What do YOU think?

“What do YOU think?” Asked sincerely, with the right motive behind it, this is one of the most powerful questions a leader asks. Think about the importance of being valued and valuable, two things that are critical for your followers to feel. Asking the question, “What do YOU think?” implies that you value the person’s opinion, hence, you value the person.

If you’re in a leadership position and don’t ask that question, your chances of failing are huge. Who know what’s going on in the organization? The leader? Sure…! THE FOLLOWERS! The workers who are on the floor, in the mud, know a lot more than you do! It might behoove you to seek their opinion once in a while, or, better yet, as often as you can.

 

I was with the United States Air Forces in Europe Band at Ramstein Air Base Germany. We were scheduled to host and perform at a tattoo that would be attended by the most senior dignitaries of each NATO country. A tattoo is an outdoor evening event where marching units showcase their talents. Every NATO country was planning to have their premier marching unit perform. It was scheduled for September, around the Air Force’s birthday. September is usually a wet month in Germany. This September was looking to be no different. We did an incredible amount of work preparing for the event. We had to coordinate with every NATO country’s representatives as to how we would do what, when, and where. We were a week out and sitting in a meeting chaired by the Vice Commander of USAFE, Lieutenant General Begert, when we received a report that there was a 100% chance of rain the day of the event.  Oh, CRAP! Failure was not an option! We’d have to do it inside, was the consensus. That made sense. However, comma (BTW nothing positive ever follows “however, comma” in the military. I mean, we don’t say “however, comma, you just got promoted.” It’s more like “however, comma, the First Sergeant wants to see you and it ain’t good!”), the Operations Group Commander reports that the only hangar big enough to do the show in will not be available on said date. There’s a cargo airplane in it in pieces, being fixed. Oh, CRAP! Now what? After a lot of weeping and gnashing of teeth and blaming everyone else, the general tells us to go to lunch and return in an hour to continue deliberating.

 

I had nothing else to do so I went over to the hangar. As I walked in, all I saw was a huge wooden crate sitting in the middle of the floor. No plane. The Master Sergeant in charge of the hangar greeted me and asked me if he could help me. I told him what was going on and the dilemma we, the entire command, was in. “What do YOU think?” I asked him. “Correct me if I’ve missed anything, Chief, but you really need this hangar empty and at your disposal as soon as possible so that you can host this tattoo you just described, am I correct?” “Exactly!” I replied. “Well, (expletive)!” he said, “I can have this whole place empty for you by this afternoon!” I went back to the meeting and reported to the general what I’d found out. He, as the rest of the team, was elated! We did the show, and it went perfectly! We done good, as we used to say.

 

People support what they create. No involvement, no commitment. If you aspire to be a good, or even great, leader, you have to include your followers in your decisions as much and as often as you can. You’re still accountable for the final decision, but when you ask your teammates for their opinion the final decision will be partly theirs. That’s the essence of teamwork. Working together toward a common unified goal.

 

I’m pretty confident that what I’ve just shared with you is true. What do YOU think?!

 

Until next time, 

 

Be GREAT! You ARE!

 

¡HEIRPOWER!

 

 

Humility and Respect

 I was honored to meet one of the most humble people I’ve ever met, President Ronald Reagan.

I served in several Air Force bands (most, unfortunately, don’t exist anymore). While serving with the Air Force Band of the Golden West, stationed at March Air Force Base in California, we had many opportunities to play for President Reagan at various high-level events. Evidently, he liked us because after he retired to the Los Angeles area, he invited us to go visit him so that he could thank us for what we’d done for him while he was in office. Now, think on that a little bit—a former President of the United States summoning members of an Air Force band to his office to thank them! Talk about showing us respect!

 

We took advantage of the invitation and went to his office one bright, sunny day. (It’s always bright and sunny in California.) What an exciting time! The President invested more than an hour with us, joking around and telling stories. What a great story- teller! He inspired me to become one as well, as you’re noticing. We all had our pictures taken with him. (I have mine proudly displayed in my office if you’d like to come by and see it.) Apparently, his next appointment was some golf tournament. He was dressed casually since he had to go to the course right after talking with us. I was the second-to-last person to be photographed with him. My commander was last. I’d trained him. As we finished taking the photos, one of the President’s aides came in and admonished him that he needed to hurry to get to his next commitment. The President acknowledged the remark but finished the photos. He could have apologized and rushed off with his aide, but he respected us too much for that. He stayed with us until we were all done.

