Care
Are you like most Airmen? Do you try to avoid your First Sergeant like the plague? First Sergeants are viewed as the disciplinarians of the Squadron and sometimes given a bad repute. After serving the last four years as a United States Air Force First Sergeant, many lessons were learned, and different viewpoints were gained. Humility, servant leadership attitude, fostering teamwork and above all, learning how to care were old attributes, but took on different meanings. Caring served as one of the foundations of my leadership and significantly impacted not only my loved ones, but the members within my respective organizations.
To care was to simply have concern, interest, or attach oneself to the importance of whatever “it” was. It sounded simple, until you determined what you defined as ‘important”. For many of us, areas in our lives which classify as important or within our bandwidth to care, can be easily balanced and tended to. But how do you learn to care when issues do not fall within your scope of concern? What would be the proper approach to applying care to unfamiliar areas of your life?
What we find is that is very easy to apply care to things that consistently cross our mind or the things that tug at your heart strings. Having many conversations with my members, there’s dialogue about the external impacts in their life. You hear about relationships, battles with a growing mindset, or assistance with locating that path to success. These are areas that we can easily relate to because in some way, form or fashion, we have experienced this in our lives. We cared enough to make sure that these areas were under control and gave sound advice to help the ones that are seeing the same framework.
The challenge in caring is when something is brought to your attention, but you struggle with finding relevance to it and applying care. This happens for many reasons. Age and experiences play huge factors in this. There are many things that a younger generation may find as an absolute crisis, but with our wisdom in living and how long we have been living, we have the ability to apply enough care to understand and defuse what can be classified as a crisis. Now the level of care you provided is highly valued. And do not think that for once that you will not be referenced to others for your advice and attentive ear!
The passion, energy, and drive that you put behind your care will surpass any amount of knowledge that you can provide. Just the mere ability to meet your subordinates on an equal level and relate to the challenge that they face, allows you not only to be viewed as an effective leader, but as a member of society that represents the very core of being a human being. The titles, positions, and subject matter expertise will only make you a great point of contact for the benefit of the organization. But your level of care brings you into a fold with your team that cannot be replaced. Your care in conjunction with your execution to the needs of your people allows them to reengage with the organization mission and vision at the highest level.
While many other leaders are telling you to lead, I am telling you to care. Show your team that you are there for more than the statistical numbers. Allow them to see that you are there for them when they show up for work and when they are not at work. Display the very essence of your human self by caring for your members thoughts, concerns, and other areas that have a significant impact on their lives even if you don’t see how it applies to you. It is not about you. It is about them. And whoever they are, they will not care about how much you know, until they know how much you care. Lead well!
Editor’s Note: Henry McRoberts is a senior enlisted leader in the United States Air Force. He currently serves as the First Sergeant of the 552nd Training Group at Tinker Air Force Base in Oklahoma.