A641.2.3.RB_SchreterPaul

After beginning a particular exercise, I started noticing some areas where I think I do well but at the same time I could use some improvements. Some of these include being inspirational, sharing positivity, and being in tune with others. Let me explain:

The idea behind being inspirational is what Yukl would call “[communicating] an appealing vision, and using symbols to focus subordinate efforts.” (Yukl, 2013) In other words, realize a goal that might just be outside their comfort zone but something that only requires just that bit of extra effort to get. During my deployment I was discussing with a fellow (but younger/newer) Airman on how easy it is to achieve and get an Associates Degree through the Community College of the Air Force (otherwise known as a CCAF degree). All he needed to do was CLEP on average one CLEP a week and he could get his degree before deployments end. After realizing how theoretically easy it was to achieve, he started bragging that if he did one CLEP a week he could get his CCAF. He said this repeatedly for several weeks as if he were so inspired by our discussion and had intentions of getting it done. But by the end of the deployment, he has yet to take one CLEP. While I would like to think I was inspirational in this case, is it really inspiration if no action is taken?

At home station (where I live when I’m not deployed) it is often called the “Factory of Sadness,” where people’s hopes and dreams are crushed. While the immediate leadership is good, it’s the flying schedule dictated by the gods that takes the toll on us (more flying means more broke jets, more broke jets means more work). While I’m generally a quiet and aloof person, I am a rather optimistic one. I hear comments on how I’m rather positive about everything. They say that if you want someone to smile you should smile too; emotions spread and are contagious. I’m not someone who will generally spread happiness, however I am someone who spreads positivity, optimism, and motivation when I start talking.

It’s really hard for me to read people and immediately be in tune, but I do listen to what they’re saying and try my best to be in sync. I use to volunteer for a group called Samaritans in the UK where I spoke with people over the phone who had feelings of distress, despair, or suicidal thoughts.  What we learned was that we should never assume how people are feeling because there can be a disconnect between what they say and how they feel. For example if a woman calls and says that her husband had recently passed away, many would assume she would be feeling sad, distressed, or even suicidal. However there have been cases where the widow was feeling ecstatic, happy, or even overall joy because the husband could have been abusive, in a coma or critical care for many years which would have taken its toll on the family, or even the fact that the widow may have never loved the husband and is now free to find that cute young boy she’s been fancying. The point is that one can never assume how another reacts or feels for any particular situation and the only way to get that information is to ask.

References

Yukl, G. (2013). Leadership in Organizations. New Jersey: Pearson.