In the mind of a leader

  • Published
  • By Senior Airman Cortney Paxton
  • 341st Missile Wing Public Affairs
MALMSTROM AIR FORCE BASE, Mont. --  Being tasked with the mission of defending America with safe, secure and effective nuclear forces and combat-ready Airmen can put a heavy load of responsibility on the shoulders of Malmstrom's senior leaders, but having the skills and experience necessary to lead subordinates is what keeps this mission running smoothly.

To help keen in on and sharpen the qualities and roles of leaders across the base, two speakers from the Air Force Academy made a visit to the base and gave three training sessions on developing leaders of character and shaping the future.

Col. Tom Wilcox, 341st Missile Wing commander, and Chief Master Sgt. Phillip Easton, 341st MW command chief, received a brief on Developing as Leaders of Character from instructors from the Air Force Academy during the Air Force Global Strike Command Commander's Conference in April at Barksdale Air Force Base, Louisiana. They were both so intrigued by the briefing that they reached out to the Air Force Academy to have them visit Team Malmstrom.

"This was an awesome professional development opportunity for our Airmen that we couldn't pass up on," Easton said. "Everyone in our Wing is a leader and we need to take advantage of every opportunity to mentor, mold and develop our Airmen."

Col. (ret) Greg Tate and 1st Lt. Esther Willett spoke to three groups of individuals about leading subordinates through their resistance to change and desires to be comfortable.

"There's another fundamental aspect about what it is to be a human being - and that is that we all want to be better," Willett said. "We all have a fire inside us that we just want to light and let burn for something that's significant - something that [gives] our life and our work meaning."

The course focused on the importance of developing, within each person, the qualities they believe identifies a person of character before relaying their skills to subordinates - playing on the "man in the mirror" concept.

"Many of you know Lao Tzu's quote, 'Watch your thoughts, they become your words; watch your words, they become your actions; watch your actions, they become your habits; watch your habits, they become your character and character leads to your destiny,'" Tate said. "If you can align the thoughts, words and actions [of whomever you engage with], you've made a significant change in their character. There may be some thoughts, there may be some words and there may be some actions that you have here right at your own base, in your own life or at your workplace that aren't aligned with your character, and if we can get you to say, 'Hey, there are a couple of adjustments I can make left or right,' that's a great thing for us."

Promoting change was a message Tate and Willett spoke highly of, encouraging each person in the training sessions to recognize the potentially destructive paths in their units and lead others to identify and pursue different ones.

"We have to be leaders of integrity and leaders of character," Easton said. "Each and every one of us should have a passion to make others better, but you have to do it deliberately. This means that you have to develop Airmen on purpose. This briefing was a deliberate development opportunity that will add tools to our Airmen's toolboxes to make them the best leader they can be."

Easton worked with other command chiefs in 20th Air Force to have the Air Force Academy team visit all Airmen in the ICBM enterprise. The Air Force Academy team will be visiting Minot Air Force Base later this month and F.E. Warren Air Force Base in the near future.