There are two times you join the Air Force. First is when you enlist, and this is obviously the birth of your military career. The second is when you actually join the Air Force. I heard these words spoken by the commander of Seymour Johnson Air Force Base, Colonel Donn C. Yates. To be honest, I’m not even quite sure what the briefing was about, but I do remember being highly motivated by Col. Yate’s words. I was highly motivated because I believe I was at a turning point within my Air Force Career. I had just started a new position as an instructor and I believed in the mission that I had. Additionally, my supervisors were great leaders and mentors that would guide me through the next four years of my career as an instructor.
During my time as an instructor, I learned that I enjoyed serving my students. It’s kind of a hard dynamic to explain but, I believe I cared about my students so much because I empathized their situation as a student in field training. I wanted to provide my students the best environment for training as well as an opportunity to decompress from the stressors that their jobs as aircraft maintainers supplied them with. I believe this was the developmental stage of my servant leadership and also provided me the outlook of finally joining the Air Force.
Servant leadership is defined as, “natural feeling that one wants to serve, to serve first… to make sure that other people’s highest priority needs are being served. The best test . . . is: do those served grow as persons; do they, while being served, become healthier, wiser, freer, more autonomous, more likely themselves to become servants?” (Greenleaf, 1970, as cited by Northouse, 2016, p. 225). Because I empathized with my students, I knew what it was like to be in their shoes, I wanted to serve them. I wanted them to replenish their energy levels and get re-motivated about being in the Air Force. I think by being a servant leader to my students most importantly, I was trying to prevent them from becoming the toxic leadership that we, on the flightline, are too familiar with. “By creating a culture founded on servant leadership, NCOs can both stop toxic leadership and help those exhibiting poor leadership to grow” (Command Sgt. Maj. Rory Malloy, 2019, as cited by Matison, 2019). I played TED talk videos by General McChrystal trying to prevent my students from becoming those who like to say ‘these new guys aren’t as tough as we were growing up’. General McCrystal sheds light on finding the strengths of the newer generation of soldiers (2011). I also played a TED talk by Drew Dudley who say’s anyone can be a leader (2010). I explained to my students that even as young Airman, they are leading by example. Their actions are constantly being scrutinized and evaluated by the younger airman that are coming in after them and will be mimicked. In addition to empathy, Northouse explains that there are nine more characteristics that servant leaders display: listening, healing, awareness, persuasion, conceptualization, foresight, stewardship, commitment to the growth of people, and building community. Among these traits I believe that I emulate listening, building community, and commitment to the growth of people the best.
Listening is important to servant leadership because it builds perspective and trust. One of the first things I did in my current position as the noncommissioned officer in charge of the debrief section is ask what changes do we need to make? I needed my follower’s perspective because of my lack of experience within this new section. I think this also supported me building community and cohesion within my new section. I didn’t just ask the highest ranking individual what he/she thinks we need to change, I asked everyone and appreciated everyone’s input. Lastly, my commitment to the growth of my subordinates is evident through my daily actions and feedback sessions. During our initial feedback sessions, I asked about goals and interests in the work place and outside of work. I then follow up daily with questions about how things are going in these areas. For example, I have a subordinate who has interests in fresh water fish and houses many aquariums within his household. I find ways to ask him about what he’s done recently with his aquariums at home and I try to encourage him to begin taking school classes to begin his pursuit in marine biology. Service before self is one of the Air Force’s core values and my focus on my younger airman is the passion that made me realize why I continue to serve in the world best Air force.
Reference
Dudley, Drew (September 2010). Everyday Leadership. TED. https://www.ted.com/talks/drew_dudley_everyday_leadership?language=en
Matison, Jennifer. ‘Segeant’ means ‘servant’: How NCO’s typify the servant leader. May 14, 2013. Accessed: armyupress.army.mil/Journals/NCO-Journal/Archives/2013/May/05-14-Servant-Leader/
McChrystal, Stanley (March 2011). Listen, learn…then lead. TED. https://www.ted.com/talks/stanley_mcchrystal_listen_learn_then_lead?language=en
Northouse, Peter G. Leadership. SAGE Publications, Inc. (US), 2016. [MBS Direct].
jlj47 says
I too am a military leader who has chosen servant leadership as my preferred approach. With a quick search on google scholar I found an article that examined the viability of servant leadership in the military and I’m curious about your thoughts on their findings. Like you pointed out in your post, servant leadership in the article was proposed as the antithesis to toxic leadership. However, in their opinion, Gain & Bryant (2020) felt that the Army leadership doctrine, which lists accomplishment of the mission and welfare of the soldiers as the primary tasks of its leaders, requires the accomplishment of the mission takes precedents and therefore eliminates servant leadership as an option within the military. I personally disagree with their assessment.
Their argument that being a servant leader would prevent sending a soldier on a mission that could likely lead to their death is flawed. The assumption is soldiers must be convinced to risk their lives in defense of the nation. The reality is quite the opposite. Especially today when America is still fighting wars in both Iraq and Afghanistan. Every Soldier in the Army today, at least at some level of awareness, knows they may be asked to risk their lives for the sake of the mission. According to Northouse (2016), research has shown that servant leadership creates an environment of strong organizational citizenship behaviors, where followers go beyond their duties to improve the organization. There is nothing natural about risking or sacrificing a life. Military service, though, places leaders in a position where that truth is a reality. When applying leadership theory in the military this paradigm must be considered and accepted as function within the given construct. In that regard, the commitment to build the community characteristic of servant leaders described by Northouse (2016) states, “community allows followers to identify with something greater than themselves that they value” (p. 229). I believe this characteristic and its effect on followers, when understood in the context of the military, explains how risking the lives of soldiers to accomplish the mission is justified under servant leadership.
References
Gain, D., & Bryant, P. C. (2020). The Men or the Mission: Can an Army of Servants become an Army of Servant Leaders?. Servant Leadership: Theory & Practice, 7(1), 5.Retrieved from https://csuepress.columbusstate.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1095&context=sltp
Northouse, P. G. (2016). Leadership: Theory and practice. Los Angeles: Sage.
dlb5692 says
When one thinks of a military leader, we often think of the all to common portrayal of the tough in your face person who puts everyone down, just to build them up. I actually think you show a great deal of conceptualization, an individuals ability to be a visionary, focusing on the big picture, in your approach to building better leaders for tomorrow (Northouse, 2016, p.228). You know what it is like to be led by a “toxic leader” and you want your students to do better, be better.
You also show a great deal of caring for your students well being not just currently, but in the future. By giving your followers someone to talk to and asking for their input, you showed the servant leadership quality of healing, they seemed it know that they could trust you and that this relationship was a “two-way street,” you both grew as soldiers by listening and guiding each other to be better than the status quo (Northouse, 2016, p.228).
It is reassuring to me that there are teachers like you in the military today, as I have someone close to me just starting his career in the Navy. I worry about him being treated poorly, or becoming someone he is not. Thank you for your service, but more so thank you for being a good leader to young men and women who are this country’s future.
Reference
Northouse, P.G. (2016). Leadership: Theory and Practice. 7th Edition. Los Angeles: Sage
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