Everyone in the Air Force should be a leader! Everyonehas a .docx

Everyone in the Air Force should be a leader! Everyone
has a role in accomplishing the mission, and everyone
directly impacts the effectiveness of his or her organization.
Additionally, all officers, enlisted personnel, and civilians,
whether they supervise people or not, are being watched—
their words and deeds set the standards others will follow,
and they impact individual and organization effectiveness,
morale, good order, and discipline.
In my over 28 years in the Air Force, I’ve been around
some great and some not-so-great leaders. After analyzing
what it was that made me want to follow some of them to the
ends of the earth and go in the opposite direction from others,
I identified 13 common traits in the great ones.
These traits are not a prescription for being promoted to
general, CMSgt, or a Senior Executive Service-level civil-
ian. They are a prescription for improving individual and
organization effectiveness, morale, good order, and disci-
pline. By accomplishing these things, they also improve
organization and ensure Air Force mission accomplishment.
The 13 traits are listed below.
1. RESPECT–Leaders treat all human beings with
respect and dignity, in all situations. Whether speaking with
a GS-3 secretary on the telephone, telling an officer he or she
is being recommended for court-martial, or thanking some-
one for a job done well, a leader follows three basic rules:
“Praise in public and criticize in private,” “Treat others as
you wish to be treated,” and “Don’t lose your temper.”

2. EMPOWERMENT–This is a 1990s buzzword, but the
concept has been around since the beginning of time. Think
of empowerment like this: Leaders give everyone who works
for them a piece of rope. The people they want on their team
seek out the organization’s problems and find out what the
boss is concerned with. These people then make a lasso out
of their ropes and attack the problems, ultimately eliminating
them. At this point, the successful leader gives them a longer
piece of rope so they can attack bigger problems. Conversely,
the people who have their own agendas will make their ropes
into nooses and hang themselves. The effective leader gives
these people a shorter rope, or none at all.
The opposite of empowerment is micromanagement.
Micromanagers stifle effectiveness, learning, creativity, and
growth, and thus, mission accomplishment.
3. ACCOUNTABILITY–This is another ‘90s buzzword.
When I was a lieutenant, this trait was called “acceptance of
responsibility.” Leaders are accountable for their actions and
for the actions of their personnel 24 hours a day, seven days
a week. Effective leaders never make excuses; they take the
blame when things go wrong, and direct the praise to those
who did the work when things go right.
When something goes wrong, leaders take corrective
action by attacking the root problem, not just the symptom.
However, leaders know the difference between accountability
and blame. Things can go wrong even if everything is done
right, and in that case no one is blamed for what happened.
4. LISTENING–Leaders listen to all ideas and take the
time to explain why a new one can or cannot be adopted. This
behavior on the part of the leader keeps people coming back
with other ideas, and sooner or later one will be exceptional.

Leaders are receptive to bad news, and never “shoot the
messenger.” This policy ensures that the lines of communi-
cation are kept open and that leaders will continue to receive
the initial report of bad news from peers or subordinates
rather than from their bosses. Shooting the messenger virtu-
ally assures that the only notification of bad news will come
from the boss, and that’s not conducive to a leader’s
longevity. Additionally, real leaders view the problems
brought to them as opportunities to excel.
5. SINCERITY–Leaders have a deep concern for people.
A leader’s words and deeds always convey sincerity. When
a leader asks people how their weekend was, or what’s going
on in their duty section, he or she wants an honest answer. If
a problem is raised in the conversation, a leader will always
do more research to see what the magnitude of the problem
is and determine whether he or she can help alleviate it.
6. REWARD–A leader guarantees that top performers
are rewarded. Rewards take many forms, including a hand-
shake and sincere “thank you,” appropriate performance
reports and decorations, and nominations for Air Force-level
awards.
7. DISCIPLINE–This is an area where many “wanna be”
leaders fail because they try to be nice to everyone. People
who can’t or won’t meet the standards must be appropriately
247
Thirteen Traits of Effective Leaders
Col Henry W. “Kodak” Horton
This article was prepared especially for AU-24, Concepts for
Air Force Leadership.

