On Leaders in Logistics
We all know the logistics environment is changing. Aging fleets and maintainers with less experience than a generation ago are just a couple of the risings threats the leaders in logistics face in today's squadrons. But, one of the biggest challenges we face is not external -- it's internal. It's our legacy leadership principles. Just as our fleets age and require block updates, a reexamination of our leadership principles due to the changing environment is long overdue.
I will offer the current environmental context demands we include a few updates to some of our time-honored leadership principles. I'm certainly not implying that we should abandon legacy principles. On the contrary, it is my goal to offer you previously overlooked - even ridiculed - principles that will boost your leadership acumen and enable us to serve our organizations and, more importantly, our Airmen more effectively.
The Current Leadership Environment
Although not as exciting as the most recent Sustainment Strategic Framework or F-35 update, effective field-level leadership is critical to attaining strategic-level goals. Lieutenant General Berry at the 2022 Logistics Officer Symposium pointed out 54% of maintenance career fields have less than 6 years of maintenance experience. Furthermore, he reminded us 44% of the aircraft fleet is beyond its expected service life. These two factors put intense pressure on squadrons to produce -- with less experience and old jets. Lieutenant General Berry admits in his white paper, “An inexperienced, undermanned and, as a result, overtasked maintenance workforce in our operational units contributes to, exacerbates, and compounds the risk to AF readiness.” The same legacy leadership principles are not going to help with less experience and old jets. We've got to be different. As a logistics community, we must accept tomorrow's problems will demand the application of new leadership skills. Skills that aren't necessarily brand-new, but haven't been frequently applied in the military writ large.
At this point, it isn't practical or possible to discuss every principle; nor, can I insist applying them will instantly improve our metrics or Airmen's lives. That would be delusional! We all know that logistics is more complex than that. Instead, let me suggest a couple of principles I, along with others, have been applying to our organizations to help create a high-performance culture that can overcome the various obstacles our community will face in the very near future.
The Principle of the Infinite Game
While Simon Sinek wasn't the creator of the Infinite Game principle, he certainly was one who reminded us about it in recent years. In his book with the same name, Simon reminds us there are two types of games in the world: finite and infinite. Finite games have known players, known rules, and end with a winner and loser. Sounds like our traditional view on things like board games, sports, and...war. Infinite games on the other hand have both known and unknown players, known and unknown rules, and never end. Players are involved to one end only -- stay in the game. Think geopolitics or marriage! Although many have tried, you don't ever win the world...right?
We know we certainly can't "win" logistics. Just like geopolitics, life, and logistics, we need to start thinking about keeping our organizations and our Airmen in the infinite game for as long as possible. As logisticians, we tend to look at each challenge from a win-lose lens. We have to beat the timeline, overcome the obstacles, and win the day. But, to what end? Will our organizations and Airmen be ready tomorrow after we won today? Will we be ready to provide persistent mission generation across vast distances day after day? Will our Airmen stay in long enough for a fulfilling career to leave the military better people than when they joined?
We have to update our approach. The logistics world is filled with known and unknown players, known and unknown rules, and never ends. It is the quintessential infinite game. Simon Sinek offers five rules to expand our infinite mindset: 1. Exist for a Just Cause 2. Build Trusting Teams 3. Find Worthy Rivals 4. Be Existentially Flexible 5. Lead with an Infinite Mindset. A glance at these five rules can see that they're applicable to the logistics community. Imagine what a deeper study could reveal. If you're interested in a more in-depth explanation, check out this link: https://youtu.be/3vX2iVIJMFQ.
The Principle of Psychological Safety
We have to admit that the logistics environment is full of uncertainty and interdependence. We deal with it on a daily basis. Because we operate in an uncertain and interdependent community, we need to cultivate the principle of psychological safety in our organizations and in our Airmen. Psychological safety, as told by the accomplished Dr. Amy Edmondson, means we feel comfortable taking risks and admitting failure in the workplace. It is the culture we need if we want our organizations and Airmen to be innovative, adaptive, and willing participants in making things better. Too often do our organizations and leaders propagate cultures that make it difficult or nearly impossible to speak up against the status quo. I know it's not something we would consciously do, but we need to admit it happens. Furthermore, psychological safety doesn't happen unless you purposefully cultivate it. I understand it might seem like a soft approach, but right now it is exactly what we need to start building strong teams in logistics.
