—there is nothing more powerful than a “Hooah! Can do!” attitude. The Air Force can teach an individual technical skills and a job, but it cannot teach attitude. Individuals make that decision and bring their attitudes to the work center each and every day. Our attitudes can become a powerful force multiplier that affects our productivity, safety, effectiveness, and view of our profession. Leaders’ attitudes can have a powerful effect, not only on themselves but also on the entire organization. Indeed, all organizations reflect the attitude of their leadership. Therefore, it is important to remember that leaders are responsible for setting the tone—for affecting the attitudes of their people.
I still remember Staff Sergeant Allen, my basic-military-training instructor from Lackland AFB, Texas. Boy, could that man affect attitudes! He always looked like a recruiting poster: crisp and sharp, the embodiment of Air Force professionalism. He was famous for saying, “I can’t make you do it, but I can make you wish you had!” I guarantee that he affected the attitudes of his Airmen each and every day. Strong leaders affect our attitudes even when they are no longer around. Our Air Force has built its rich heritage on decades of strong leaders and their wonderful examples.
Strong leaders also go out of their way to “walk the talk.” Once, walking out of a headquarters entryway, I observed several Airmen standing around watching the snow fall, apparently waiting for civil engineering to clear the sidewalk to the parking lot. Several snow shovels stood idle in the corner of the foyer. Without saying a word, I grabbed a shovel, went outside, and began to enjoy shoveling the walkway. Soon the other Airmen (enlisted, civilians, and officers) grabbed shovels and joined in the festivities. We had a good time working together in the falling snow, chatting as we cleared the sidewalk and making our area safer. Strong leaders affect attitudes with their words, their examples, and—most importantly—their actions.
Strong leaders focus on the big rocks. If everything is important, then nothing is important. If every task is a crisis and every project has equal importance, then nothing is really important. Leadership effectively balances our many mission requirements with scarce resources (funds, personnel, tools, time, and floor space) and makes tough decisions about our priorities. We must decide on our top issues and work them first.
Steven Covey, famous author of books on management and leadership, describes a concept he calls the big rocks.1 In his demonstration, he uses a glass container, separate piles of big and small rocks, sand, and a glass of water. He asks participants to fill the container with all the materials. Needless to say, the task seems impossible. After the participants have repeatedly failed to fit all the materials into the container, Covey explains the proper method: all the materials will not fit unless the big rocks go in first. The small rocks fill in the gaps between the big ones; the sand and water do the same. His demonstration illustrates that we must first put our own organizational big rocks on our calendars and in our organizational job jars. Otherwise, they may not fit or get done. Strong leaders take time to reflect, select their organizational big rocks, and then communicate them as priorities to the entire team. Lesser priorities will fit in around the big ones.
Strong leaders also make conscious decisions when they select their big rocks: family time, fitness, mission, and so forth. Because time is a precious commodity to a leader, he or she must cherish and safeguard it. Airmen should always remember that if they can’t be on time, they should be early!
I recently spent an hour traveling across base to present one of my vice-commander’s coins for excellence. On my way back to the office, someone asked me how I find the time for these individual recognitions. My response was simple: “Recognizing and taking care of our Airmen are one of my personal big rocks, so I put these activities on the schedule first and make sure they don’t get bumped by lesser priorities.” I do not “fit them in” around other hectic daily activities; rather, my more routine daily activities should fit in around the big rock of recognition. Airmen should identify their own big rocks and determine why they consider them important.
Strong leaders display courage. I don’t just mean courage during combat; I am talking about the daily courage to do the right thing—moral courage. Some say that moral courage involves standing up for what a person believes in or knows is right. Others say it requires telling the truth in spite of the consequences. Still others declare that moral courage entails doing what’s right in the face of adversity instead of turning the other way—the easier choice. One of our Air Force core values, “integrity first,” provides the foundation for building strong leadership and moral courage.
Every leader in today’s Air Force should strive to achieve this admirable character trait: to stand up for what is right! As leaders, we must establish a standard of fairness and create a work environment of trust and integrity. Our people deserve nothing less. Mark Twain once observed, “It is curious that physical courage should be so common in the world and moral courage so rare.”2
Every day we’re faced with hundreds of decisions. Our decision-making process shows those around us the quality of our character. True tests of character come when the stakes are high—when we know that we must make our decision even though it will not be popular. When we do that, we reveal our true character.
Some of our toughest leadership decisions concern people and disciplinary cases, all of which, of course, involve at least two sides. Leaders review the facts of the case, consider inputs from supervisors and commanders, and receive advice from the judge advocate general. Ultimately, however, the commander must weigh all the facts and make the tough decision. Strong leaders carefully consider all the facts, lean on their moral courage, and make the right decisions. At one time, I faced the tough decision to remove a key subordinate from his Air Force leadership position because of unethical behavior. A respected Airman, he had been a good friend for over 10 years, so, personally, making the decision proved difficult. But it was easy in the context of the corporate Air Force, which, along with the base, squadron, and all its fine Airmen, benefited by the removal. I never regretted that decision and am still thankful I had the moral courage to make it.
The job we do is important, not only to ourselves and our families but also to our nation. The men and women serving on our front lines depend on us for their lives. The dedication, skill, and moral courage of our Airmen will help us fulfill the Air Force’s top priority of winning the global war on terror. It will protect the lives of our war fighters and preserve freedom for the next generation.
Our Airman’s Creed closes with the declaration “I am an American Airman: wingman, leader, warrior. I will never leave an Airman behind, I will never falter, and I will not fail.” Strong leadership is critical to the success of our Air Force mission. Therefore, by properly affecting attitudes, helping our organizations focus on the important “big rocks,” and displaying moral courage, we can help our great service make everyone into better, stronger leaders. By applying these virtues to our daily missions, we will never falter—and we will not fail. Hooah!!
*The author is director of communications and chief information officer at Headquarters Air Mobility Command, Scott AFB, Illinois.
Notes
1. Steven R. Covey, A. Roger Merrill, and Rebecca R. Merrill, First Things First: To Live, to Love, to Learn, to Leave a Legacy (New York: Simon and Schuster, 1996), 88–89.
2. Mark Twain, “Purchasing Civic Virtue,” in The Portable Mark Twain, ed. Bernard DeVoto (New York: Viking Press, 1946), 571.
Disclaimer
The conclusions and opinions expressed in this document are those of the author cultivated in the freedom of expression, academic environment of Air University. They do not reflect the official position of the U.S. Government, Department of Defense, the United States Air Force or the Air University
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