Col Henry W. “Kodak” Horton is commander of the Ira Eaker
College for Professional Development at Maxwell AFB,
Alabama.
disciplined. Proper discipline punishes people for their
incorrect behavior, attempts to rehabilitate them, sends a
message to everyone else “what the time is for the
crime/mistake” is, motivates the people who are meeting
standards to continue their performance, and reinforces the
established standards of conduct. Appropriately disciplining
people is critical to high morale, good order, and discipline;
great leaders know this and act accordingly.
8. MISSION–Leaders understand that military organiza-
tions have one reason for existence—to accomplish the mis-
sion. They never forget that Air Force personnel are required
to make many sacrifices, including giving up their lives for
their country if necessary. While keeping the primary focus
on mission accomplishment, leaders ensure that their people
are taken care of.
9. CREDIT–A leader lives by the credo, “It’s amazing
what you can get done when you don’t care who gets the
credit.” Leaders are never involved in anything to garner
honor and glory for themselves. Any credit they receive is
attributed to those who did the work.
10. COMMUNICATION–Leaders regularly communi-
cate both the mission and their vision to keep everyone
focused. While they sometimes use the written word to do
this, a true leader is usually visible and communicates face-
to-face more than in writing. Leaders ensure that people are
informed about what’s happening in the organization, wing,

MAJCOM, and the Air Force. Real leaders function as
“rumor control monitors” too, separating fiction from fact
for the troops. Leaders also take the time to mentor people
junior in rank to them. They understand they must “grow”
their replacement so they explain their decision-making
thought process, provide career counseling, and give mean-
ingful feedback. Additionally, leaders share their experi-
ences and the lessons learned from them.
11. ATTITUDE–Some smart person once said, “Life is
10 percent what happens to you and 90 percent how you
react.” Leaders are eternal optimists with positive attitudes,
and they will always find and focus on the opportunities in
every problem. They know that one needs to learn from the
past, but must always look to the future. Effective leaders
know that “attitudes are contagious” and that people around
them will “catch” their attitude—and a real leader’s attitude
is worth catching.
12. INTEGRITY–Integrity is like virginity and, once
lost, cannot be recovered. Leaders live, eat, and breathe
integrity and our other Air Force core values—Service
before Self and Excellence in All We Do. Leaders know that
if something is worth doing, it must be done to the best of
their ability. When one’s oath is to “support and defend the
Constitution of the United States against all enemies foreign
and domestic,” doing something just well isn’t good enough.
Leaders are not “Service-before-Self” zealots. They
understand the sacrifices team members are required to
make, and control the things they can control. For example,
when SrA Smith, who is a cop manning the main gate, gets
a call that his wife is sick at work and can’t drive, a true
leader finds a replacement for SrA Smith immediately so he
can take care of his spouse.

13. COURAGE–While the 12 previous traits are not
rocket science, they are difficult to embody all the time. It
takes courage to be a leader. Not just charge-the-enemy-
machine-gun courage a warrior-leader needs, but the moral
courage to always do the proper thing regardless of the con-
sequences; real leaders have this courage.
To summarize, I use the following “crutch” to remember
these traits:
REAL is a word, and where I’m from, you can add “S” to
anything and it remains a word.
Respect
Empowerment
Accountability
Listening
Sincerity
Run DMC, a musical group.
Reward
Discipline
Mission
Credit
California Integrated Circuits (CAIC).
Communication
Attitude
Integrity
Courage
Great leaders exhibit these traits (REALS, RDMC, and
CAIC) day in and day out. The more officers, enlisted per-
sonnel, and civilians who become effective leaders, the better
off our Air Force and nation will be since more personnel will

improve individual and organization effectiveness, morale,
good order, and discipline. Improving these critical areas will
result in a higher level of organization and Air Force mission
accomplishment—whose bottom line is airpower.
248
A good way to begin is with the recognition that we man-
age and lead very well indeed in the United States Air Force.
In that regard, during my incarnation as the commander of an
AFSC product division (ESD). I had a great deal of interface
with people in American industry, I went into their plants. I
got to see them at work because they were building our
products. I saw good and bad companies. I saw creativity
and dedication. I also saw on occasion poor and insensitive
management. So I can say without any equivocation that we
manage every bit as well as the norm in US industry, and in
overall management and leadership terms we do even better.
So we have nothing to apologize for. On the other hand,
there is considerable improvement that we can bring about.
In my judgment the improvement potential falls into two
main areas: leadership and the changes in organization that
will allow such leadership to flourish. As we look to the
future I believe we must base our changes and our concepts
on a new appreciation for the nature of human beings. And
we must develop far greater understanding of the central—
indeed critical—role played by leadership. We also must
appreciate far more than we do today how fundamentally our
organizational approaches influence the proper functioning
of leadership; specifically how some approaches facilitate it
and others stifle it.
I will have some more words on organization later. Let

