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Pride
Posted 8/23/2012 Updated 8/23/2012
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Commentary by Col. Michael Strunk
51st Mission Support Group commander
8/23/2012 - OSAN AIR BASE, Republic of Korea -- Have you ever completed a project or task and felt really good about what you accomplished? If so, you have felt a sense of pride. Pride is a level of satisfaction, a feeling of accomplishment and self worth. However, it is not just the end result of working hard and doing great things. Pride can also become that internal motivator that drives an individual, team or community to continue to excel.
So what can you do to develop pride in yourself or your organization? It begins with you and your actions. It is how you take care of yourself, the place you live and the place you work. It is also how you conduct yourself while you perform your job. If you walk past a piece of trash on the ground, would you pick it up? If your dorm is dirty or run down, would you complain about it or do something to improve it? When you are at work, do you look like you are miserable and you don't want to be there, or are you the person who looks happy and works hard? Are you the person in your unit that folks depend on for getting a task done and done right? Pride is contagious, so the positive actions of one individual can spread throughout an entire organization or community.
Just the other day I walked through several dorms on Osan. What I noticed most about each dorm was not the age of the facility, but the occupants' level of pride for where they live. The cleanliness of the common areas, outside entry areas, stairwells and the individual rooms told me exactly who did and did not possess pride. In one dorm, a couple of individuals met me and explained what they and a team of dorm residents were doing to revitalize their dorm. They created a dorm council to rally the other dorm residents into action. They identified issues and developed plans on how to fix them. They spent their off duty hours cleaning, patching and painting rooms, common areas and gazebos. The group that started it all was small, but as others saw the great things taking place, it encouraged others to join in the efforts. In the end, they took a dorm in need of help and turned it into a place they proudly call home.
So as a leader, what can you do to inspire pride in your unit or community? First, you must exhibit pride in yourself and your actions; you must lead by example. In addition, you should encourage others by recognizing those who exhibit a sense of pride and purpose. This can be as simple as saying, "thank you."
Mark Twain once said, "I can live for two months on a good compliment." I find that most folks have no issue expressing their unhappiness with the lack of service they receive, but few take the time to tell folks thanks for doing a great job and taking pride in what they do. You don't have to be a formal leader in a command position to foster an environment of pride. You can also be an informal leader who inspires others around you just as the Airmen inspired others to clean up their dorms.
Is it possible to have too much pride? I believe you can. Too much pride can result in arrogance, which can infect and destroy a unit or organization. As with anything in life, balance is important. To help provide balance, one must be humble in addition to being proud. People who exhibit pride and humbleness are respected and foster teamwork.
During my short time at Osan, I have experienced a lot of pride in the Mustangs and Team Osan, but like everything it needs a continual effort to maintain or improve it. I encourage you all to go out and continue to make our Osan community a place we are all proud to call home.
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