Leadership Milestones

Leadership Milestones — Valuing Experience, Fostering Growth, Facing Challenges

Continued Development

Continued Development Required

Life in the military incorporates a perpetual requirement for continued development.

Master Student + Master Teacher

Master Student + Teacher

Effective leaders must accept the responsibility of being both:

A master student
A master teacher

…by embracing the role of both follower and leader.

High Standards

Setting high, attainable standards provides opportunities for:

Continual growth
Guidance
Feedback

Goal + Inspiration = Future Leaders

Goal + Inspiration

Giving Airmen a goal and inspiration for developing and performing to their best ability is a leader's direct line to developing leaders of tomorrow.

Successful Corporations

Corporate Leadership Development

In business, successful corporations actively seek out people with leadership potential and expose them to career experiences designed to develop their skills.

Maturity + Experience + Potential

Maturity Experience Potential

They also value a combination of maturity, experience, and untapped potential as a valuable asset to any organization.

Valuing Experience

Leaders foster professional growth by insisting their Airmen focus attention on:

- The aspects of a situation, mission, or project they control

Setting the Stage

Setting the stage for:

Challenging experiences
Enlightening experiences
Adventurous experiences

Allow Airmen to Grow

As leaders progress and develop themselves, it is just as important to allow Airmen to do the same while growing a sense of confidence in their skills and abilities.

Fostering Growth

Fostering Growth Role

The role of the leader in fostering growth is to identify:

Knowledge opportunities
Improvement opportunities

Permanent and Pervasive

Permanent + Pervasive

This will ensure advancements are permanent and pervasive, NOT temporary or limited.

Recognize Successes

Recognize Successes Publicly

Leaders encourage the learning process by formally and publicly recognizing:

Individual successes
Unit successes

…no matter how large or small.

Facing Challenges

Developing Airmen for leadership positions requires consistent exposure to challenges, with gradual increases in responsibility over time.

Identify Early

Identifying people with leadership potential early in their careers and then determining the appropriate developmental challenges for them is the first step.

Recognize Capabilities

Leaders must recognize the capabilities of each Airman in their unit or organization, including any:

Skills
Talents
Experiences the Airman may have that can contribute to current and future mission accomplishment

Leadership Milestones — Professional, Personal, Setbacks, Change

Professional Development

Professional Development Diagnosis

Leaders must also diagnose the developmental needs of Airmen, then assist them with developmental needs that fulfill current or future jobs or roles and responsibilities.

Professional Development Categories

Pro Development Categories

Professional development needs may include:

Off-duty education
Professional military education
Specific skills training
Professional development seminars
Communication skills development

Personal Development

Personal Development Categories

Personal developmental needs may include:

Relationships
Interpersonal skills
Off-duty education

Effective Leaders' Background

Effective Leaders Background

Today's effective leaders had opportunities early in their careers that required them to:

Lead
Take risks
Learn from their successes and failures

Dealing with Setbacks

To learn and improve, people need to be encouraged to try new things.

Counting on Strong Leaders

Count on Strong Leaders

Airmen count on the experience and understanding of strong leaders in dealing with setbacks.

Dedication = Asset

An Airman's dedication to improving his or her abilities is a valuable asset to an organization.

Optimism in Adversity

Followers must remain optimistic, even in times of adversity.

Dealing with Change

Leaders must learn as much as possible about a change and its potential direct and indirect effects before dealing with the change process.

Emotions of Change

Furthermore, they must learn how to deal with emotions often associated with change.

People Must Be Motivated

People Motivation

The people supporting these processes must be motivated to:

Meet the challenge
Support the change that is being implemented

Clear Understanding

To achieve that, leaders must maintain:

A clear understanding of the present
A clear focus on the future