me simply say at this point that any organization, whatever
its nature or orientation, must help create focus and commit-
ment on the part of its members. Throughout my career I
both practiced and preached the concept that a successful
organization must be based on core values and core princi-
ples that are in harmony with the essential nature of human
beings. In my own case, I always thought of any organiza-
tion that I led as being best served by an organizational
model based on “five Ps”: people - purpose - pride - pro-
fessionalism - product. All are important, and all work
together synergistically. Fail to pay sufficient attention to
any of the five, and the model fails and the organization
flounders. Let’s look at each a bit more closely.
The idea that it all begins and ends with people requires
little elaboration. And yet, I have seen case after case of
appalling insensitivity to that fundamental truth in all walks
of life, public and private. This is the building block for a
successful organization: One should always consider the
people first, treat them well, and place paramount impor-
tance on their welfare, morale, and the opportunity to grow
and excel.
But it is not enough to have the right people instilled with
the right attitude; one must also instill a strong sense of com-
mitment and direction, a strong sense of purpose. Thus, pur-
pose is a key ingredient for a successful organization, and it
must be cultivated and nurtured. That sounds self-evident, but
far too many managers pay scant attention to it—taking it, by
and large, for granted. It has many dimensions, and you have
181
Organizational and Leadership Principles
for Senior Leaders

Gen W. L. Creech
It is an honor to be asked to contribute my thoughts on
Leadership and Organization—garnered over 371/2 years of
service in the US Air
Force—to this important publication. You, the reader, will have
the opportunity to help mold and shape our Air Force into an
evermore pro-
ductive and dynamic organization; and an appreciation of the
absolutely critical role that leadership plays in that development
is essential. I
have also included my views on organizational principles
because leadership––at all levels—can flourish only if it is not
strangled by mis-
guided organizational concepts and approaches that leave little
or no room for true leadership, creativity, and innovation at the
lower levels
where the organization either thrives or flounders. This article
is drawn from the transcript of a speech that I was privileged to
deliver extem-
pore to a large leadership and management symposium
sponsored by the Air University a few years ago. I consider the
themes as timely and
relevant now as they were then, and the spontaneity of those
remarks are preferred to the dry dissertation of a written
treatise. Throughout my
interesting career in the US Air Force I always believed that I
could make a difference. You can too. Perhaps these thoughts
will help you as
you go about that task.
_________
Reprinted from the transcript of a speech with permission from
the author.

Gen W. L. Creech was commander, Tactical Air Command, May
1978–October 1984.
PEOPLE PURPOSE
PRIDE PROFESSIONALISM
PRODUCT
to work very hard at it. First of all, there is a variety of pur-
poses at work when you’re dealing with people. To begin
with, there’s the purpose of the organization—the mission, if
you will. But there are also the purposes of all the people
within it. Those purposes run a wide gamut—such as the need
and desire to care for their families, to have a challenging job,
to be treated fairly and objectively, to have a degree of
authority and responsibility, to get adequate compensation
and recognition, and a host of others. Excellent leaders under-
stand there is a variety of purposes at work, and they try to
meld a common purpose in two essential ways. One, to get
the people to transcend their individual purposes as their pri-
mary focus and to get into harmony with the fundamental
purpose of the organization to fully support its objectives.
And second, excellent leaders are sensitive to those individ-
ual purposes and both acknowledge and address them in ways
that build unit esprit and individual motivation. By so doing,
excellent leaders keep that array of purposes convergent on
the mission to be accomplished. And they recognize that bad
things happen to an organization where the purposes are
divergent and in disharmony. That’s what focus is all about,
and it must be created—it just doesn’t happen on its own.
Next, you must have pride working for you. All of the
great outfits that I have seen had tremendous pride. The peo-

