Wanted: A Leader
Gary Loftis
January 19, 2008
"Leadership" has become an important topic in the current presidential campaign. All the candidates claim to be leaders, and all the voter interviews document the search for leadership. With all those leaders, what are all the voters missing?
I thought I´d see what they were talking about, so I looked up "leadership" in the dictionary. I found a number of definitions, all of which boiled down to "being in charge." That clearly was not what the voters are after, because there is a plethora of people who want to be in charge. Clearly, American voters are looking for a candidate who has more that the desire to lead.
Next, I looked back at my own experience as a career military officer and writer for a working definition. I spent nearly three years on the faculty of the Air Force´s Squadron Officer School, a professional education program for Air Force lieutenants and captains. Leadership was a major part of our curricula, but even the faculty had a hard time recognizing it in action. Teaching there for a time certainly sharpened my leadership instincts, but the experience did not yield a working definition.
Finally, I thought about the most effective -- in the sense of getting a group of people to achieve the set goals -- men and women I have worked with or heard about. I came up with a list of characteristics. I offer them here for your consideration.
First, a leader knows what he knows and what he doesn´t know. Retired General Eugene Habiger was my wing commander in the mid-1980s. The daily wing staff meeting was important because it gave the wing and base agencies the chance to identify and address challenges before they became problems. Unfortunately, it was also viewed by many squadron commanders and staff officers as an opportunity to look good, so there was an ever-present temptation to exaggerate (being charitable) the status of their various organizations … to provide only good news. Gene Habiger had a kind of sixth sense that told him when someone had thus departed the realm of fact, and responded with something like, "Why don´t you get back to me about that?" He gave the offending officer a chance to get back to his or her organization and find out the facts before reporting. After a while, the staff began answering, "I´ll have to get back to you," and the quality of the information available to the staff improved greatly.
Second, a leader respects those whom he or she is leading, and relies on their strengths to achieve goals. Major Lawrence Mathias was my squadron commander and mentor when, barely out of college, I was appointed Executive Officer of a 900 person aircraft maintenance squadron. Larry Mathias gave me two profound insights that proved their worth repeatedly over the next 40 years:
"Always treat people with dignity. You can take a lot of things away from a man, but if you take his dignity, you´ve lost him forever."
"Never worry about the job. Take care of the people, and they´ll take care of the job."
Third, a leader cares about those whom he or she leads. Ross Perot built a multi-billion dollar company, Electronic Data Systems, in large part by the imagination, motivation, and commitment of his employees. Perot returned their dedication in kind. Ken Follet´s On Wings of Eagles is based on the true story of an operation mounted by EDS executives that broke two EDS employees out of a Tehran prison when the US government was helpless. I worked with several former EDS employees. One told of a time when he was on assignment in Africa and he received a call at 2:00 am Dallas time. It was Ross Perot. The man´s pregnant wife had gone into labor, so Ross and Mrs. Perot had picked her up and taken her to the hospital. Ross just wanted him to know that the mother and baby were fine and they would get whatever they needed until the new father could get home.
Next, a leader develops new leaders. General George S. Patton was, at the same time, one of the most controversial and most venerated officers in World War II. Although he was the target of criticism because of his language, attitude toward allied commanders, and alleged mistreatment of a soldier, he enjoyed almost mythical allegiance from his subordinates. I once met a former member of Patton´s Third Army, who told me if the general showed up today with a plan to "march into hell and kick that SOB Satan´s butt," he would be the first in line because he was sure it would happen. That kind of loyalty doesn´t just happen by accident; it is the result of teaching followers to use their own ingenuity and initiative when confronted with challenges and backing them up when they do.
Finally, the Air Force´s definition of leadership: "The art of influencing a group of people to achieve an objective." Leaders do more than just stand up front, they get people to follow them. That means having a credible objective, the trust of the followers, a good plan, and the will to follow the plan. Failing one of these, someone who considers himself or herself a leader may be like the cowboy who looks over his shoulder and finds that the herd is no longer following him.
If we just could find a presidential candidate who knows his/her limits, who respects the voters, who honestly cares about average Americans, who will trust and empower us to solve our own problems, and who has a credible, attainable vision toward which to lead us …
Anybody want to step up?
