JOINT BASE CHARLESTON, S.C. –
In 2004, I attended the Senior Noncommissioned Officers Academy. As most of you know, at all levels of Professional Military Education, we are required to give speeches. Each of our speeches had to include at least one visual aid. For my speech on leadership, my visual aid was a photo of a mouse with a crash helmet sitting right at the edge of a mouse trap set with cheese. The caption I put on the photo stated, "Got crash helmet? When the going gets tough, the resilient show ingenuity."
After pausing for affect, I stated, "This little mouse might end up dead as heck, but to his little mouse buddies, although they may think of him as a little crazy, he will be anything but a coward."
While this visual aid was designed to portray multiple meanings, it was not, nor was it designed to portray or espouse recklessness. The symbol of the crash helmet equated to my faith and the point is about being fearless - fearless of set-backs, fearless of failure, fearless of being the lone voice of reason, fearless of not subscribing to group think methodology and fearless in believing that the world is not flat and acting on that belief.
The fearlessness of which I speak is akin to what Chief Master Sgt. of the Air Force James Roy's article in the April 20 issue of the Patriot newspaper described as "bold leadership." It was the bold leadership of Orville and Wilber Wright that lead to our Air Force becoming the most powerful and lethal Air Force in the world. I'm sure many of the people that stood by and watched the Wright brothers on their journey toward powered flight believed they were a little "crazy" but I'm sure that not one person ever thought of them as cowards. Resiliency is a major component for developing this type of fearlessness. This article, though, is not essentially about resiliency.
How do we develop bold leaders? I call it the Leadership Triangle. Often, we believe we can actually motivate people. Newsflash! Unless you're interested in creating a bunch of Pavlov's dogs, people do things for their own reasons - not yours. This is, in part, why leadership can be so very frustrating. With this understanding, leaders are better able to control the environment in which they are required to operate.
You may be still wondering what this Leadership Triangle thing is all about. The triangle is the environment that leaders at all levels must create. For example, in boxing there is the boxing ring, albeit, it is not a ring, it is a square. If you are familiar with boxing, there are boxers whose sole modus operandi is to exert power and control over their opponent. Then there are boxers who are tacticians. These boxers seek to cut the ring off to limit their opponent's movement and to accumulate points. While both seek to knock their opponent out, the tactical fighter seeks the knock out when it avails itself - his goal is to win the fight.
Leadership is more nuanced because the intent is not to knock out (figuratively of course) subordinates, peers or superiors. The Leadership Triangle provides the impetus for controlling the environment or "cutting off the ring" so to speak through accountability and eliminating excuses, but also by creating an escape route that fits the criteria of the Leadership Triangle and moves others towards the intended goal. This is where the Leadership Triangle comes in to play.
1. You must ensure you articulate clear, concise expectations.
2. You must equip those you lead with the proper tools and resources to meet the expectations you set forth.
3. You must ensure those you lead are properly trained on how to use the tools and resources to meet those expectations.
Leaders often blame failure on those they lead, but before laying blame, the leader must first be introspective to verify and confirm whether or not clear, concise expectations, proper tools and resources and the training to use those tools and resources were provided to meet the expectations set forth.
If the answer is no, then the leader has failed. If the answer is yes, then the leader's next step is to engage with those they lead to confirm and verify the expectations were understood and the appropriate tools, resources and training were provided to meet the expectations.
If the answer is no, the leader must reinforce all questions not answered in the affirmative. If these questions are answered in the affirmative, then this is where the accountability begins. At some point, it will become clear when "no" is being used as a diversion tactic. This is also when appropriate accountability action must take place.
The Leadership Triangle is fool proof because it creates the environment for 360 degree leadership and accountability. The Leadership Triangle is, in essence, the crash helmet you provide those you lead so they can be fearless in continuing to make us the greatest Air Force in the world.
Being a leader is not about exerting power and control, but force multiplication through developing our Airmen.
An article I read several years ago titled "People Power" captures it best:
"If they are to succeed in managing diversity, leaders must grasp three paradoxes. The best way to keep power is to give it away. The best way to retain ownership is to share it and the best way to influence is to listen."
Don't stop running but keep that crash helmet strapped up! Give a little more, share a little more and listen a little more.