ple in them had pride, and the commanders understood that
they had to appeal to that pride by having things to feel
proud about. I call pride the fuel of human accomplishment.
After all, why pay that extra price to do something especially
well unless you can feel good about it, and feel good about
your unit as well? Again, you can’t feel real pride unless you
have something to feel proud about. It can become conta-
gious. But it is also contagious if there is little to feel proud
about. The opposite of pride is shame, and its companion
piece is apathy. Shame: “Boy, this base is rundown. The
facilities are rotten.” “Wow, no one pays attention to upkeep
here.” Good people are turned off by that. I believed deeply
that all the bases and facilities in the Tactical Air Command
(TAC) should be the best that we could make them. They
were painted, they were clean, the facilities were well-kept
and the good housekeeping was obvious. We opened
self-help stores throughout the command so that people
could fix up their own surroundings. It cost some money, but
the cost was trivial in comparison to what it bought us. Why
did we do it? To engender pride. To convey a pervasive
sense of excellence so that our people would feel good about
themselves—and perform accordingly. Quality begets qual-
ity. Excellent leaders provide a climate that produces pride.
They make it happen. It is a critically important element in
forging a top-notch outfit.
We all know what professionalism means. And we recog-
nize it when we see it—even when we see it in the October
Revolution parade in Moscow. They drive in impeccably
straight lines and the vehicles took good. You don’t see oil
streaks or paint flaking off on the starting grid at Indianapo-
lis for the “500.” You get a feeling of professionalism. But
we all know that professionalism is far broader than that. It
also covers our norms of behavior, and our commitment to
excellence. Excellent leaders facilitate professionalism.

More than that, they insist on it. There must be standards to
measure against, and they must be high standards. It is only
on TV that a “Black Sheep” squadron can somehow convey
that being unkempt, untidy, and undisciplined equals excel-
lence in performance. That’s pure nonsense. In all my years
of watching organizations in the field I have never seen that
combination. Outfits with lousy standards are invariably
lousy outfits. High standards alone do not ensure a great out-
fit, but excellent leaders understand that they make up one of
the absolutely vital building blocks.
The fifth “P” is product. Good organizations find ways to
put their product into clear focus, and also find ways to meas-
ure that product—to measure success or failure. That’s what
we were up to in TAC when I devised the monthly “sortie
rate” as an important measurement tool, and put it on score-
boards at the main gates and in base newspapers. That’s how
we helped create focus and objective assessment in the criti-
cally important area of providing training for combat. And
that’s how we increased the sortie rate each TAC fighter was
flying by 80 percent during my six and one-half years as TAC
commander. A fundamental part of the entire process, of
course, was recognition and reward (and you can’t tell the
winners without a scoreboard). Every leader should work hard
at crystalizing the product(s) of his organization, and to keep
them in clear focus for all. He or she should measure objec-
tively so as to mitigate the rampant self-delusion that is an
inescapable part of human subjectivity. A few important
goals. Ways to measure against those goals. After years of
experience, I am convinced of the following: When perform-
ance is measured, it improves. (It improves by the mere fact
that it is being measured.) Second, when performance is meas-
ured and compared (to goals, history, like units), performance
improves still more. And when performance is measured,
compared, and significant improvement is recognized and
rewarded, then productivity really takes off. It won’t happen

unless the leaders make it happen—by being attuned to the
dynamics of human nature and by providing the tools and
incentives that create focus and mobilize motivation.
That’s the model. The “five Ps.” All are needed. If you
can get them all going strongly at the same time you will
have happy, involved, motivated people and a great organi-
zation that’s a winner in all that it does. Ignore any of the
five and you won’t. It’s that simple.
(Note: During the six and one-half years I was privileged
to command TAC, the aircraft sortie productivity increased
by a well-documented 80 percent; the safety record
improved by 275 percent—reflecting qualitative as well as
quantitative improvement and achieved concomitantly with
a vast increase in training realism/risk—and our retention
soared from a historic low to an all-time high, reflecting
improved satisfaction and motivation. Greatly improved
mission capable rates of TAC’s aircraft represented the
equivalent of a $12 billion savings, and the combat capabil-
ity in wartime sortie terms more than doubled. These accom-
182
plishments were carried out with no more people, spare parts
inventories that were actually lower for most of this period
than when we started, and several years of anemic defense
spending. This record was achieved by the people of TAC,
not by me. I am convinced however that it could not have
happened without the following: (1) The leaders of TAC
paid attention to the “Five Ps”; (2) we reorganized exten-
sively to get away from the ruinous centralization and con-
solidation notions of the past, and a new bottoms-up
approach—as represented by COMO, COSO and like initia-