Copyright Gary Loftis, 2008. All Rights Reserved.
I thought I´d see what they were talking about, so I looked up "leadership" in the dictionary. I found a number of definitions, all of which boiled down to "being in charge." That clearly was not what the voters are after, because there is a plethora of people who want to be in charge. Clearly, American voters are looking for a candidate who has more that the desire to lead.
Next, I looked back at my own experience as a career military officer and writer for a working definition. I spent nearly three years on the faculty of the Air Force´s Squadron Officer School, a professional education program for Air Force lieutenants and captains. Leadership was a major part of our curricula, but even the faculty had a hard time recognizing it in action. Teaching there for a time certainly sharpened my leadership instincts, but the experience did not yield a working definition.
Finally, I thought about the most effective -- in the sense of getting a group of people to achieve the set goals -- men and women I have worked with or heard about. I came up with a list of characteristics. I offer them here for your consideration.
First, a leader knows what he knows and what he doesn´t know. Retired General Eugene Habiger was my wing commander in the mid-1980s. The daily wing staff meeting was important because it gave the wing and base agencies the chance to identify and address challenges before they became problems. Unfortunately, it was also viewed by many squadron commanders and staff officers as an opportunity to look good, so there was an ever-present temptation to exaggerate (being charitable) the status of their various organizations … to provide only good news. Gene Habiger had a kind of sixth sense that told him when someone had thus departed the realm of fact, and responded with something like, "Why don´t you get back to me about that?" He gave the offending officer a chance to get back to his or her organization and find out the facts before reporting. After a while, the staff began answering, "I´ll have to get back to you," and the quality of the information available to the staff improved greatly.
Second, a leader respects those whom he or she is leading, and relies on their strengths to achieve goals. Major Lawrence Mathias was my squadron commander and mentor when, barely out of college, I was appointed Executive Officer of a 900 person aircraft maintenance squadron. Larry Mathias gave me two profound insights that proved their worth repeatedly over the next 40 years:
"Always treat people with dignity. You can take a lot of things away from a man, but if you take his dignity, you´ve lost him forever."
"Never worry about the job. Take care of the people, and they´ll take care of the job."
Third, a leader cares about those whom he or she leads. Ross Perot built a multi-billion dollar company, Electronic Data Systems, in large part by the imagination, motivation, and commitment of his employees. Perot returned their dedication in kind. Ken Follet´s On Wings of Eagles is based on the true story of an operation mounted by EDS executives that broke two EDS employees out of a Tehran prison when the US government was helpless. I worked with several former EDS employees. One told of a time when he was on assignment in Africa and he received a call at 2:00 am Dallas time. It was Ross Perot. The man´s pregnant wife had gone into labor, so Ross and Mrs. Perot had picked her up and taken her to the hospital. Ross just wanted him to know that the mother and baby were fine and they would get whatever they needed until the new father could get home.
Next, a leader develops new leaders. General George S. Patton was, at the same time, one of the most controversial and most venerated officers in World War II. Although he was the target of criticism because of his language, attitude toward allied commanders, and alleged mistreatment of a soldier, he enjoyed almost mythical allegiance from his subordinates. I once met a former member of Patton´s Third Army, who told me if the general showed up today with a plan to "march into hell and kick that SOB Satan´s butt," he would be the first in line because he was sure it would happen. That kind of loyalty doesn´t just happen by accident; it is the result of teaching followers to use their own ingenuity and initiative when confronted with challenges and backing them up when they do.
Finally, the Air Force´s definition of leadership: "The art of influencing a group of people to achieve an objective." Leaders do more than just stand up front, they get people to follow them. That means having a credible objective, the trust of the followers, a good plan, and the will to follow the plan. Failing one of these, someone who considers himself or herself a leader may be like the cowboy who looks over his shoulder and finds that the herd is no longer following him.
If we just could find a presidential candidate who knows his/her limits, who respects the voters, who honestly cares about average Americans, who will trust and empower us to solve our own problems, and who has a credible, attainable vision toward which to lead us …
Anybody want to step up?
Copyright Gary Loftis, 2008. All Rights Reserved.
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