Deliberate Development

I recently sat down with the Senior Enlisted Leader at my Wing.  This wasn’t my first time sitting down with a Command Chief, and I’m sure it won’t be my last. During our conversation, he explained how he got to his position. Interestingly enough, it wasn’t the typical “I worked hard to get here speech”.

The Chief went on to say, that leaders at different stages of his life offered him new jobs. Strange jobs. Uncomfortable jobs that he didn’t think he was ready for… But with the advice and counsel of his mentor, he accepted every challenge as an opportunity. He went on to say that self doubt was in full effect. As an introvert, if you can believe it, he had to “will” himself to gather courage.  Meetings with Senior leaders was a challenge. Doing the unpopular, but right thing, was a challenge. This may have been the most humble man, in uniform or not that I’ve ever met.

Bottom line from the conversation was this: Take every opportunity and job that comes your way. Be  bold, and make a difference. You may be the next Command Chief at your base.

Take the time today to not only have pride in your service but in the service of those who came before us. Those brothers and sisters in arms who paved the paths we walk on this day.

Happy Veterans Day to all who have served this great nation!

We all want more. We want more rank to have a bigger impact or to make more money. What happens when you get promoted? We are happy for a moment and then we want more. What if we looked at our current situation and thought about how we could maximize this? We could work on making ourselves better in order to add value to our team and not for our own good. This one small shift in thinking could change our organization as we invest in others first.

I find it funny how the lessons I learned taking martial arts as a kid translate into real life. When in a clench, we would say “control the head, control the body” because wherever we moved the head to the body instinctively followed. This applies more than to just the physical applications; rather, to the mental as well. Whatever thoughts and beliefs that we latch onto will control our destinations. If we allow negativity to take over, it will affect how we view every part of our life. If we think we are entitled to more, we will approach everything that way. Where do you want to go?

Way too often we look at our situations at work or in life and expect everything to change to suit our needs. I have even “stood my ground” on certain situations where I thought my workcenter should alter their policies to fit my needs. “I do all of this stuff, it is the least you could do…” How arrogant are we to expect the world to revolve around us? When injustice is being done, we need to stand up for what is right. However, when it is in the context of our job or environment, we have to adapt. If not, we will find ourselves left behind.

Defining what a leader is and if leaders are born or made seems to be one of the biggest leadership questions still to this date. I admit, I like to expend some bandwidth to these questions every now and then, but the answers really don’t matter. If we are born leaders, we still have to develop our skills. And the definition of what a leader is will evolve as you develop. Therefore whether someone is an all-natural leader is a moot point. In fact, according to Peter Drucker’s research, going all-natural at work does not work. He says, “Only three things happen naturally in an organization: friction, confusion, and underperformance. Everything else requires leadership.” Therefore we can’t be “natural” leaders if we want to have success with our teams.

I have found this to be true with every team I have ever been a part of. Think of the last time you and a a few others were given very little direction and told to get something done. I remember a time like this when we were doing a squadron cleaning day. Four of us were sent over to straighten up a storage area in the back of an aircraft hangar. We all saw the mess and knew a lot of work needed to be done, but we just stared at the mess and made small talk. We sorted through a few things out of curiosity, but no progress was made until a leader stepped forward. I bet you have had a similar experience and there was a lot of confusion and underperformance until someone took the reigns.

It is not natural to step out as the leader; however, we have to remember that people want to be led. So how do you step up without looking like “that” guy? I would suggest  deconstructing Peter Drucker’s quote for the answer.

1) Start with clarifying the objective. Remove the fog of confusion by clarifying why you are all there. In the case above, “Sgt Zimbabwe wanted us to organize all of this. Any ideas on what we can toss and what we need to keep?”

2) Divide and conquer to overcome underperformance. Encourage buy-in by getting your team to choose their poison. “Sgt Sparkleberry, you suggested sorting through all of the hardware, will you tackle that?” This goes back to the old CPR training where we are taught to point to a specific person, “You. Go call 9-1-1.” Same thing on a project. Everyone needs to know what their role is.

3) Communication and discussion smooth friction. You will experience friction. Sgt Hasselhoff is going to think there is a better way or is upset about his task. Address the issue and discuss it. Don’t let dissent linger, get ahead of it. The earlier you deal with friction, the easier it is and the faster the team gets back on track.

Being a natural is not always a good thing, but knowing how things naturally work will allow you to succeed in any leadership role.

I think it is important to push ourselves out of our comfort zones. When we do try something new, we become a better version of ourselves. My kids are not afraid to try anything. Why are we afraid to potentially fail or not be good at something? Who cares? Go do something new and see if you want to invest your time into getting better at it. Any experiences out there where you tried something new and failed or succeeded?