tives—created leaders at all levels who took the ball and ran
with it; (3) we created focus and we empowered, measured,
rewarded, and recognized; and (4) we took care of the peo-
ple. It works. It’s not mysterious.)
Given its critical importance, a few thoughts are now in
order on my view of the true meaning of leadership. The
individual who runs an activity or function must be totally
responsible for that activity, and how the people in it should
feel and act. That’s the key word, responsibility. Responsi-
bility to make it better. Not just to be a “storekeeper,” but to
make it better! And it must be better not merely in intuitive
ways and your subjective appraisal, but in visible, measura-
ble ways. Measurable ways so that everyone in the organi-
zation will agree: Yes, we’re better—-and getting better all
the time. And to do that leaders must make it happen. That
does not mean the leader is a one-man band. Quite the
reverse. Leaders must delegate freely and fully, and foster
great participation and initiative at all levels. The leader can-
not be a “happen back” kind of manager, who waits for
things to happen and then “happens back” at them. The
leader must be proactive, dynamic, informed, involved.
During my years at senior levels, in important jobs in
PACAF, USAFE, AFSC, Air Staff, and TAC, whenever I
saw a good organization—a good wing, a good jet engine
shop, a good finance section, a good civil engineering squad-
ron and the like—I always knew what was going on in that
organization. An excellent leader was involved and was
making it happen, and was making it better.
What characteristics and qualities do leaders—male or
female—exemplify in creating such an organization? They
know what’s going on. They have that sense of total respon-
sibility. They set high standards. They lead by example and
set the tone. Above all they do not countenance selective
enforcement of standards. I know of no more ruinous path

for commanders than selective enforcement of rules and
standards. Because the commander, the leader, the manager,
is the role model. If commanders selectively enforce stan-
dards, then they are merely teaching selective enforcement
to their subordinates. Then they surely will make their own
selection process—and different selections at that! Once you
start down that road, you’re a dead duck. Take my word for
it. I’ve seen it again and again. Excellent leaders have very
high standards, and they enforce them without fear or favor.
Also excellent leaders stand for absolute integrity, abso-
lute honesty. They preach the concept of honesty and open-
ness in the organization. That appears self-evident.
However, as an example, many people find it difficult to
want the IG to come for a look-see. If you’re honest and
open about your command, you welcome the IG in your unit.
(During my career I not only welcomed IG visits—I solicited
them.) You want it to be better and you have nothing to hide.
Remember that it works both ways. They can tell you how
great you are as easily as how poor you are. Whether you’re
great or not is up to you. If you’re not, you should want to
know it. If you are, and the IG confirms it, then it creates
even more pride within your unit. Excellent leaders practice
integrity in thought, word, and deed. And they insist upon
integrity, honesty, and openness on the part of their sub-
ordinates. They also see themselves as responsible for the
unit’s discipline. A military organization absolutely depends
on discipline and loyalty. (For that matter, any organization
in any walk of life depends upon disciplined execution to get
its job done.) Fair, reasoned discipline—but discipline
nonetheless. When leaders go off the rails in this area, in my
experience it is usually because they confuse leniency with
leadership. Or they confuse their personal goals with the
organization’s goals. What’s a personal goal almost every-
body shares? To be liked. Almost everyone wants to be

