Elements of Leadership Published March 22, 2011 By Col. Jim Jennings 21st Space Wing vice commander PETERSON AIR FORCE BASE, Colo. -- More than 22 years ago, I successfully finished my first of many formal Air Force initial training qualification courses. Upon arriving at the unit, I quickly understood I had only learned a small part of what was required for me to be a successful operator in a complex weapon system. I also realized I needed to start understanding and executing numerous skills to be an effective leader. I studied hard. I did not want to fail the team. You see, my biggest fear was taking a simulator ride, sitting in a classroom, attending a meeting or worse, being in the field accomplishing the job and not knowing what to do. Call it an unnecessary fear of failure complex, but I knew people - from the members in the unit to the folks back home - were counting on me to get the job done. As I progressed in the job, I realized I did not have to know everything by heart, only certain critical items. For many tasks, I just needed to know what regulation or where in the technical order to go to find the answer. Learning how to be a leader was totally opposite. There were no "Cliff Notes." You learned by trial and error. If you were lucky, you had a mentor that could guide you. When I wrote this article, there were 66,265 books about leadership. There were 633,218 books about management. That equals almost three quarters of a million opinions. Here's one more opinion about teamwork, communication and perseverance. I was a member of a squadron where the joke was, "if it's worth doing, it's worth overdoing." While funny, it became an unofficial vision statement. Failure or partial completion of products or a task was not an option. Every task was executed to exceed expectations. Everyone in the unit realized in order to meet the unofficial vision, we could not do the entire task alone; it took a team. Mia Hamm stated, "I am a member of a team and I rely on the team, I defer to it and sacrifice for it; because, the team, not the individual, is the ultimate champion." That statement was not made until many years after I left the squadron. But, each member did exactly what Ms. Hamm stated and that made us a very successful unit in every endeavor we set out on. There are three stark realties about communication; what was said, what was heard, and what the person really meant. This is especially pertinent as you rise in rank. As you provide direction, ensure that you clearly articulate what you expect to be accomplished. There are a multitude of examples of where a comment is made and action is taken and when the individual is told the action is complete they state that's not what they meant. A few years ago, a General officer was visiting a base and made a comment about the amount of leaves around the base. That night, a group of Airmen was out raking and disposing of the fallen leaves. If you knew the General, his comment was not a negative observation nor was it direction for action. In fact, he would have been upset at the waste of the Airmen's time. This scene repeats itself every day and occurs throughout all ranks and in every work section. While good order and discipline are critical, if you receive direction that does not pass common sense, ask for clarification. Numerous times the answer will be, no, what I really meant was this. In today's environment of scarce resources, we can ill afford accomplishing tasks that waste time and money because of poorly communicated or misunderstood direction. Each day, everyone in the wing has to be ready to be a leader, mentor, role model, teacher, manager, disciplinarian and wingman. Some days will be easier than others. But, each day you have to give it your all no matter the task. Make no mistake, on some days your best just won't be good enough. As a leader, you will have to pick yourself up, dust yourself off and press ahead learning from the experience. Many times, I think about the previous day and wonder if I should have done things differently. I also realize I can't change the past. I have to learn from my mistakes. I see individuals across the wing working hard, making the mission happen. Your efforts directly make the wing vision of being "America's Space Superiority Wing--Globally Postured to Win" a reality. I sincerely thank each of you for your hard work and I'm proud to serve with you.