Amy has a survey to assess the level of psychological safety in an organization, and it's completely open to assessing the current environment in our organizations. Additionally, she shares three things we can do in any organization to improve the level of psychological safety: 1. Frame the Work as a Learning Problem Needing Everyone's Participation 2. Acknowledge your Own Fallibility 3. Ask a Lot of Questions.
Psychological safety means allowing our leaders in logistics the freedom to make mistakes, learn from those mistakes, and then become better leaders as a result of said learning experiences. The same concept should apply to developing our future leaders in logistics: give them an environment where they can try new things without fear of negative consequences and then provide ongoing feedback and mentorship throughout that process. We can frame this environment very easily with a door analogy. Each decision needing to be made is a door. If we make a decision to walk through a door, can we come back? If we can, then the door is a two-way decision point and we should push those decisions to the lowest level appropriate. However, if we walk through a door and cannot come back, the door is one-way and we should reserve those decisions for the appropriate authority. Think of how empowered and freed our Airmen would feel if we pushed these doors down to them! We need only to admit most of the doors in our organization are, in fact, two-way doors.
Amy has several discussions in several spaces that talk about her discovery of psychological safety. I've enjoyed watching this one: https://youtu.be/LhoLuui9gX8.
The Principle of Vulnerability
Vulnerability is something we rarely hear about in the military leadership arena. We usually use the term to describe ways adversaries may take advantage of our lines of communication. However, if we want to create more empathetic and connected leaders in logistics, we need to begin the discussion sooner rather than later. Renowned author and researcher-story teller Brene Brown has found a way to bring vulnerability to the forefront of cultural awareness. She's done it beautifully in books like Daring to Lead and this Ted Talk: https://youtu.be/iCvmsMzlF7o. I'd recommend them to start your journey into vulnerability.
As leaders, we have a responsibility to connect Airmen to several things: the mission, the base, the unit, and each other. But, what Brene found in her research is that in order to be connected to those things we and our Airmen need to be vulnerable. And, you can't overcome vulnerability without talking about shame. Shame is something we all feel but rarely talk about. Have you ever asked yourself are you good or worthy enough? Are you good enough to hold this position? Are you good enough to be in this organization? Are you good enough to be considered a maintainer or logistician? That's shame creeping into our minds! Brene Brown points out we tend to numb these feelings with various coping mechanisms -- alcohol, medication, shopping, food. But, the thoughts are always there.
The fact is we can't connect without admitting shame and vulnerability are part of our everyday lives. We all experience it! It is part of the human condition. And, it will keep us from connecting our Airmen to anything if we don't get shame and vulnerability into our lexicon. Brene boldly points out vulnerability is not synonymous with weakness. Rather, it is the birthplace of joy, connectedness, creativity, and empathy. She, and I, encourage us to embrace vulnerability and show gratitude to connect our Airmen to the mission, the base, the unit, and each other. How unstoppable would we be in the logistic field if we had that sort of connectedness!
Employing the Principles
With the oldest fleets since the inception of the Air Force being maintained by a less experienced enlisted force, we stand at a diverging road. We can choose to adopt a legacy mindset, continue with the old-school methods, and lead from the past. Or, we can choose a different road.
We can choose to admit that the same principles that got us here are not going to help us solve our current problems. Leaders in today's logistics environment need to embrace new perspectives like that of an infinite game. We can recognize people have a natural tendency against risk-taking because psychological safety is low in our organizations. We can admit a lack of vulnerability in our leaders causes us to be less connected with our Airmen and organizations. We can seek out those in the leadership thought space today like Simon Sinek, Amy Edmondson, and Brene Brown. Writers and thinkers whose ideas must have a place in the military leadership space. Leaders in logistics need to continue to make a difference in our organizations and Airmen by applying the new principles these great authors put forth. Don't we deserve an update or two to our leadership approach every once in a while? Or should we keep that legacy mindset?