liked. But excellent leaders don’t confuse their personal
agenda with the needs of the organization. And they real-
ize—and preach—that discipline and human relations are
mutually reinforcing, not mutually exclusive. Unfortunately
some of our younger officers and NCOs have trouble grasp-
ing that reality. This is a nation of laws. Good intentions
reinforce those laws, not replace them. No one has a right to
do wrong. A mistake is not a crime. A crime is not a mistake.
Make sure your subordinates understand that you will be tol-
erant of well-intentioned mistakes but absolutely intolerant
of deliberate flaunting of rules and laws. Excellent leaders
are firm but fair—and their people know it.
Excellent leaders also instill loyalty. They are loyal up as
well as loyal down. They are fiercely loyal down—and they
are also fiercely loyal up. You cannot expect loyalty unless
you practice it. I have heard a few commanders and manag-
ers in talking to their people make unfortunate statements
about the ability, insight, or character of certain supervisors
up the chain of command. All they are doing is indulging in
a public display of disloyalty. There is a way of handling the
sometimes challenging relationships with higher authority
without invoking disdain and disloyalty. Another important
concept that I believe in very deeply is that you have to be
loyal to the right principles—and to the right people. One
must be very careful about his or her loyalties! Let me give
you a case in point. Let’s take an organization where perhaps
five percent or less of the people in the organization are
pushing the rules and flaunting the standards on dress, bear-
ing, and behavior. Often a naive commander will say: “Well,
I know they’re not in compliance, but I kind of hate to has-
sle the troops. I feel loyal to them.” That’s not being loyal to
the troops! Most of the people are doing it right. They have
pride in the organization and themselves. Those are the
troops you need to be loyal to. So if you really have a sense

183
of loyalty, be loyal to the right people and the right princi-
ples. Get the miscreants in line. That doesn’t discourage your
good people; it encourages them. Often in such cases the
commander is being loyal to no one but himself and he sac-
rifices the unit’s well-being to be liked. Loyalty is an issue
of many dimensions. The leaders with the right stuff see their
obligation to be loyal to the right principles and the right
people. Talk about it to your subordinates. It’s a critical con-
cept. But it must be applied properly, not abused on the altar
of self-aggrandizement.
Excellent leaders fill the leadership vacuums. Again, that
doesn’t mean they are the whole show or one-man bands.
But if leadership vacuums develop because of the shortcom-
ings of major subordinates, excellent leaders fill them by
providing more guidance, direction, and oversight. They
never forget their overall responsibility for the health, wel-
fare and productivity of their organizations. But excellent
leaders do not view such heightened involvement as viable
for the long term. Either the subordinates improve through
guidance so that they can shoulder their responsibilities
properly, or they have to go. In considering that decision,
don’t forget loyalty to the right people—not necessarily to
“good ole Joe.” Also, your pattern of oversight and guidance
needs to be heavily influenced by the strengths and weak-
nesses of your subordinates. Some simply need full author-
ity and pats on the back. Some need more supervision than
that. I was privileged to command two fighter wings. My
oversight pattern was different in the two because the chal-
lenges were somewhat different and there were different
subordinates involved with their own strengths and weak-
nesses. I’m confident I would have had six variations if I had

commanded six wings. The point is, don’t get in a rut. Don’t
change your principles or values. However, you cannot duck
responsibility for your unit’s failures based on incompetence
among your subordinates. That won’t wash. Don’t micro-
manage. Do get the job done.
An excellent leader does not rule through terror. In TAC
I initiated a week-long leadership symposium for all new and
prospective wing commanders. (TAC has 32 full-sized
wings and numerous other equivalents.) I spent a lot of time
at those symposiums personally, because I believe it is a fun-
damental obligation of a leader to be a teacher also, and to
pass along what works as well as what needs to get done.
During those meetings I made it clear that there were four
leadership “pass/fail” items that if violated would be cause
for immediate dismissal as a commander. The first: Any
kind of personal integrity violation. Covering up something
or fabricating facts. Second: Ruling through fear. You know
the type. The terror of the valley—the fellow that terrorizes
everyone and prizes intimidation as a motivational force. At
one time that was a very accepted management style, largely
emanating from the armed services of World War II and ear-
lier. A fierce temperament was nearly de rigueur in some
circles. That’s nonsense. We don’t need or want that in our
present Air Force and should not tolerate it. The third
pass/fail item was somewhat related to the terror approach:
temper tantrums. Public display of raw emotion. One can
and must speak out unambiguously at times, but that can be
done without losing one’s temper. My theory on this item
was that if commanders cannot control themselves there was
no reason why I should want them in control of others. The
fourth and final item was serious abuse of office: misuse of
government resources for personal gain, sexual indiscre-
tions, and the like. Those were the four that called for imme-
diate dismissal: Dishonesty. Rule through terror. Lack of

