Do you have the right people on your bus?

  • Published
  • By Chief Master Sgt. Michael Thomas
  • 60th Aircraft Maintenance Squadron
TRAVIS AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. --  I am not a huge fan of "how to" leadership books.

The few I have read throughout the years left me with the feeling that the author has resided in the ivory towers of academia and never been bloodied in the trenches of everyday leadership.

However, a number of years ago our operations officer at the time, Maj. David Watts, turned me on to a book with a message that has resonated with me throughout the years. "Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap and Others Don't" by Jim Collins has numerous leadership concepts that are relevant to leaders in the profession of arms.

The concept I felt was most profound, "First Who, Then What," has proved essential to the success of numerous units I have been part of. The notion may seem contradictory at first, but it advances the concept of securing high-quality and high-talent individuals.

If you identify the "what" first without the "who," you basically have a genius with a thousand helpers. Though our manpower structure in the Air Force differs with that of civilian corporations since our assignment system distributes personnel without a lot of input from the gaining unit concerning the "who," smart leaders consciously develop individuals in their unit.

With the right people in the right positions, many of the management problems that plague your organization and sap your valuable resources will dissipate. Collins underscores the importance of maintaining rigorousness in all personnel decisions, moving potentially failing employees to new positions and totally removing personnel who are not actively contributing to the success of the organization.

These concepts are to get the right people on the bus, then get them in the right seats. We don't have a lot of control who is assigned to our units and, for that reason, it is essential we provide feedback, document performance and deliberately develop our personnel. If we consistently do those things, it will become obvious who deserves a seat on the bus and which seat they should be in. Across time, hopefully through deliberate development, their position or seat on the bus, will change and allow for further growth and responsibility.

But, to be perfectly honest, some people will not respond to feedback and development and instead will not elect to adhere to the high standards we have volunteered to uphold. In those cases, it is our responsibility to remove those folks from the bus to prevent harm to fellow unit members and disruption to the mission.

Once we have the right people on the bus, "then what," is defined for us in different documents ranging from the United States Constitution to Air Force Instructions to technical orders. But in today's environment, we are encountering challenges from sequestration to the termination of operations in Afghanistan that may cause dramatic restructuring of our force and mission.

Think back to the recent government shutdown. Did you have folks hanging around the coffee pot talking about the shutdown or did you have folks developing strategies on how to more efficiently execute their unit's mission? Through deliberate development and getting the right people on the bus, no matter what challenges a unit may encounter in the future, these folks will find a way to be successful.

In my unit we have the right folks on the bus to tackle any challenge head on. Conscious decisions stem from the commissioned officers who provide strategic vision to senior NCOs who continue to lead us through sequestration, to the NCOs leading us through C-5M Super Galaxy conversion to our Airmen who are taking it all in and developing as tomorrow's leaders and to our civilian and Reserve partners who lend sage counsel when there is chaos on our bus. By making a conscious decision to deliberately develop the folks on your bus, you will ensure that no matter "the what," your team is prepared to answer the call so that others may prevail.