The other side of leading

By Lt. Col. Stephen Ziadie, 341st Space Wing Inspector General / Published January 19, 2007

MALMSTROM AFB, Mont. -- Reams of good advice have been written on effective leadership principles (by far worthier authors than myself). One critical aspect of leading a diverse set of individuals is often overlooked - the part where you as a leader make a concerted attempt to thoroughly know your folks.

Supervisors often get caught up in the myriad of mission-essential tasks and inherent responsibilities. The most important task of all - the people focus - gets pushed aside for "mission" stuff. People are the mission and without people, you have no mission.
The most technologically advanced weapon system in the world is nothing but junk without trained, motivated and prepared warriors to operate it. The more you know about the folks you lead, the better off your team will be in the long run. How do I know this? Let me relate a short story about a plumber who once designed a computer network.

Airman 1st Class "M" was a water and waste specialist assigned to a civil engineer unit located in the Pacific Northwest. As one of the lowest ranking Airmen on one of our deployments, Airman "M" didn't attract too much attention at first. He was extremely competent but also quiet, reserved and soft spoken. He did a superb job constructing water and waste water systems in Iraq, and through his efforts, 5,000 detainees saw significantly improved quality-of-life conditions including air conditioning, bathing and foot-washing facilities, functional ice coolers for bottled water and improved hygienic latrine facilities.

Unlike typical AEF rotations where Air Force assets are supported by Air Force communications support, ours was not. While we knew prior to deploying the Army did not have communications assets to support us, we were unable to convince our higher headquarters we needed to deploy with an organic, stand-alone communications capability (one of many paradigms we had to overcome by being one of the first "test" Army-Air Force teams).

Once in the area of responsibility, we tried unsuccessfully to beg, borrow, steal, develop or worm our way into some sort of network that would provide a rudimentary NIPR capability. After many failed attempts and frustration, Airman "M" came to see me one evening and asked if he could spend his off-duty time looking at our computers. I consented.

The next day, Airman "M," in his usual soft-spoken manner, calmly told me how he was able to create a working network connection for all our computers using what appeared to me to be very austere parts he scrounged from somewhere. The NIPR connections worked to near perfection and improved not only our ability to order materials from Class IV yards miles away in Baghdad and Balad, but it also boosted our morale by giving each Airman the ability, for a few minutes each day, to email a short message home.
Amazed beyond imagination, I asked and found out that before joining the Air Force, Airman "M" was one of only two Microsoft-certified network engineers on the island of Guam. In fact, he was the network administrator for the University of Micronesia-Guam Campus.

When in awe, I asked him why he became a CE plumber instead of say, a communications officer, he replied: "Well Sir, computers are going to be around forever ...but I've always had this dream to be a plumber."

His answer blew me away.

What's the moral of this story? Despite being the unit commander and believing I knew everyone pretty darn well - I didn't know this crucial bit of information about Airman "M's" background. He taught me there are many hidden skills and talents all of us possess, and to know your troops is to posture your unit for success.

In addition, knowing your folks is the best antidote to solving your unit's problems and catching others before they develop into larger issues.

Have you taken a look around your work center lately? Is anyone showing signs of stress? Are folks who are normally cheerful and upbeat suddenly "down" and depressed?

If you are intimate with the personalities and the normal actions of your people, you are in a better position to sense when things are not right and offer help where and when it is needed. By demonstrating a proper wingman attitude, checking up on people, interceding where necessary and listening (if that's what's needed), you and your team or unit or squadron can accomplish amazing things, despite the modern challenges on hand.

The greatest compliment a leader can get is to know their subordinates trust them and see them as a conduit for helping each of them as well as the organization.

Take the first step today and make an attempt to know your folks. If you do, you'll be surprised at the success it will bring to you and your people.

What about the mission? Don't worry - your folks will take care of that as long as you take care of them.

If you wish to comment, use the text box below. AF reserves the right to modify this policy at any time.

This is a moderated forum. That means all comments will be reviewed before posting. In addition, we expect that participants will treat each other, as well as our agency and our employees, with respect. We will not post comments that contain abusive or vulgar language, spam, hate speech, personal attacks, violate EEO policy, are offensive to other or similar content. We will not post comments that are spam, are clearly "off topic", promote services or products, infringe copyright protected material, or contain any links that don't contribute to the discussion. Comments that make unsupported accusations will also not be posted. The AF and the AF alone will make a determination as to which comments will be posted. Any references to commercial entities, products, services, or other non-governmental organizations or individuals that remain on the site are provided solely for the information of individuals using this page. These references are not intended to reflect the opinion of the AF, DoD, the United States, or its officers or employees concerning the significance, priority, or importance to be given the referenced entity, product, service, or organization. Such references are not an official or personal endorsement of any product, person, or service, and may not be quoted or reproduced for the purpose of stating or implying AF endorsement or approval of any product, person, or service.

Any comments that report criminal activity including: suicidal behaviour or sexual assault will be reported to appropriate authorities including OSI. This forum is not:

This forum is not to be used to report criminal activity. If you have information for law enforcement, please contact OSI or your local police agency.
Do not submit unsolicited proposals, or other business ideas or inquiries to this forum. This site is not to be used for contracting or commercial business.
This forum may not be used for the submission of any claim, demand, informal or formal complaint, or any other form of legal and/or administrative notice or process, or for the exhaustion of any legal and/or administrative remedy.

AF does not guarantee or warrant that any information posted by individuals on this forum is correct, and disclaims any liability for any loss or damage resulting from reliance on any such information. AF may not be able to verify, does not warrant or guarantee, and assumes no liability for anything posted on this website by any other person. AF does not endorse, support or otherwise promote any private or commercial entity or the information, products or services contained on those websites that may be reached through links on our website.

Members of the media are asked to send questions to the public affairs through their normal channels and to refrain from submitting questions here as comments. Reporter questions will not be posted. We recognize that the Web is a 24/7 medium, and your comments are welcome at any time. However, given the need to manage federal resources, moderating and posting of comments will occur during regular business hours Monday through Friday. Comments submitted after hours or on weekends will be read and posted as early as possible; in most cases, this means the next business day.

For the benefit of robust discussion, we ask that comments remain "on-topic." This means that comments will be posted only as it relates to the topic that is being discussed within the blog post. The views expressed on the site by non-federal commentators do not necessarily reflect the official views of the AF or the Federal Government.

To protect your own privacy and the privacy of others, please do not include personally identifiable information, such as name, Social Security number, DoD ID number, OSI Case number, phone numbers or email addresses in the body of your comment. If you do voluntarily include personally identifiable information in your comment, such as your name, that comment may or may not be posted on the page. If your comment is posted, your name will not be redacted or removed. In no circumstances will comments be posted that contain Social Security numbers, DoD ID numbers, OSI case numbers, addresses, email address or phone numbers. The default for the posting of comments is "anonymous", but if you opt not to, any information, including your login name, may be displayed on our site.

Thank you for taking the time to read this comment policy. We encourage your participation in our discussion and look forward to an active exchange of ideas.