emotional control. Abuse of office. They are very important
because they highlight the qualities we simply should not
accept of people in positions of leadership, trust, and respon-
sibility. Now none of that means that an excellent leader is
not aggressive and positive and dynamic. It does mean that
our leaders should be individuals of high principles and good
character. And they must have courage.
Shortly after World War II, Gen George Marshall was
asked to single out the most important ingredient of a good
leader. Was it knowledge? Insight? Experience? Compas-
sion? He thought for a moment and said
“. . . it’s courage because all else depends on that . . . .”
He wasn’t talking about the kind of courage it takes to attack
a pillbox or a AAA site. Fortunately there is no big shortage
of that kind of courage. He was talking instead about courage
in interpersonal relationships. The courage to tell it like it is.
The courage to admit you’re wrong. The courage to change
your mind. The courage to discipline subordinates who need
it. The courage to stick to your principles. The courage to
change what needs changing. The courage to put the or-
ganization’s needs above your own. Excellent leaders exem-
plify courage. They don’t fear failure. They don’t expect per-
fection, but they don’t tolerate obvious incompetence. They
don’t mind admitting their imperfections. Above all, they
have the courage to want responsibility so that they can
make things better. They have the courage to share fully the
plaudits, and accept fully any blame that falls on the unit.
They have the courage to avoid the “look good” syndrome.
In short, they have real courage, and from that courage flows
confidence and conviction.
Excellent leaders communicate, communicate, and com-
municate. When I talk of communication, I’m talking two-
way communication. They make themselves accessible so

that they can hear the views from the troops. In fact, they
work very hard to establish feedback loops. They freely del-
egate authority and responsibility. They trust their sub-
ordinates. If the subordinates individually prove themselves
unworthy of that trust, leaders act on specific cases and not
with collective condemnation. They stay well informed. And
no one should confuse being well informed with micro-
management. Those are two different things. Micromanage-
ment occurs when you can’t resist the temptation to intrude,
to tell anyone and everyone how to do things. That’s coun-
terproductive. But being well informed is critical—so you
can praise as well as condemn; so you can shape and mold;
so that you’re operating on facts as well as opinions. And to
be well informed means that you must do your homework.
184
So excellent leaders work hard at getting informed and stay-
ing informed. Not lost in minutiae . . . but also not guilty of
an aloof, uninformed, “olympian” approach that produces
dumb decisions and psuedo-leadership. Look out for the
leader who “wings it”—who refuses to do the necessary
homework. Prize the leader who is involved and informed,
and be that way yourself.
There is a sports analogy here, and one shouldn’t carry it
too far. When you look at the sports dynasties—teams with
a sustained winning tradition—you will find coaches who
were true leaders. Men of high principle who had a deep
understanding of the workings of human nature. Vince
Lombardi with the Green Bay Packers. John Wooden at
UCLA. Red Auerbach with the Boston Celtics. Bear Bryant
at Alabama. Disciplinarians? You bet. Fair? You bet. Very
human. Uncompromising on standards. Committed to the

basics. (John Wooden said at UCLA they did nothing fancy.
They had one offense and one defense. And they won 10
national championships in 12 years by superb execution.)
They stressed fundamentals. They stressed core values and
core principles. All were great teachers and great communi-
cators. Loyal to their players, but also loyal to their own
principles. They instilled a common purpose, and inspired
commitment. The principles of leadership are the same
whatever the field of endeavor.
How do we build those kinds of leaders? Leaders who are
both caring and selfless? Gen Dwight Eisenhower was asked
during World War II, “What do you look for in a senior
leader before promoting him to bigger responsibilities?”
And he answered: “Selflessness. If he’s selfless then you
know he’s working for the right purposes in the organiza-
tion.” We can build such leaders by looking for courage and
selflessness. We can build such leaders by the major com-
manders and Air Force leaders of today being the teachers of
the leaders of tomorrow. We can build such leaders by priz-
ing the right values and the right qualities. It is my convic-
tion that each generation is brighter and better than the one
preceding it. That does not mean, however, that we totally
rewrite the script with each new generation. Change is a way
of life in the modem world, and change we must. However,
that change must be oriented to the values that count, and the
principles that work.
We are doing a far better job of creating leaders, and a
leadership mentality, at all levels. We still are encumbered
by organizational approaches that stifle and stymie that lead-
ership. People cannot exercise authority unless it is given to
them. In that regard, it is my absolute conviction that we
must break away much more fully from the Air Force’s past
enchantment with centralization, consolidation, and other

