A520.7.3.RB Empowerment example

Empowerment is an idea that very few people have and even fewer military leaders can give up. the traditional definition of empowerment is "to give power", this definition is a rather crude definition of empowerment.  Modern definitions lend more toward enabling people to posses or delegate power (Jashinsky, 2008).  This process of allowing people to hold the power does not work well in an hierarchal society, power is usually earned in status and positions.  Empowerment requires trust, providing support, providing information, use of experiences, and meaningfulness (Wheeten & Cameron, 2016).

During my military experience, I have been immensely empowered to develop new mission systems, new squadrons and new command posts, several times.  I have been blessed to work for good leaders that saw my potential and my ability to lead to develop without interference.  Leaders have thought that I could control the power given and that I could invest the power in developmental strategies.  One of my most memorable empowerment examples was a selective-manned or special assignment to develop and new weapon system with a military research lab and operationalize it.  I was the first operator assigned to the project.  My senior leaders sent me a junior non-commissioned officer at the time, without an education or formal training to develop a weapon system or even a unit that can be sustained for generations.  They did though trust my skills for resolution and critical thinking ability.  My mission was to develop a tactics program, training program, mission support all within six months than deploy the system into combat.  

This task took an enormous support system from the senior leaders.  In order to accomplish this task, three main leadership points took place flexibility, guidance and freedom.  During this mission, I was given flexibility to accomplish the mission without outside distractions.  I was dedicated to this mission only, I was given the flexibility to manage my own career, my own performance and my own administrative methods.  My senior leader guided me along the way but never had to direct.  They did not try to control me or my team with authority but instead they provided sounding boards to bounce ideas off of.  They provided leadership when it mattered but otherwise let me be empowered to do what had to be done.  Finally, leaders gave me freedom.  They gave me freedom to discuss, develop, create and forge while backing my decisions up but not interfering.  

As I progress in my career, I intend to apply the same principles.  I have already started to apply these principles to my employees.  Giving them the flexibility to develop new ideas from the bottom up.  Allowing them to be creative under their own ownership.  I also guide and mentor, very rarely do I use direct or authoritative leadership.  I constantly let them know my door is open and I would rather ensure their success then my own.  Their performance is for them.  Finally, I provide them with the freedom to accomplish their mission.  I try not to get involved, or micro manage, this hopefully helps return the investment in their own power.    


References

Jashinsky, T. L. (2008). Empowerment. In F. T. Leong, Encyclopedia of counseling. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications. Retrieved from http://ezproxy.libproxy.db.erau.edu/login?url=http://search.credoreference.com/content/entry/sagecouns/empowerment/0?institutionId=951

 Whetten, D. A., & Cameron, K. S. (2016). Developing Management Skills (Ninth Edition). Harlow, UK: Pearson Education.

A520.6.3 Conflict Resolution

    Conflict management is larger then just wars between nations, it is as small as where is my cookie to a child, to as big as policy decisions that impact millions.  I see them all, I am challenged with them all throughout my day; but what role do I play in those conflicts?  While modern scholars admit that conflicts will and do happen in the workplace it is the response to the conflict that will determine the outcome of productivity (Katz & Flynn, 2013).  Have I seen conflict?  One could say after seven deployments and several years on the road I have seen my fair share of conflict.  I have seen conflict on a global scale between near-peer nations, I have seen conflict on the small scale; distress caused from poor supervision.  Conflict is everywhere and in every organization, it is how it is handle that makes the difference in productivity for all parties.  Everyday there are new conflicts sources in senior management wether it is personal differences or environmental stress (Wheeton & Cameron, 2016).  

   One of my most recent conflicts just happened two weeks ago.  I am in charge of 120 personnel and everyday there are little challenges and complexities.  I recently had a young non-commissioned officer approach me with a problem.  Her problem was that her supervisor was perceived to playing favorites to another junior non-commissioned officer.  Her general complaint said that she could not leave to pick up her young boy from the child care because he was sick, her supervisor said she could not leave.  In this case I had to play the mediator.  I had to mediate delicately between a known hostile supervisor and disgruntled good Airmen.  In this case, I allowed both to tell me their side.  I gave the junior member my Air Force answer and allowed her to see my support for her case, yet I did not interfere with supervisors internal leadership.  I believe that this is where I screwed up and knowing what I know now I should have negotiated evenly, it was not a collaborative win-win result.  I could have improved the solution by noticing the discussion was not fair and I protected the integrity of the senior by not getting involved at all levels.  

