It’s all about the people Published March 30, 2012 By Lt. Col. Brian Farrell 94th Logistics Readiness Squadron DOBBINS AIR RESERVE BASE, Ga. -- Without our Airmen, there is no mission! It's the role of our leadership (the supervisors, superintendents, non-commissioned officers-in-charge, officers-in-charge, chief master sergeants, first sergeants and ultimately, our commanders) to ensure our members are physically and mentally fit. Our members must be trained, disciplined, clear on expectations and of particular concern recently, resilient. Easy-peesy-lemon-squeezy right? Not so much. This is a tough proposition to any organization, especially Reserve units. As Reserve leaders, we have minimal contact with our members. When we have the opportunity to spend time with them, the time is often spread thin with various training requirements during our Unit Training Assemblies. One of the best tools to be successful in the role of leadership is effective use of the squadron triad commander, first sergeant, and senior Air Reserve Technician. I have been blessed with a great triad. The triad allows for good oversight throughout an organization. The first sergeant or "shirt" as many like to call them, spends time with the Airmen, assessing their morale and quality of life, not only during the UTA, but throughout the month. The senior ART keeps day to day operations afloat. The key to this working well is for these individuals to be unafraid to speak the truth. Commanders need to encourage, and be willing to hear both the good and the bad from this team. The member must provide feedback though, to ensure continuous improvement. If it's uncomfortable to approach your commander, individuals should communicate to the shirt or supervisor and ensure their concern is channeled up the chain-of-command. Another good tool for leadership to assess how things are going in the organization and with their Airmen is through a Climate Survey conducted by the base Equal Opportunity office. The 94th Logistics Readiness Squadron recently completed a survey and while I was certain that I would be exalted as a commander surpassed by only the likes of King Leonidas of Sparta, Alexander the Great and our own 94th Airlift Wing commander, Col. Tim Tarchick, I experienced a reality check. From the survey, I learned that communication was an issue in our unit. Our "people" were telling leadership they felt they weren't getting enough information and detail from the top. This tool provided great feedback and we are addressing those issues and working on ways to improve our internal communication. In closing, if your organization hasn't participated in a Climate Survey in a while, encourage your leadership to request one. At the same time, it requires the members to provide honest feedback to be effective. Remember, it's all about the people.