dehumanized organizational concepts. We need more em-
powerment down through the system. We need to value and
measure the outputs, not try to micromanage the inputs. We
need to integrate authority and responsibility, not separate
them. We need to get back to accountability which is only
feasible when you give people real authority.
I would like to close this article by sharing with you the
“organizational principles” that I authored during my tenure
as commander of Tactical Air Command. They are based on
years of observation of what works, and what doesn’t work.
They served me well throughout my career. I believe they
will be of use to you. Good luck and Godspeed as you shape
the Air Force of tomorrow.
185
1. Have a set of overarching principles and
philosophies. Have an overall theme and
purpose.
• Ensure they are well understood.
• Stress integrity and commitment.
2. Use goals throughout.
• Make them straightforward, understandable,
and meaningful.
• Make it important to achieve them. Reward
and praise success.
3. Measure productivity/efficiency at several
levels.
• Devise adequate analytical tools—but don’t

strangle in paper.
• Compare to: (1) history, (2) goals, (3) like
organizations.
• Don’t use availability of microinformation to
micromanage.
• Look for trends, failure nodes, areas for
improvement.
• Orient to the product. Keep in clear focus for all.
4. Create leaders at many levels, not just a few.
• Provide wide autonomy and flexibility to
achieve goals while preserving overall coher-
ence and overarching principles.
• Get the leaders where the action is.
• Streamline staff procedures. Staff supports
the line, not vice versa.
5. Integrate authority and responsibility—not
separate them. Know the difference.
• Create a sense of responsibility throughout.
• Recognize that few accept responsibility with-
out accompanying authority. Create ownership.
• Invest principal authority in horizontal mission/
product leaders—not in vertical functional
“czars.”
• In “matrixing” establish clear lines of authority—

tied to the product. Make it clear who is in
charge.
• Link authority to accountability.
6. Set up internal competition and comparison
where feasible.
• Reward success, Provide incentives and
motivators. Praise the winners.
• Address failure in balance with the circum-
stances.
7. Create a climate of pride.
• Quality treatment begets quality performance.
• Never forget the organization begins and
ends, sinks or swims with its people. Treat
them well and consider them first.
• Instill individual dignity. Provide challenge
and opportunity.
• Invest in people, facilities, upkeep. Payback
is enormous.
8. Create a climate of professionalism.
• Insist on high standards. Don’t settle for less.
• Provide the supporting mechanisms and aids.
• You reap what you sow. Invest accordingly.
• Spirit and enthusiasm are the critical meas-
ures.
9. Educate, educate, educate.

• Make it specific. Establish feedback on results.
• The organization is as strong as its weakest
links.
10. Communicate, communicate, communicate.
• Create the mechanisms. Up/down, down/up—
and laterally.
• Make it clear and concise. Work to eliminate
ambiguity and misinformation.
• Don’t depend on strictly hierarchical commu-
nication. Augment it. On key issues, commu-
nicate several layers deep.
11. Create organizational discipline and loyalty.
• Without stifling initiative. Reward it.
12. Provide everyone a stake in the outcome.
• And “humanize” wherever possible—make
each job meaningful.
13. Make it better.
• In measurable, identifiable ways. Instill that
philosophy.
• Work to create a sense of individual and orga-
nizational worth. Foster team identification.
• A proud, confident, and optimistic organiza-
tional “chemistry” is the key to success—
leaders must create it.

• Provide the climate and impetus for evolu-
tionary organizational change. Instill a philos-
ophy of creative adoption and adaption. Stay
out in front of problems, changing circum-
stances—and the competition.
14. Make it happen.
• Active, vigorous leadership throughout is the
magic ingredient.
• Be informed, involved. Provide the dynamic
spark.
• Work the details—the whole is the sum of the
parts.
15. Make it last.
• Codify, educate, and perpetuate.
186
Organizational Principles

Everyone in the Air Force should be a leader! Everyonehas a .docx

Recommended

Recommended

More Related Content

Similar to Everyone in the Air Force should be a leader! Everyonehas a .docx

Similar to Everyone in the Air Force should be a leader! Everyonehas a .docx (20)

More from SANSKAR20

More from SANSKAR20 (20)

Recently uploaded

Recently uploaded (20)

Everyone in the Air Force should be a leader! Everyonehas a .docx