Conflict resolution is a difficult task to do so peacefully means that sometimes I have to play hard ball, sometimes I have to protect the institution while other times I am a major source.  I have grown in my studies of mediation and resolution noticing that sometimes I need to take 15 minutes, slow down and understand the pulse of the problem.  As I grow in my leadership and maturation in the Air Force I hope to improve on these skills as I transition.     

References

Katz, N. H., & Flynn, L. T. (2013). Understanding conflict management systems and strategies in the workplace: A pilot study. Conflict Resolution Quarterly, 30(4), 393-410. doi:10.1002/crq.21070

Whetten, D. A. & Cameron, K. S. (2016). Developing management skills, 9th ed. Boston, MA: Pearson.

A520.5.3 Why do I serve

Why do I serve in the Air Force?

   What is my purpose?  Why do I put on an uniform everyday?  Is for the love of the country or love of the Airman, is it make it till retirement or is it something else?  What motivates me to continue to do this work? Achieving satisfaction and therefore achieving high states of motivation has been a difficult process for me.  I have gone through cycles in my career where my motivation has been high and others when I did not understand why I was there.  I understand that I am not alone in this struggle.  Government workers tend to have different motives from the private sector (Taylor & Westover, 2011).  I think that this is especially true in the "white collar" portions of the military. My job for example is to control the space domain that is bounded by physics and will never result in a tangible experience.  I work in the Air Force Space Command side of the military, my job is to apply space superiority yet I will never go to space and only by rarity have actually see a satellite.  Achieving job satisfaction can often be difficult   Locke (1976), defined job satisfaction, as "a pleasurable emotional state, resulting from the appraisal of one's own job or experience", or as Spector (1997) writes, how we feel about our job and its aspects.  Throughout my military career I have waxed and waned with the tidal waters of motivation while serving in the Air Force.  So I am inevitably left with the question, why do I put my uniform on everyday?  I am in the Air Force because I want to be not because I have to be. Taking this advice, I am choosing freely to serve.  I am not serving because of draft or because of family motivation, but because I want to.

   I believe that in my current position, as a squadron superintendent, my motivates have two primary sources retirement and my personnel.  I do the things that I do for those two reasons.  It is no surprise to my friends and family that I am tired, my mind is deteriorating as I have been diagnosed with a variety of mental health issues and I need to retire.  I have two more years left until I can retire and I am exhausted.  However my dedication to the my personnel continues to be my reason.  In one day, I feel responsible to everyone from senior squadron leadership to the lowest ranks and try to motivate them to continue.  I am impressed by their ability to solve puzzles, to discover new horizons and view the world differently as I did in their shoes.  Take for example the candle problem described by Dan Pink (2009).  I ran this same experiment without a consultation prize or any award fee, at a working lunch this week.  In every case, the problem was solved within minutes, not because they wanted a prize but because they wanted to solve the problem.  This is my motivation, this is my legacy as I descend out of the military.  To be fair to the social experiment, during my tenure over the past few months, I have challenged attitudes and motivation for my folks, I have spent a great deal amount of time working on their reasons "why are you here."  This question was easy for some but others felt lost in the answer without knowing their purpose.  The reality is that those folks had poor motivation and poor productivity.  Challenging those folks, the 9-to-5 crowd, those folks lost what it means to put on the uniform.  This satisfaction getting folks to find their purpose to serve and that is why I have surfed the tidal waters of the last 17 years. 

References

• Locke, E. (1976) ‘The Nature and Causes of Job Satisfaction’ in M. Dunnette (ed.) Handbook of Industrial and Organizational Psychology, Chicago, IL: Rand McNally

• Spector, P. E. (1997). Job satisfaction: Application, assessment, cause, and consequences. Thousand Oaks, Calif;London;: SAGE.
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• Taylor, J., & Westover, J. H. (2011). Job satisfaction in the public service: The effects of public service motivation, workplace attributes and work relations. Public Management Review, 13(5), 731-751. doi:10.1080/14719037.2010.532959

TED (2009). The Puzzle of Motivation: Dan Pink. Retrieved from YouTube

A520.4.3.RB Application of problem solving through influential change.

“We are getting less than 40 hours of work from a large number of our K.C.-based EMPLOYEES. The parking lot is sparsely used at 8:00 A.M.; likewise at 5 P.M. As managers – you either do not know what your EMPLOYEES are doing, or you do not CARE. You have created expectations on the work effort that allowed this to happen inside Cerner, creating a very unhealthy environment. In either case, you have a problem and you will fix it or I will replace you. NEVER in my career have I allowed a team that worked for me to think they had a 40-hour job. I have allowed YOU to create a culture that is permitting this. NO LONGER.”

