Category: Teams
-
Are Leaders Required to be Technical Experts?
As we are coming up in the ranks, we strive to become technically sound in our profession. We learn the ins and outs of our job and continue to hone these skills. Eventually, we make rank and gain some supervisory roles. If we are quasi effective in these new roles, we gain even more rank…
-
Service Before Self?
“My EPR is coming due! I need to get some base/community service in so I can get a bullet.” Sound familiar? I wish I could say that I have never said a version of this, but I think all of us have at one point. Although serving is ultimately a good thing, we carry this…
-
Whispers Turn into Screams
After I gained some experience as a leader, I realized something simple and yet profound: whispers turn into screams. Small issues can become large issues if left ignored for too long. Something that can be handled very quickly is often ignored until it becomes an emergency. Time and time again, we hear about a systemic…
-
Are you a Pinger?
“We are working for a real pinger today,” were the first words out of the mouth of my Senior Airman trainer on my very first day on the flightline. He went on to explain a pinger is a person that freaks out and is bouncing from one thing to the next like a ping pong…
-
What’s Real and What Isn’t
Colonel Robin Olds, a cavalier fighter pilot and commander during the Vietnam War, commanded a military installation and flew a F-4 Phantom fighter aircraft. He often found himself at odds with policies during his time in Vietnam; Washington had implemented what was called the ‘Rapid Roger’ program for generating F-4 missions[1]. The program had been…
-
Leaders Set the Tone
“Come on, we have to get this done to get the boss off of my back!” We have all experienced this scenario in our careers at one point. Maybe we were even the person saying this. Upon hearing our leader say something like this, we get an instant sense of stress. This does not help…
-
Management vs Leadership
“Airmen have inherited an Air Force forged through the ingenuity, courage, and strength of Airmen who preceded them.” This excerpt from the Air Force Leadership Doctrine Volume II sums up the importance of what we do as leaders and mentors. It is up to us to take the knowledge and wisdom provided to us, make…
-
The Buy In
During the NBA playoffs I watch as all the teams have their own mantra for success, one that stands out to me is the Cleveland Cavaliers mantra “All In” the mantra is indicative of the players and coaches idea to be a collective unit striving for one goal. That sounds great, but how is that…
-
A leader’s credible reputation
Read any number of books on leadership and you are guaranteed to run into a segment discussing the importance of leadership credibility. There are a number of ways suggested that the leader attain credibility in the eyes of his or her subordinates. That credibility is crucial in gaining more than just compliance from your subordinates. …
-
Believe it or not, mistakes are allowed
One thing many people can agree on is people are allowed to make mistakes. It is how we learn. As leaders, we have to tread carefully when we react to mistakes made by subordinates—we can either create an environment where innovation has a place or stifle it by allowing no mistakes and creating an environment…
deliberatedevelopment.org 