How Do You Know?

 

I served (indirectly) under General Robert Rutherford while he was the Commander of Air Mobility Command. He was a no-nonsense kinda guy. Although I’m told by folks who worked for him directly that he wasn’t as physically large as I remember, I don’t know anyone who ever saw him smile. Not that he was mean or anything of the sort. He was just a very serious man.

He used to go around his bases, checking on his people and his wings’ operations. He’d get to Base X and as he was being shown around would ask people, “How are things going?” Imagine that. A four-star commander asking how things are going. How do you answer that? “Great, General!” Regardless of the truth, you’d answer in that way. 

His follow-up question would hit people between the eyes. “How do you know?” Duh…crickets…bumfoozled looks…. 

I’ve grown to value that question, “How do you know?” Call it measurement, assessment, or whatever term you want to use, but if you don’t have some way of analyzing how you’re doing, you won’t get any better, assuming you want to improve.

Stephen Covey taught me that “as long as you keep doing what you're doing, you’ll keep getting what you’re getting.” If that’s good for you, more power to you. But if you intend to get better, it pays to know where you’re at to begin with.

Be GREAT! You ARE!

                                HEIRPOWER!

bob vásquez