   This weeks blog focuses in on what it means to be both a change agent while trying to be supportive through a contentious policy challenge from senior manager.  We all have been there, especially in the military and in life, contentious emails sent from the leadership without consideration of underlying data.  The immediate response from myself is typically defensive, leading to disagreements publicly and a reduction in performance.  After reading the above excerpt from the senior manager, there are some key factors to consider; how to become a change agent and enforce the policy while contain the morale of the organization, in 30 days.  Leaders are fearful of change that is centralized around based on “Bureaucracy, Bosses and Policies (BBP),” this makes changes from this excerpt  extremely diffcult to manage and contain (de Caluwe & Vermaak, 2003).   

    A change agent is a role that all humans will have to become.  Change agent leadership "it is the capacity to move into the future while preserving the values and the mission (Baer and Bushway, 2015).”  As such, even changing of duty hours or enforcing standards can be defensive and confrontational for most. Using supportive communication from mid-level leadership to influence change in the organization from BBP is a method that can lead to ownership from the employees.  Laying out a 30 day strategy to adapt change from the bosses email above is important but I have to do so smartly to benefit the whole while enforcing policy.  The 8 attributes of supportive communication (Whetten & Cameron, 2016) could change behavior if done correctly and therefore help me in the problem solving.  

    My detailed plan to implant the idea of change in my employees is broken down into 4 parts.  Part 1 of this strategy (week-1), would be focused in on seeking feedback.  This feedback would be aimed at identifying the problem and symptoms not the person.  I need to take ownership of the problem and the solution up front, not hiding from the problem or masking it with discontent to the BBP.  It is important that folks understand what is the measurable and what the reason is.  Week-1 could involve non-directive counseling and surveys, attempting to isolate special needs and circumstances from the majority.  I need to get a complete “sight picture” on the problem, understanding all the details, arguments and restraints the actual problems definition.   

   Part 2 (week 2) of the strategy is solve the masses first, the results from the surveys equips me with the necessary information to generate alternative/evaluate alternatives.  The masses may not have   Again using the 8 attributes combined in a problem solving methods I can focus in one the descriptive problem without solving the prescriptive answer in vacuum leadership.  This week is my analysis time, this is normally where I fail in my career.  I do not give the analysis time to work and discover where the results demonstrate where the trends are.  I often to be reactionary instead of thoughtful, this does influence a change.  

   Part 3 (week 3) of the “get-well” strategy is focused in on the outliers, the special needs employees and the case-by-case.  Are there circumstances of which the values of the company are challenged by the values of the person?  It is during this week, where supportive communication used poorly can easily erode productivity from the employee.  For example, in my career, recently I had an Airman that had to continuously leave work early because his wife had a severe case of Acute Mountain Sickness and she would pass out while trying to get to pick the kids up from school.  This special case requires that I walked a delicate line between being a supervisor while being supportive.  I had to own the process while also trying to be supportive.  Together, we determined a solution that benefited both the Air Force and the member.  It is during this week when I am trying to determine the locus of control from the member and develop strategies that are cooperative.  

   Finally Week 4, this week is trial and error through slow change, the expectation is that by the last work day consumption of the change has occurred.  Many of the Airman forget this part of day-to-day policies, they want answers to change NOW.  Employees morale cannot be changed in an hour, their values cannot be influenced in a day and change of influence has to take time.  The change agent needs to influence and convince that the change is ongoing in the positive direction.  I need to influence my Airman/employees that I “see" and understand that they are completing the task.  Following-up on the masses and the case-by-case; holding both them and me accountbable for the implementation of the alternatives that WE determined together.  After the strategy takes affect, I would hold regular climate assessments to ensure that change is  sticking and not just an artifact of the “change for the time”.                       

References

Baer, L. L., Duin, A. H., & Bushway, D. (2015). Change agent leadership. Planning for Higher Education, 43(3), 1-11.

de Caluwé, L. & Vermaak, H. (2003). Why change is complicated. In Learning to change: A guide for organization change agents (pp. 6-38). Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications Ltd. doi: 10.4135/9781452229584.n2 

Whetton, D. A. & Cameron, K. S. (2016). Developing management skills, 9th ed. Boston, MA: Pearson.