Leading by example to make lasting impression

  • Published
  • By Chief Master Sgt. Angela Gagliano
  • 60th Medical Group
TRAVIS AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. --  Someone's watching you. There is an Airman in your department, work center, unit who is modeling your behavior. They are watching you to learn how to be a better Airman, a better leader, a better technician. 

At my first duty station in Wiesbaden, Germany, I clearly recall modeling myself after Senior Airman Tonia Perez. In my mind, the surgeons, the nurses, and my fellow surgical technicians, all respected her. She was requested by many of our difficult surgeons to scrub-in, meaning to set-up and pass the sterile instruments in surgery, on their cases. I'm not stereotyping, but back in the day, we had a few difficult surgeons and they were the most challenging to work with. In fact, one of our most respected surgeons never asked her to leave the operating room. Trust me, at the time this signified a high level of regard for a surgical technician at Wiesbaden Medical Center circa 1990. 

Many evenings after surgery was done, Perez would stay late to work on surgeon preference case cards. I can see her now, with her glasses on, sitting at the typewriter, lining up the lines to make corrections on the cards. Perez was proving her commitment to the mission and integrity first. She was upholding her responsibility of ensuring case cards were current and all the items needed for a procedure correctly listed. Guess what I did once I was finally awarded the responsibility of a surgical service? I would stay late to update my surgeons' preference cards.

Every day in the surgery department, technicians are assigned to scrub-in to an operating room and are responsible for restocking all supplies in that OR once the cases are done. When Perez's day was complete, meaning surgery was done and her room was restocked, she would check on the other rooms that were still running and start gathering the supplies to restock those rooms. You see, some members would leave for the day if it was after duty hours or 'disappear' until the end of the day, but not Perez. She demonstrated team work, leadership and service before self. She showed us she cared about her teammates by helping us accomplish our required tasks. I, in turn, incorporated this into my routine.

Perez was also going to school, working towards her goal of completing her college degree. Perez was showing me excellence in all we do. So guess what I did as soon as I completed my career development course? I started taking college courses. 

We had a large operating room staff, but of all the enlisted and officers in my department, I believe Perez was the informal leader for many of us.  I don't think Perez was fully aware she was leading the way, but she was. Are you leading the way?