First Lead Yourself

In early 2017, while I was completing Air Command and Staff College by correspondence (yes, virtual learning before it was cool…) one of the first courses required was called “Leadership & Command”.  A primary goal of this course was for each student to develop and define their own leadership philosophy – the set of values, principles, and maxims which guide how they would lead Airmen.  At the end of the Leadership & Command course, I’d produced a 20-or-so-page paper that I was convinced no one would ever read, probably not even myself.

At the time I was assigned to the Headquarters, United States Air Forces Europe and Air Forces Africa (USAFE-AFAFRICA) Logistics, Engineering, and Force Protection Directorate and for the first time in my career worked for a general officer, Brigadier General Roy Agustin.  I was discussing the leadership philosophy assignment with Gen Agustin and he gave me a subtle challenge that I’m not even sure I picked up on at first.  I’m paraphrasing here, but he told me I should forget that it was an assignment and treat it like a roadmap or a compass.  Instead of a rag no one would ever read, why not turn my paper into something that I could at least stand reading myself? He also, again, ever so subtly, suggested that if done well, my leadership philosophy could be simple enough to hand to anyone and, in an instant, they would understand how I would endeavor to lead.  

Challenge Accepted.  I endeavored to whittle away at all the fluff, boil down the meat of my leadership philosophy paper until just those core tenets of how I strive to lead remained.  What was left was a one-page document in bullet format that I’m proud to say is a direct reflection of who I am, or at least who I hope to be.  Of course, it’s not exhaustive or all-encompassing, but I think these core tenets make sound guiding principles as the foundation of how I intend to lead any organization, in any situation. 

My leadership philosophy encompasses four core tenets:

1.    Servant Leadership, Sharing Success, and Owning Failure – I prioritize providing individuals and teams the resources they need to achieve the mission, and am ultimately responsible through triumph or setback

2.    Emphasis on communication – even over-communication – to ensure critical information always reaches the right person at the right time

3.   I approach challenges with high-energy, positivity, and a bias toward action, which I believe are contagious qualities that breed success

4.   When all else appears lost, Lead Courageously! 

The full text is attached to this article, and over the next several weeks we’ll take a deeper look at each core tenet as I continue through this Challenge Accepted series.  

Today, I actually refer to my leadership philosophy quite regularly, at least once a month but usually more often.  I also share my “one-pager”, as I call it, with all of my teammates, direct supervisors, and subordinates – I have been doing so for several years now.  At first, sharing my leadership philosophy was a bit of an experiment.  I wasn’t sure what feedback I would receive or how it would be received by others. More intimately, I hand a hard copy to all of my direct reports in initial feedback – laying out expectations for performance – and have a focused conversation about what they should expect from me.  You may be thinking, “Sure it’s only one page, but do you just carry copies with you to give to new folks you meet?”  Well, technically yes – at 20+ pages I haven’t read my original leadership philosophy paper since submitting it for my course, much less memorized it.  But at just one page, I can quickly recall and discuss the core tenets of my leadership philosophy at any time, which has come in pretty handy on several occasions.  Now, based on the feedback I have received, I know that I can walk into any organization, present my leadership philosophy, and be sure they know what to expect from me, how I’ll behave, how I’ll make decisions, what I value, and how I’ll respond in nearly any situation.

I buy into the theory that leaders are not born but bred – after all there are whole sectors in industry and academia devoted to leader development.  I believe that all leaders worth their salt put a significant portion of their energy into continuous development and improvement.  Likewise, my leadership philosophy is not a static document.  As I continue to develop and refine what I think and believe about leadership and how it should be employed, I also refine my leadership philosophy.  These refinements are typically minor, making a phrase more readable or truncating a section to fit more context elsewhere.  Occasionally, when I’m confronted with a concept that completely changes how I think about a facet of leadership, or which finally triggers a lightbulb in my mind on a subject I’ve struggled with, I’ll make a major change or addition.  The point here is that my leadership philosophy is not a monument, but rather it has become the roadmap Brig Gen Agustin challenged me to make it.  As I continue to refine my leadership philosophy, I’ll also continue to hold it as a personal banner, a standard by which I measure myself, and a challenge to be met as a leader.  At the end of the day, despite the fact I share my leadership philosophy regularly, it’s really a document for myself.  Many people hold that a true leader must be able to lead themselves first, and my leadership philosophy is how I hold myself accountable to this principle.

So, what’s your leadership philosophy? If you haven’t thought about it and you consider yourself a leader, I challenge you to do that now.  That can be a daunting task so start smaller – define your personal values. Define why you want to lead; “your why”. Take an inventory of the leadership principles and qualities, good and bad, you’ve encountered over the years.  You’ll begin to notice patterns and start to bin certain qualities, and these trends will begin to form the basis of your leadership philosophy.  Ultimately, don’t get wrapped up in ‘writing a paper’, instead focus more on thinking about leadership and how you can be a better leader. In the same way that ‘plans are worthless, yet planning is indispensable’, thinking about leadership will prepare you for the challenges that being a leader will bring.