Brigade
Commander
The first leader I would
like to highlight was my brigade commander for the Army National Guard (ARNG).
The unit had been undergoing war readiness training, which required physical
fitness, knowledge testing, and completion of war time scenarios. This particular weekend, I was returning from
being off duty for six weeks of maternity leave. My pregnancy was extremely high risk, causing
my daughter to be born three weeks early. I was stressed about returning to my unit of 120
men and two women because I hadn’t lost all my maternity gained weight and was
worried I would let the team down if I could not pass the physical fitness
test. I was always very competitive and did not want any special treatment
because I was a girl.
In the morning briefing,
the brigade commander approached me to ask how I was doing, congratulated me on
the baby, and welcomed me back to the team. I am not sure why I felt the need
to tell him my fears of letting down the team by not being able to pass the run
for the physical fitness test. He asked me what I had done to prepare, and I let
him know I had been running twice a day, but it was a challenge as a new mom. I
also let him know that this would be the only thing that kept me from getting
promoted, so I was stressed. We talked
about the objective of finishing the run and not so much the time, as I would have
another chance to take the test, if I failed. It was a relief, as I was getting
pressure from the company commander that I needed to pass, or I would be in
trouble. I was stressed to say the least.
So the next day was the run
which consisted of running a mile to a designated point, and then back. I
remember seeing the brigade commander on his return back as he smiled and gave
me a thumbs up for encouragement. On my way back about a half mile from the
end, I just feel my body aching and wanting to quit. I kept repeating in my
head what the commander said. All of a sudden I hear this voice behind me
telling me don’t give up, remember your goal. It was the brigade commander. He
came back to finish the run with me. Being competitive he would push my pace
just a bit faster until we crossed the finish line, together. My time was also within regulation. I was so
excited and grateful. I truly just wanted to rub it in the company commanders
face, but I couldn’t.
The brigade commander was
very transformational as he created trust and respect relationship from him to
me, in just a small conversation about my fears. I had a goal and he set the
example by running in the run, which he was not required to. He did it intentionally to motivate me along
the route. He gave me confidence when I
didn’t have it myself. I actually felt
like someone believed in me, when most of those around me did not.
Later that weekend, my unit
is in formation. This is typical when promotions, awards, and information is
passed out by leadership. My company commander had turned the formation over to
the brigade commander. Of course, I am
thinking someone is in trouble or or we getting a new company commander? I hear
my name to report to the front. I am really nervous now and wondering why he
would be singling me out about finishing the run? I remember standing there with war gear on,
super tired, and barely listening. Then it happened, I was being field grade
promoted on the spot and in front of my peers. My company commander was so upset
as it was not cleared through him, but there was nothing he could do. I was
grateful and in shock, but very appreciative. This event increased my
motivation to work harder in everything I do, you never know who is watching.
What I learned that day as
a leader, intellectual stimulation is an important characteristic of
transformational leaders. These leaders need to raise their follower’s
awareness regarding problems and develop their capacity to solve such problems.
My brigade commander did that in his approach. He knew I had the physically capability
but my head was full of fear of what others thought or would think of me. He
also personally challenged me on the run to reach that goal. He elevated me from a low level of feeling I
couldn’t do something and focused on my desire to complete it within
regulation.
I use that experience with
the brigade commander as a lesson to help others that maybe struggling in their
job. As a planner, I volunteered last week to prepare and present training for
some new control account managers for this new program we are about to receive
a contract for. There is fear in their
actions as they call themselves stupid, which really irritates me, as no one
should ever call themselves stupid. I
quickly let them know they are not stupid and we are saturated with lots of new
tool suites that make using them a challenge. I am here to help them overcome
their challenges. My goal is to motivate their confidence and challenge them to
excel in using the tools, which allows them to be self-proficient. I may have a
lot of the answers on the tools, but I know we are all in the same race
together.
The Director
The second leader I want to reflect on is named Randy.
Randy was my first director when I began working at Lockheed Martin. He was a
nice guy, treated everyone with kindness, and never had a harsh word to say
about anyone. So I look back and had to think why transformational applied to
Randy. Randy’s team was responsible for creating and managing all the retrofit modifications
to the aircraft, and managing both the civilian and government aircraft depots.
There were no processes written internally at Lockheed for managing the depots
as a contractor.
Being new to the team and a
prior military aircraft scheduler, I was asked if I could help design, develop,
and manage a process. I agreed and
quickly outlined that it would be much easier for Lockheed to change their
processes than the Air Force and the depot facilities. It took me about 30 days to design a135 day
reverses scheduling plan centered on the date an aircraft arrives at the depot.
This process was called the Aircraft Induction Process, which included
coordinating with multiple suppliers, two depot facilities, internal
stakeholders, and the Air Force. Each
stakeholder bought into the plan, and within six months were were inducting
aircraft on-time at the depots. This process al ensured all parts, tools,
skills and other resources would be on-hand when the aircraft arrived.
A year after I created the
process, I had to travel and brief our government counterparts on the process
and provide statistics on its effectiveness. Randy was with me on this journey,
and I kept thinking he should be briefing the metrics since he was the
director. Randy said he would just so I can see how it is done. I was a bit
nervous as I have communicated with all these people via email or on the phone,
but not in big conference room with additional generals. When randy started to
speak, the government counterpart asked point blank why I was not briefing.
Randy played it well, but I jumped in and said I would brief it. I let them
know that I felt more comfortable with Randy conducting the briefing as
director. I gave the briefing.
The colonel in charge of
the Air Force squadron came up to me afterwards and thanked me for the information,
but then smiled and said “that wasn’t so bad was it.” He was talking about
giving the presentation. At first I remember thinking he was a jerk, but then
looking back he was just helping me overcome my own fears. My director thanked
me afterwards for my courage and attention to detail. I answered the questions
with confidence, and that I am very well respected by the leaders in the field.
I thought wow, he has a lot of trust in me. We definitely had a shared vision
and he was setting high standards for my career. He had a great amount of optimism
and enthusiasm toward my skills, ideas, and talent. I wasn’t just another
employee on the team, but I was value added.
Randy continued to push me on other tasks throughout the
years, before he retired. He would call me to his office to discuss metrics and
ask me what I thought they meant. Being statistics was my strong suit, I was
able to come up with similar answers. One day Randy asked me why I thought he
always asked my opinion about metrics. I didn’t have an answer. He said it was
because I usually would say something he did not think about when he would be
evaluating data. He said my comments generally challenged him to think
differently, and he needed that type of input from his team. With that
information, it challenged me to look at information from different lenses as
well.
The lesson I learned from Randy is the value of patience,
motivating others, and encourage others to reach goals, especially when there
is shared visions and goals on the team. Just because you are director, doesn’t
mean you have all the answers. Randy was willing to listen and except new ideas,
and that is what I have learned to pass on to others.
Conclusion:
Both of these leaders entered at different phases of my
life. The brigade commander was in my early 20s where the director was my mid
30’s. The both came into my life at the right time where my education,
leadership, and experiences needed different leaders. They both demonstrated courage, set high
standards and took the time to get to know me. They motivated me to overcome a
goal, and purposely chose to follow-up with me afterwards. In the past I would have
just labeled them as great leaders, verses transformational. What I liked about
them both is they never forced me to do anything their way, but encouraged and
provided guidance on how to complete a goal. They may not be the most
transformational, but they were in my life. Randy, although retired, still
calls me periodically to see how I am doing. The brigade commander has passed
away, but I will be ever so grateful for his encouragement early in my career.
References
Northouse, P. G. (2016). Ledership: Theory and Practice (7th
ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publication.
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