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Wingman Day—Principled Decision Making
Posted 10/24/2012 Updated 10/24/2012
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Commentary by Col. David Almand
375th Air Mobility Wing commander
10/24/2012 - SCOTT AIR FORCE BASE, Ill. -- Thank you Team Scott for your patience with the wing as we participated in the first of several Operational Readiness Exercises that we'll be holding as we prepare for our June Operational Readiness Inspection!
Our team spent 10 days getting reacquainted with our deployment procedures and employment once at our forward location. It was a real eye opener and helped us identify both our strong and weak areas. As we absorb the lessons learned from this exercise, we now turn our focus once again to training--this time for our biannual Wingman Day.
Wingman Day is a day for us to take an official "time out" so we can focus on areas in our lives that will help us become more resilient. As the wing leadership team counseled together these past few months, we decided that our focus throughout the upcoming year should lean toward improving skills on principled decision making--that is making deliberate decisions based on our core values and the culture we want in our workplace.
While recent climate assessment surveys have been very positive about the overall culture of our wing, we want to ensure the way forward is continues to be grounded with a culture of compliance with Air Force standards and excellence.
So, tomorrow, our wing will be gathering into small groups of about 20 to discuss specific behaviors they want to promote within the work place and talk about ways to work better as a team. Then in the afternoon, they'll demonstrate that teamwork as they find ways to serve throughout the base and in the community.
What I want for supervisors and leaders at every level is to be aware and committed to allowing for open dialogue and finding out what makes each team function ... and then find ways to build on those successes and identify areas in which to improve.
As we look at how principled decision making plays a role in our team's success, we need to look at our beliefs, which form values. We all come from different backgrounds. Our diversity is our strength. And while we have some different beliefs and values, we share the same core values. Our teams should be unified and we should know what to expect from each other. Understanding that using our core values as a reference during decision making will assist leaders in tackling the various issues they face.
When I think of principled decision making, I think of our Airmen making the right calls for the right reasons ... at all times. We need to find ways to strengthen and build upon our core values:
· Integrity First. We all make mistakes, but lying or trying to cover up mistakes is not living by the core value of being honest with ourselves and others. Our behaviors should match what we truly believe and live. Integrity can also be looked upon as someone who is dependable and reliable...a person of his/her word. Integrity is about managing our resources wisely and earning the trust that the American people have placed in us.
· Service Before Self. We always answer the call no matter what is going on in our personal lives. It's not just about volunteering in our community although that has its place. I think of the NCO who takes the extra time to train a young Airman or young officers who will go the extra mile to check on their troops. It's about mentoring each other and having each other's backs. It's about being loyal and dedicated, qualities that are becoming more rare in today's workforce.
· Excellence in all we do. Whatever you do, do it well. Your work ethic brings credibility to you, your organization and the Air Force. It's not enough to just do your job and clock out at 4:30 p.m. each day. Excellence requires hard work, study, devotion and a broadening of skills and understanding. Your name is stamped on the work you do each day and the effort that you put forward. Do you expect that of others around you as well? I hope so, because in today's smaller Air Force, we need everyone performing at their peak performance.
I urge the units to use this valuable time wisely. The Master Resilience Trainers and facilitators have worked hard to bring you a worthwhile outline of activities. It's not very often that we can set aside our daily tasks like this, but in doing so, I believe we'll come out stronger and better for it. I'll be very interested to hear from you how your training went, what you've discovered and to see all the ways in which you served others. Thanks again to our many tenant partners for being patient with us as we focus on these many important items and chart a way forward through 2013. |
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