During a recent MAFFS rotation my crew and I discussed books we were currently reading. TSgt Reed Scott filled me in on a book he’s working on called Leaders Eat Last authored by Simon Sinek. Intrigued however, I googled the title and came across a YouTube video of Simon Sinek’s seminar covering the same material. The video was about 45 minutes and began with Sinek describing a two ship of A-10’s in Af-ghanistan which, despite a low cloud deck, provided troops in contact with a series of suppressive fire until they depleted their ammunition saving all 21 lives of the sol-diers below engaged in the fight. Sinek’s question then was where do people/leaders like these A-10 pilots come from? What are these people made of who serve and sacrifice so others may live? Are they born or are they made leaders? Sinek finishes offers suggestions for his audience to try in their work environment in an effort to increase trust in leadership. The desired outcome being a workplace where people come to work and feel safe. Safe to explore ideas, voice concerns, or suggest a different way of doing things without fear of retribution. What this would look like is rather than a group of leaders/managers in an inner circle of trust with the remaining employees outside of that circle, this circle would encompass everyone in the workplace. Sounds great; sounds simple. But how could we ever accomplish this? Really it boils down to how we treat each other and how we communicate with each other.
Take email for instance. Email is great for informing people. Example: “The ten o’clock meeting has moved to three o’clock.” “Takeoff time for the Hawaii JAATT is now 0930.” But email is not a great way to respond to the following: “I’d like your feedback on my suggestion to improve our timecard process.” In re-sponding to an individual, it is always better to re-spond face to face or over the phone rather than an email response. Sinek provides several other examples of the small things we can do which foster trust and teamwork. His 45 minute video was moving and it helped solidify a personal acro-nym I’ve used for a while to remind myself of things I can do to be more successful. I’m really going out on a limb here and providing a good target for ridicule but I’ll throw it out there anyway because I know there are some who will accept and maybe even use it.
My acronym is DREAM and it represents ways to be successful in interpersonal rela-tionships. Dignity, Respect, Engaged, Atti-tude and Miles. Treat people with Dignity and Respect always. Stay Engaged; in the easy stuff and the hard stuff as well. Ask questions to learn something new about someone you don’t know or consider figuring out a way to help solve the DTS, AROWS or lodging issues for example and pass that on to others. Show up with a good Attitude and be very aware of when it’s not quite there. Finally, walk a Mile in someone else’s shoes. You may not like finance’s DTS rejection emails, but have you ever asked them how many they process every day for example? DREAM. Cheesy? Maybe. But give it a try and I guarantee this place will feel the change.
As I assume command of the 187th Airlift Squadron this weekend, my guarantee to all of you is the same guarantee I gave when I first signed on. That is, I will show up to work in a three point stance every day; mo-tivated and ready to move the ball down the field as part of this team. I’ve got big shoes to fill and truly stand on the shoulders of giants who have previously led this squadron. I am honored to serve you all in this capacity and thank you all for your numerous contribu-tions to the success of the 187th.