Earn position to become respected leader

  • Published
  • By Col. Anderson Rowan
  • 60th Diagnostics and Therapeutics Squadron

TRAVIS AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. – During my 23 years in the Air Force, I have learned a lot about leadership, but, surprisingly, I have found that a leadership fundamental I learned well before joining the Air Force is the most critical factor in being a good leader.

Good leaders earn respect rather than demand it based on their position of authority.

While there are many factors that may contribute to earning the respect of those under you, this article summarizes the four I believe are the most critical. These considerations are  fundamental leadership principles, but a refresher in the basics rarely goes amiss.

Keep your word.  Your subordinates need to have confidence you will do what you say. When you get busy it’s easy to forget about something you said you would do.  So write it down and make sure you do it.  If you find you can’t do what you said, explain why you can’t do it.  And when, being human, you mess up and realize you failed to do something you said you would, apologize.

 

Follow the “Golden Rule.”  As children, many of you were probably taught the rule, “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.”  While this “Golden Rule” will not guide you in all types of decisions, it is a great principle to follow when determining the interpersonal manner in which you execute decisions. For example, if you decide the right administrative action is to give an Airman a letter of reprimand, think about how you would want your supervisor to handle administering an LOR if you had to receive one. Typically, this results in actions that show respect, consideration and caring even as you execute or direct difficult and unpleasant decisions or tasks.

 

Practice what you preach. While this may sound similar to keeping your word, it is really quite different.  It is about meeting expectations you set for others.  For example, if you set an expectation for your Airmen to respond to e-mails from you within one duty day, make it a point to show them the same respect and respond to them in the same time frame. It’s easy to make excuses for why we think a situation is different and warrants not meeting the expectations we set for others. Resist that line of thought. We all have challenges to meet the expectations given to us and yours are not really that unique.

 

Learn as much as you can about your people and your mission.  In early leadership roles such as a front line supervisor, learning about your people and mission will take the form of knowing your people very well, both in terms of duty related abilities and tasks, and in terms of their personal lives. It may also involve being a technical expert in your area. But as you move up in leadership, it is easy to become unaware of the practical challenges of day-to-day operations in your units and easy to not know the people that make them happen. It is critical to carve out time to prevent this gap in knowledge from forming.  To not do so will hinder  your ability to support your people in accomplishing the mission.      

 

In summary, demanding the respect due your position is not good leadership. You must earn it by following these principles.