Leadership at all levels is art of balance Published July 16, 2015 By Lt. Col. John Cappella Zielinski 60th Force Support Squadron Commander TRAVIS AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. -- In our Air Force, we speak of the importance of leadership every day, but to what are we really referring too? Throughout the years, I have had the good fortune of attending numerous leadership presentations from senior leaders of organizations within the military, academia, government and industry. One common theme is that there are as many definitions for leadership as there are leaders. Although each had unique insights into the art of leadership, what they all share is an emphasis on balance. As a squadron commander, I have come to find this emphasis is for good reason. Leadership is the art of balance. Every leader in our Air Force, from the first line supervisor to the combatant commander, is constantly balancing a series of variables in the decision-making process. To be effective, leaders need to balance six critical characteristics: trust, competency, working for the greater good, shared values, results and being in touch. All are important and emphasis on any one characteristic necessitates evaluating the impact on the others. As you practically and critically engage with these characteristics, you find further balancing required. For instance, let us take competency. To become competent, leaders need to balance their development in four essential areas: ethics and character; core capabilities; knowledge, skills and abilities; and communication. To complicate matters, functional leadership requires further balancing still. For example, for the force support career field, leaders need to balance their development of 16 core capabilities and eight key knowledge, skills and abilities areas. Competency, a simple term by itself, is actually built on a pyramid of principles, requiring balance lest the pyramid collapse. Leaders also are constantly balancing priorities. Every decision a squadron commander makes is a balancing act among the priorities of base leadership, the squadron, the functional community and the unit's customer base. To balance these priorities and meet everyone's needs, a Commander must balance managing resources, leading people, improving the organization and executing the mission. In a perfect world, leaders would be able to positively impact all four of these areas with every decision. In reality, emphasis on any one focus area necessitates evaluating the potential for negative impacts on the others. Thus, the pyramid of priorities also requires balance lest this pyramid collapse as well. So how do leaders create and maintain balance? Our job is not to lead Airmen. It's to lead people who also happen to be Airmen and people want to be a part of something bigger than themselves. People join groups to build identity and belonging. That is where the Air Force core values come in, another balancing act between integrity, service and excellence. Our values are core for a reason, because it is possible to maintain their balance. Use them as your guide in the decision-making process. No matter what your job, if you are in our Air Force, then you are a leader and all leaders, at every level, should strive to master the art of balance.