Basic Leadership and Character

The mission comes first. Everything else has to be in service of it. But the mission only succeeds because of people — so a real leader pays attention to the people on the team, helps them get ready, and helps them manage the stress they're carrying. If you expect the best from others, you have to give the best of yourself.

This section covers what true leadership looks like, why character sits at the heart of it, why followership matters just as much, and what the Wingman concept actually means in practice.

Overview

Objective: Identify basic facts and general principles about culture fundamentals in the Air Force.

Learning Outcomes

• Explain true leadership and the characteristics of being a leader.
• Recognize the importance of character development in becoming a true leader.
• Understand that followership is equally important as leadership.
• Discuss the Wingman concept and its importance in the Air Force.

Foundational Competencies

• Develops People — Investing in others to maximize their contributions to the mission by inspiring and providing an environment of continual feedback and learning opportunities.
• Resilience — Negotiating, managing, and adapting to significant sources of stress or trauma.

Summary

• True Leadership
• Character
• Followership
• Wingman Concept

True Leadership

Defined

True leadership is serving others — and in that sense, every member of the Air Force is a leader. It's also about character: doing the right thing. Leadership cannot exist without character. It's about people and relationships, motivating people to follow because they want to serve, and developing them to be all they can be.

A few working definitions:

• AF Doctrine Document 1-1 — Leadership is the art and science of influencing people to accomplish the assigned mission.
• Influencing people to contribute their hearts, minds, spirits, creativity, and excellence, and to give their all to the team.
• Teaching and practicing doing the right thing rather than taking the path of least resistance.

True leadership is a choice

You choose what kind of leader you'll be. The choice is always between being a servant leader or a self-serving leader.

Aim to be a servant leader — someone who chose to serve others. Service builds the relationship between leader and follower, and service requires sacrifice and seeking the greatest good for those being led. True leadership is "selfless service": doing the right thing regardless of what you may or may not get out of it.

The word "sergeant" comes from the Latin word meaning "to serve."

The truest test of leadership

True leadership is present when you can answer "yes" to:

1. Are people better off when they leave you than when they arrived?
2. Do others grow under your leadership?
3. Do the people you serve become healthier, wiser, freer, more autonomous, and more likely to become servant leaders themselves?

How leaders build relationships

• Respecting others (including treating everyone as if they're important)
• Possessing appreciation
• Encouraging others
• Showing courtesy
• Listening well
• Giving credit
• Giving praise

How leaders earn respect

Leaders may need to be directive about mission, values, rules, standards (how excellence is defined and measured), and accountability (what happens when there's a gap between standards and performance). They don't take votes on these.

Once direction is provided, the job is to be responsive to the needs of those being led. By identifying and meeting legitimate needs, leaders help followers become the best they can be while accomplishing the mission. Leaders discipline people because they care about them and want them to succeed.

Leaders show unrelenting toughness and concern for people. Extremely demanding, with equal passion for caring.

How leaders care for other Wingmen

You can't care for others if you don't care for yourself first. Leaders care for others by taking personal responsibility to care for themselves, and by building resiliency in their people.

Stay fit

• Set specific exercise times.
• Be consistent in fitness participation.
• Start slow and build up.

Eat right

• Limit fatty, sugary, and salty foods.
• Optimize meals for peak performance (variety of fruits and vegetables).
• Become knowledgeable about supplements.

Keep a positive focus

• Accurately evaluate situations before acting.
• Consider both positive and negative aspects of an event.
• Accept what you can't change, let it go, and keep moving.

Know the big picture

• Understand your role and the roles of other key players.
• Understand the reasons for doing things — especially when they're relevant to the mission.

Know how to problem-solve

• Define the problem.
• Set goals.
• Compare multiple solutions and select the best one.
• Evaluate outcomes.

Know your purpose

• Know the personal reasons that drive you.
• Know your strengths and weaknesses.
• Know the relationships and personal beliefs (spiritual, political) that define you.

Recharge

• Get enough rest (7–9 hours per 24-hour period).
• Schedule downtime for activities you value.
• Have fun; let off steam.

Tactical breathing

• Deep, slow breaths to relax your muscles.
• Increases focus and "pushes out" distractions.

Communication check

• Listen completely to what's being said.
• Repeat back what you heard so the message is understood.
• Have others do the same when you're the speaker.

