Tennessee State Strategy Meeting
Leadership Moment (reprint from Volunteer Voice 25th Edition) https://conventionofstates.com/news/volunteer-voice-25th-edition
– as presented at the 2022 Tennessee State Strategy Meeting
By Thomas J Riordan, Jr. Major, US Marines Retired, COS DC
20-year Marine, nine enlisted, 11 years officer. Marine of the quarter multiple times, meritoriously promoted to Lance Corporal, Corporal, Sergeant, and Staff Sergeant. Marine Corps MECEP Scholarship at the University of Illinois received a Bachelor of Science in Mathematics. NROTC Battalion Commander and distinguished military graduate. KC-130 Pilot worldwide missions, all-weather multi-crew tactical missions. Air Officer and H&HS Company Commander, Marine Barracks Guantanamo Bay Cuba, T-34 Primary Instructor Whiting Field, FL. T-34 Standardization and check pilot. CNATRA T-34 Chief Instrument Flight Instructor. Financial advisor. US Government pilot, Afghanistan. Corporate pilot. Business owner.
Today I will focus on leading the team and following the mission. The COS’s mission is to build the largest Grassroots Organization in the United States. Each leader has defined tasks to accomplish their part. Leadership is the art and skill of convincing people to help you to complete the mission.
COS has adopted Servant Leadership as the leadership style they would like to employ in the organization. Servant Leadership is very similar to Leadership taught in the US military. The big difference is that the author added the influence of the bible and the life and message of Jesus Christ.
Servant leaders decide what is best for the whole group and the mission. Everyone who is a leader has the responsibility to be honest, factual, and mutually supportive of each other. One leader should not criticize another leader to their peers or volunteers. If they have a problem with a leader, they must address that leader confidentially. Maybe, they don’t have all the facts or know all the responsibilities of the leader they criticize. After they talk to the leader and find that they still do not agree, they should do their stated mission for their role and not criticize.
What happens to a unit or organization when leaders and members criticize their leaders. It sows the seeds of discord that destroys unit cohesiveness, Esprit de corps, and confidence of those in charge. As a result, such a unit cannot defeat an enemy nor survive attacks from the enemy. Nor accomplish its mission.
Definition of esprit de corps: the common spirit existing in the members of a group and inspiring enthusiasm, devotion, and strong regard for the honor of the group.
Example: Toward the end of my Marine Corps career, I was the operations officer for a Navy Primary Training Squadron in Pensacola, Florida. I was the senior Marine in the unit and one of the most experienced instructor pilots. Every Hurricane season, we are usually hit by a monster storm. Our hangers are designed to handle hurricane winds. However, even though they pack the planes together, usually a dozen or so planes must be flown to an airport out of the hurricane impact zone. The junior Marine pilots were grumbling that the Navy leadership always waits until the last minute to decide. If they wait until the last minute, they will not fly. This will result in damaged aircraft, lost sorties, more extended flight training, and grumbling shared with other instructor pilots and students that the Navy Brass doesn’t know what it is doing. They came to me in protest. I asked the Skipper, an affectionate and accepted term for a Naval Unit Commander, to ask the Commadore to make the decision early. The Commodore was the Admiral in charge of the whole Flight Training Fleet.
Unfortunately, the Commodore decided at the last possible moment. My Skipper asked me to select four pilots to take four airplanes north. I said: ”aye aye, sir, I will be one of those pilots.” When I asked for volunteers, seeing that I was taking a plane too, I had more than I needed. We moved 13 airplanes to Knoxville to wait out the storm between the three squadrons on the airfield. The tentacles of the Hurricane were already upon us. But the winds and icing forecast were not beyond the aircraft’s capabilities. I was one of the first to take off and reported the conditions to the pilots coming behind me. While it was a wild ride, none of the flyers experienced any serious problems, and all had a great story to tell their kids.
Many instructors had doubts about what they and the aircraft could do. However, the Commodore knew the capabilities of the plane and pilots. And the pilots who went learned what they and the aircraft could handle in adverse weather.