Making good decisions essential to success

  • Published
  • By Lt. Col. Laura Lenderman
  • 15th Air Mobility Operations Squadron commander
TRAVIS AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. --  Baseball season is just around the corner, and it couldn't come any sooner. I grew up playing softball, and when my softball days were over, I transferred my love of playing that game to watching the next best thing, Major League baseball.

As a diehard baseball fan, it was very disappointing to watch Roger Clemens, one of the best baseball players of all time, publicly fall from grace in recent weeks. In his appearance before Congress, Mr. Clemens disputed allegations that he took illegal performance enhancing drugs, or steroids, throughout his professional sports career. We may never know whether or not the allegations are true. Regardless, his reputation and integrity will always be in question, and it is unlikely that all the money in the world will be able to restore his good name.

As professional Airmen, we can learn an important lesson from Mr. Clemens' experience. Each of us should carefully consider the choices and decisions we make in our personal and professional lives. Our integrity is priceless. As individuals and as a military team, there is absolutely nothing in this world worth compromising our good name and reputation. The newspapers are replete with organizations and individuals like Mr. Clemens who built a hall-of-fame reputation and lost everything in a matter of minutes due to a few, or perhaps many, bad decisions.

We are all faced with decisions every day. Some are important and some are more mundane. But in the end, these individual decisions are a measure of our personal integrity and ultimately determine the strength of our entire team. For instance, we decide if we are going to drive the speed limit on our way to work or give 100 percent during physical training or abide by the rules and regulations outlined in our technical orders and Air Force Instructions. It can be challenging at times to make the tough call and do the right thing even when no one is looking, but when it comes to integrity, the devil is in the details.

Likewise, when it comes to making good decisions, we are not entirely on our own. As leaders and teammates, we have a responsibility to help one another make good decisions. One way we do this is by looking out for each other and being good Wingmen both on and off duty. One can imagine a very different future for Mr. Clemens if his teammates and trainer had been better Wingmen and encouraged him to make good choices during his career.

This is just one recent example of what can happen when individuals make poor choices and sacrifice their integrity. Mr. Clemens must now suffer the consequences of his decisions which includes a tarnished reputation and legacy. In our case, the stakes are much higher. Our ability to fight and win our nation's wars depends on the integrity and strength of the team. Being good Wingmen and making good decisions are absolutely essential to our individual and organizational success. When faced with future decisions, both big and small, consider the consequence of your actions and make the right choice.