 

I had brought my copy of An American Life, the President’s autobiography, to be autographed. We hadn’t had time for that, however, so as we were being led out of his office, I asked another aide at a desk near the door if she would please ask the President to autograph my book and I would gladly leave enough money with her to cover the postage to mail it to me. Although the President was being escorted out another door, he stopped, having overheard my conversation. He told the aide with him to get my book, signed it, had his aide return it to me, and then went on his way. Did he have to do that? Of course, not. But he did! He cared enough, he respected ME, a kid who came out of a small New Mexico barrio, to stop and sign my book. He even remembered my name and, most importantly, my rank. He signed it

 

To Chief Bob Vásquez—With Best Wishes, 

Ronald Reagan

May 17 ’93

 

Many people loved President Reagan. Even more respected him. Surely, history will remember what he did for our country, but the people he touched will always remember him for how he treated them. He was an incredibly respectful and humble man. I would have gone to war with him any time, any place. God bless you, Mr. President!

 

Until next time, 

Be GREAT! You ARE!

                                               

¡HEIRPOWER!

To or For

My friend, Chief Master Sergeant (deceased) Gene Gardner, once told me, “We, as leaders, can do only one of two things...we can do something TO our people, or we can do something FOR our people.” 

Now, I’m not very good at math, but I’m pretty sure that FOR is twice as much as TO! Yeah, a little play with words there.

Doing something TO your people is adversarial and produces little, if any, power. It may, if anything, create negative power. When you do something to someone, you’re imposing your own personal values on them, which may, or may not, be theirs. If they’re not, you’re in trouble, assuming you intend to lead them. They won’t follow. If they do, it won’t be for long.

Doing something FOR your people can empower them to be their best selves and empower YOU more than you can imagine. To do more FOR your followers you’ll need to get to know their values and their purpose, among other parts of their lives.

The best way to do something FOR people is to do it WITH them. At least at the beginning. You may have studied Dr Ken Blanchard’s Situational Leadership II model. If your followers need help, then, help them. When they're good enough to be on their own, then free them. As you do FOR them by doing WITH them, you’ll know when they’re read to be on their own. That’s freedom. And that’s what we all want. Good leaders give their followers the freedom to be themselves.

The end result of this process is having done something IN them. Noel M. Tichy says that, “The ultimate test for a leader is not whether he or she makes smart decisions and takes decisive action, but whether he or she teaches others to be leaders and builds an organization that can sustain its success even when he or she is not around.” When your followers have it in them to do what’s right, you won’t have to worry about doing anything to them. You’ve become an Effective Leader! A PowerPact Leader!

Do FOR your followers by doing WITH them. As you do WITH them, they’ll empower themselves to do IN them. Helping them develop the capacity to act effectively creates HEIRPOWER! I guarantee you, it’ll all add up! 

Until next time, 

Be GREAT! You ARE!

 

¡HEIRPOWER!

The freedom to choose

I was honored to learn many things from the late Dr Stephen Covey. One lesson that comes to mind is, “The truly free are the disciplined.”

My protégé, Vince Anderson, just posted a thought on his FaceBook page that says, “You will never always be motivated, so you must learn to be disciplined.”

If you’ve ever read Dr Covey’s book, The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, you’ll remember that the first habit is Be Proactive. Most people think of proactivity as doing something sooner than later. The essence of that habit, however, is choice, which can create freedom. Dr Covey always referred to Be Proactive as the habit of choice. 

Life is about choices. The life you create is the sum of your choices. And as Vince’s post says, there will be days when you’re just not motivated. Then, you have to fall back on your discipline. There’s deep power in discipline. If you read my PowerPact Leadership Lesson titled Daily Discipline, you may remember that the word, discipline, comes from the word disciple. A disciple is someone who believes in something or someone. We’re free to choose what that something, or who that someone, is. You’ve been around long enough to know that if you choose something consistently, continuously, it becomes a habit. Effectiveness grows when you choose the right things…continuously…habitually.

For instance, I don’t drink! I developed that discipline about forty years ago, for various reasons. There’s so much freedom in not having to worry about whether I drive under the influence. I don’t need it! I can get crazy without it. Some of you who know me or have worked with me know that I can get pretty crazy on my own. 

I always stand for people who come into my cubicle. It’s a discipline I developed years ago. Now, there’s a bit of grunting and it takes me longer every year, but I still do it! It frees me up to be respectful of what that person has to say.

The freedom in being disciplined is that it empowers me to do other, more worthwhile things. I don’t do that, so that I can do something that will make me more effective. I do that, so that it frees my mind to think more creatively.

Be Proactive is the Habit of Choice. We have the freedom to choose. Choose to do the right things. 

Until next time, Be GREAT! You ARE!

¡HEIRPOWER!