Leadership: Listen, learn and lead

  • Published
  • By Col. Red Skelton
  • 571 Contingency Response Group commander
TRAVIS AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. --  Fall is my favorite time of the year. The weather is starting to turn cool, the leaves are changing colors and the college football season is in full swing. Like any group activity, the key to success is teamwork.

It is amazing to me how a cohesive group of good players working in harmony with a common goal and focus can accomplish so much more than a team of superstars working independently. That cohesive team effort is what makes our Airmen a superstar team, but like everything, you have to have a solid foundation from which to begin and any team needs to have a strong understanding of the basics. When I was a second lieutenant (back in the dark ages) a brand new squadron commander told me the key to being a good leader and team member were three things: Listen, learn and lead.

He told me to listen to everyone and everything. When you open your eyes and ears to the environment it empowers you to see things from different viewpoints. The ability to listen to different positions and opinions will enable you to become better informed on a wide variety of subjects that will enhance your leadership skills. Once you have learned to listen, you can begin to learn.

You can learn something from everyone you come in contact with - from your subordinates to your peers and supervisors. Learning does not always mean having the "poster child" supervisor mentoring you. I have learned some of my best lessons from my worst supervisors. We have all been there, but the key is to remember the good and bad attributes and to incorporate those skills into a leadership game plan. The lessons we learn fill our playbook with situational starting points you can use when it is your turn to be the play caller. When you get that chance, be the leader.

Always lead by example. Everything you do will be noticed by someone and will influence your team and set the tone for others to follow. You cannot always be the perfect leader or the leader every individual likes. Sometimes as the leader you have to do what is best for the Air Force, the squadron or the team and not everyone is going to agree and some may even vehemently oppose your decisions. It is at those times when your true leadership skills will shine through. Everyone is a leader. You don't have to be the squadron commander or the first shirt to be a leader. At some place and time, each one of you will be put in a position of leadership. It is then you will dive into your bag of tricks and pull out those nuggets of knowledge you have learned throughout your career and use those experiences to lead at that moment in time.

President Theodore Roosevelt wrote, "It is not the critic who counts. Not the man who points out how the strong man stumbled or where the doer of deeds could have done better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly; ...who, at the best, knows in the end the triumph of high achievement and who, at the worst, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those timid souls who know neither victory nor defeat."

We are all human and will make mistakes but when the opportunity to be a leader presents itself don't shy away but grab it with both hands and do your very best. At the end of the day, you can look into that mirror and feel proud of the job you did, the difference you made, the fun you had and the fact that you were in the game. Roll Tide!