ANDREWS AIR FORCE BASE, Md., - The Air Force's top uniformed officer shared his insight and experiences with some of the Air Guard's newest squadron and installation commanders here April 14.
Gen. Norton A. Schwartz, chief of staff of the U.S. Air Force, spent more than an hour talking to dozens of colonels here at the Air National Guard Readiness Center about leadership. The colonels were attending a National Guard Bureau commanders' course.
"You are a network, you are a family of leaders of your respective organizations, but in the larger sense, you are Guard units," the general said, noting it is important for them to network within the reserve component. "None of us are Lone Rangers, no matter how senior you might be," he said.
General Schwartz said that a basic, but key factor to effective leadership is in being recognized as an authority in a field.
"I can tell you from personal experience - and this is particularly true when you reach outside the Air Force - that your credibility is vital to your ability to lead and interact with others," he said. "So please remember that your reputation matters in this regard."
The judgments and hard choices senior leaders make daily, along with situation awareness, are also key factors in effective command, General Schwartz said.
"Perhaps as you get more senior, these things become more instinctive," he said. "But whatever your method, however your antenna goes up…picking up these insights and signals about what is happening, what is going to happen, is very, very important."
General Schwartz said active duty, Guard and Reserve senior leaders must work together to face a shared challenge in the restructuring and relevancy of the Total Air Force.
He used the uniqueness of the Guard's state and federal role as an example where teamwork is mandated, saying he must work with, not dictate to, the states' adjutants general.
"Collectively, we need to do this together," he said. "Teaming is a much better approach to meeting difficult problems."