In order to best help Airmen, give 'em 'HELL'

  • Published
  • By Chief Master Sgt. David Denton
  • 60th Inpatient Squadron

TRAVIS AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. - What a month it has been so far. I was fortunate to start the month off with a promotion ceremony, where I was joined by 23 fellow Airmen who also were starting this month with a great celebration in front of our families, friends, co-workers, supervisors, leaders and commanders.  We witnessed officers reaffirm their oath of office while assuming their next rank. 

I watched enlisted members that got to enjoy their first promotion ceremony and I made it to my final promotion ceremony and my family helped don my service coat with the rank of chief master sergeant. Wow!

A few years ago, I read a quote from Gen. Robin Rand, “We don’t need better Airmen, we need to learn how to lead them better.” I sat and wondered about that quote for a while. I dissected the quote into two parts, the Airmen and the Leaders, and looked at each one. We are part of the world’s greatest Air Force and we can’t sustain that without great Airmen and great leaders.

We have great Airmen who continue to transition from civilian life into the Air Force every week, just as we have for 69 years and counting. This is evident as you can look around the base - the medic caring for our patients, the defenders securing and protecting, the aircrews and maintainers enabling the global mobility mission and the logistics professionals ensuring we all have what we need to get into the fight.

In my search to find out how others viewed leadership development, I turned to one of my mentors for some advice. He gave me one of the best pieces of advice that I have received.

He explained that if you want to lead your Airmen better, you need to give them HELL every day.

You need to be HONEST with your Airmen. This starts with the standards, expectations and feedback that they need to receive from the first day. Be able to correct deficiencies when standards are not being met. Don’t hide information or details that they will need in order to be successful.

Remember, what they need and what they want might not always line up. But they deserve honesty from you. If you say you are going to do something, you need to follow through.

Your Airmen need your EFFORT every day. As chief, you will not be getting promoted anymore. The time that you spend with your Airmen should be devoted to helping them reach their goals. Spend your day sharpening the skills that they will need in order to develop, grow and become better. Devote your time to deliberately develop your Airmen.

Your Airmen deserve your LOYALTY. We expect our Airmen to work hard to accomplish the mission. You need to work even harder to support them and their families.  Get to know them and their goals. Then find out how you can play a small role in helping them achieve those goals.

Finally, your Airmen need your LEADERSHIP. Successful leadership is in the eyes of those being led. Uphold the standards, set the example and continue to improve yourself through personal and professional development.

Now, go give ‘em HELL!