A Veteran's Takeaway on Leadership

Articles about leadership lessons from the military are limitless. As you might know, I an Air Force veteran. These are three of the lessons I learned.

Take care of your people, truly.

People will follow people who are real. They know if their leader is a leader or is simply good at managing up. A leader listens and does what is needed so that their people can do their jobs.

I am the daughter of an enlisted man. When I received my commission, he was the first to salute me and I could feel the pride oozing out of him. But he also advised me, “the enlisted will always know more than you, make sure you listen to them.”

“Flexibility is the key to airpower.” -Italian airpower strategist, Gen. Giulio Douhet

Many people in the Air Force know this phrase but really, flexibility is the key to leadership. You have to be able to adapt as new challenges and opportunities arise. Particularly in small business, new tools become available all the time. And small challenges can have a big impact.

For instance, at Freedom Makers, we have a core team of four people. Two, for outside reasons, ended up leaving at the same time. That could have had a major impact on operations and on our culture. But we were able to adapt and be flexible with the changes of bringing on new personalities and workstyles.

Mission first

When everyone stays focused on the mission, petty differences, politics, and distracting initiatives fall by the wayside. At my second duty station, I was at a training wing. I remember someone saying our combat operations were the tip of the spear and then joked that we were the shaft. Even though it was a joke, it makes sense. As a training wing, we knew our mission was to prepare Airmen to become the tip of the spear. As a Public Affairs officer, I knew my mission was to help Americans, and the world,  understand what we were doing. 

In order to put the mission first, your people must know what the mission is and what their role is in accomplishing that mission. Your job as a leader is to make sure they know these two things clearly. When people know their role in the mission, they have the flexibility to respond to challenges and know you are there for them.