SHEPPARD AIR FORCE BASE, Texas --
As my time in the Air Force comes to a
close, I have to reflect on those leaders who have made the biggest impact on
my life. Every single one of them seemed
to exude the same qualities of one specific character trait: servant leadership.
These individuals were able to take
their organizations to very high levels of productivity by one mantra, consider
others greater than themselves and place the needs of their people ahead of
their own. What ended up happening was a
reciprocal attitude of the organization to not let the supervisor down and to do
whatever it took to make the team first, in every aspect of their lives. These were the greatest organizations I have
ever seen from a productivity and comradery standpoint. So many times I hear, how do I get promoted
and what duty title do I need? I say the
same thing every time; take care of your people, recognize good performance, hold
those accountable for poor performance and you will rise to the top of every
organization no matter what duty title you may have.
Robert Greenleaf summed up Servant
Leadership best stating, “The servant-leader is servant first… It begins with the
natural feeling that one wants to serve, to serve first. Then conscious choice
brings one to aspire to lead. That person is sharply different from one who is
leader first…”
As I transition out of the greatest Air
Force in the world, I have to ask you to embrace one more principle; in order to be first in your organization,
you must be willing to be last.