At the Air Force Academy, you learn the leadership skills you'll need to be succesful in the worlds finest Air Force in four steps.
First, during your Fourth Class Cadet year (freshmen year), you learn followership and personal management. Basically, you observe the upperclassmen and identify leadership styles you like and you learn to follow them regardless of their style. At the same time, you lead yourself. That may sound weird, but you learn how to manage your time and be the best cadet you can be. Some do better than others at this. If you yourself do not strive for excellence, how can you expect your people to strive for excellence.
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Second, during your Third Class Cadet year (sophomore year), you learn interpersonal leadership. Interpersonal leadership is leading those immediately around you like your friends, direct subordinates, classmates, etc. This teaches you how to interact in one on one leadership roles and this is where peer and subordinate leadership comes in to play.
Subordinate leadership is the art of guiding those below you to be successful while still allowing them to make mistakes and learn from the mistakes. In the military, a rank structure exists with a division between the enlisted and officers. However, in many cases, enlisted members of the military have as much, if not more, education than their officer counterpart in charge of leading them. In that case, a leader doesn't necessarily have more experience or knowledge, so the leader has to learn to lead humbly and to accept input from those with more experience, regardless of position. A humble leader is a successful leader.
Peer leadership, the far more difficult skill of the two, relates to holding those at the same level as you accountable, pushing them to perform at their best. The most difficult part to peer leadership is giving orders to your equals without coming off as rude or bossy. No one like being told what to do, especially by someone of equal rank or position. The best way to go about leading our peers is explanation of your plan. Explain what you want to accomplish and how your plan will accomplish that, then welcome input and revise your plan to best achieve your goal.
Third, during your Second Class Cadet year (you get the idea), you learn team leadership. Team leadership is management of a small group and the direction of the group to achieve a goal. If you have ever been a sports team captain or a group project leader, you know what this is. The key to success here is the understanding that your success is dependent on the success of the team. Never put yourself before the team our you will lose their respect. At the same time, hold your team members accountable and expect the highest level of performance from anyone. Discourage selfishness and personal agendas and treat everyone equally, evaluated on performance.
Fourth, and finally, during your First Class Cadet year, you learn organizational leadership: leading multiple teams and a large number of people to success. This is a difficult job but it is made possible through a slow building of responsibility and leadership training. As an organizational leader, the mission should come first. You should definitely look out for your people, but allow the team leaders under you to take care of that while you focus on getting the job done. You must trust your people. The role you take as a leader effects everyone around you.
Hopefully, this helps you in your career and in life. I am by no means the expert on this subject but I think sharing what I know might help you out some day. Share this article with your friends or anyone you think might find it helpful, you could change someones life!