Mental rehearsal

• Imagine doing a new task or skill.
• "Walk through" the process in your mind.

Be a Wingman

• Make responsible choices for you and your team's benefit, and help others do the same.
• Give honest, caring feedback.
• Have the moral courage to make the "hard calls" to keep everyone safe.
• Be willing to "go to bat" for the team — even when it means getting others the help they need and being there with them as they work through the problem.

Lead from the front

• Practice all of the resiliency actions above and recommend others do the same.
• Honestly evaluate yourself on whether you're following them.
• Challenge yourself and others to grow as leaders of character.

True leadership traits

True leaders:

• Are always focused on their responsibility — whether or not they're meeting the needs of their people.
• Are secure in knowing they don't know everything.
• Are secure in knowing they have strengths and limitations.
• Are secure in knowing they're capable of making mistakes.
• Are conscious that their greatest fault is thinking they have no faults.
• Delegate responsibility (to get trust, you must give trust).
• Commit to their choices — but this isn't blind loyalty; doing the right thing always trumps loyalty.
• Hold people accountable.
• Light the fire within people; influence and inspire them, and get them to give their best for the team.
• Create meaning and purpose — remind people of the mission and who's being served.

Character

Developing your leadership (character) skills

Character development sits at the center of becoming a true leader. Every person makes a choice to obey or ignore the principles of human conduct. Your moral sense of right and wrong competes with other senses, desires, and temptations that are part of being human. The question is whether you respond to situations like a 2-year-old who can't control their urges — or like a mature adult who makes choices that serve the greater good and develop your moral muscle.

Character development is the same as leadership development — the will, courage, and strength to do the right thing. It strengthens or weakens with every decision. Small decisions lead to steps in the right (or wrong) direction. Over time, those steps shape bigger decisions in the same direction.

With determination and practice, leadership skills develop. Knowing your people and taking care of them, keeping your moral compass in check, taking risks, and learning from mistakes are all part of it.

To grow:

• Learn and apply the principles of true leadership.
• Get feedback from significant people around you.
• Experience friction — value the people who hold you accountable. That's the first step to closing the gap between where you are now and where you want to be.

Followership

The most effective teams are groups where all members are leaders — every person takes personal responsibility for team success. Regardless of position, every member of a team influences others and leaves their mark on the team. Ask yourself: "What kind of mark will I leave?"

The role of the formal leader matters, but each member's role matters just as much. Followership responsibilities include:

• Understanding how the work contributes to the big picture — the overall mission.
• Taking care of and looking out for one another.
• Communicating as a team — making sure details aren't missed.
• Sharing knowledge, skills, and experience to solve problems as a team.
• Adapting to change — don't be paralyzed by not having all the answers.
• Holding yourself accountable for mistakes.
• Having the confidence and strength of character to do and say the right things at the right times — always with diplomacy, tact, and respect.
• Earning trust through an honorable reputation by doing what you say you'll do. Your actions tell all.

Wingman Concept

Every Airman should view other Airmen as their wingman — someone they can trust with their life. This applies on duty and off duty.

Wingmen:

• Have a moral compass that always points true north — they know the right thing to do and they take action to do it.
• Constantly search the horizon for any sign of trouble and step up to prevent it.
• Learn to lead just as well as follow (take personal responsibility for team success as a follower).
• Lead when required.
• Respect and care for fellow Airmen.

Fighting wars, deployments, and other challenges make it more important than ever to focus on people and commit to caring for one another. That requires building solid relationships before a crisis hits — between supervisors and subordinates, between coworkers, and within families.

These ideas translate to everyday actions:

• Asking a teammate how they're doing and listening when they answer.
• Taking the keys from a friend who's had too much to drink.
• Making sure your supervisor isn't dealing with disciplinary issues caused by your momentary lack of judgment.
• Double-checking your work and repairing errors without being told.
• Reminding your buddy about a meeting starting in 5 minutes.

Take care of each other so the team can take care of the mission. Protect each other's flank, and build and keep trust in one another.

Summary

Don't give anyone a reason to doubt your leadership. By setting the example, your subordinates and peers will be encouraged to live up to the Core Values and the expectations set. As a leader — whether in charge or as a member of a team — you take responsibility for the success of the team. True leaders teach and practice integrity, inspiring others to follow. To be that true leader, you must serve.