CHARLESTON AIR FORCE BASE, S.C. –
The law of flotation explains inspirational author and speaker Dr. Wayne Dyer, was not discovered by a group of people standing around contemplating the sinking of things.
Similarly, and a little closer to home, the first successful Wright brothers' flights were not accomplished by a group of people standing around contemplating the way things stay on the ground.
What's your perspective ... is the glass half empty or is it half full? Do you think either approach really matters when it comes to producing results?
Take a moment. Think about the people you've served with over time. Did those glass-half-full folks have a greater impact on your unit's success or progress in meeting goals or major milestones? Chances are you can draw at least a few conclusions about how people's perspectives influence your organization's overall results.
Each of us is called upon to lead -- make no mistake about it. Whatever our rank or duty title is, our nation counts on us to be leaders, and our perspectives and expectations make a difference. If we embrace each challenge as an opportunity to learn, grow and succeed, we will achieve a higher level of performance and lead others to do so as well. Quite simply, we can embrace challenges in one of two ways: with a positive outcome expectation or a negative one.
Desiring to have a positive attitude is the first step of intending positive outcomes to challenges. What comes next? Focus on the strengths! We focus too often on weaknesses as a means to improve and wonder why our outcome falls short of expectations. The innovators in flotation and flight focused on strengths not weaknesses and ultimately celebrated revolutionary successes.
This is expectation management. As leaders, it invites us to expect the best from ourselves and others and focus our energy toward the end goal: success! Never let up until the goal is realized. Will we discover weaknesses along the way? Certainly. Our responsibility is to deal with our weaknesses, but not become consumed by them. The stakes are too high for our generation to accept anything short of victory in the Global War on Terrorism.
We will succeed by working together to keep our focus in the midst of necessary political debates, expecting the best from our nation's decision makers as we give our nation and the world our very best.
Take the Fight to the Enemy!