Leadership Begins With Me

An article by Dr. Kees Rietsema     2 Comments

Guest writer USAF Lt. Gen. (Ret.) Robert Kelley

Most articles about leadership start with principles, actions and activities that take a group or organization somewhere.  For me leadership begins with me! Who am I? What is my identity? When I was a student at The National War College; Princeton Professor Merion Levy lectured there and said something I have never forgotten – “The ultimate aggression is to know thyself.”  I have struggled with this statement for years.  It has taken longer than it should partly because we are always in a state of constant change.  Which means that we need time to get to know ourselves and why we are the way we are.  Who am I? Where am I going? Why?  A personal assessment of strengths and weaknesses is a useful exercise once in a while.  Am I a person with a purpose? With passion? Who prepares? Who persists? Am I intelligent, well educated, capable, reliable?  What am I all about? Do I know my business? Do I know myself? Am I ready to lead others?

In Tactical Air Command (now Air Combat Command) where I spent most of my Air Force career we developed a set of guiding principles around our 5 Ps – People with Purpose, Pride & Professionalism – Produce!  Leadership is all about people. You lead people and manage things! When a group grows and expands the distribution of work is shared and the decisions about who does what, how they do it, when and where are almost always imperfect. They require – resources, priorities and schedules. The goal(s), the plan for getting there and who’s in charge are challenges that require time, energy, intellect and training. In my opinion not enough time is spent addressing the decision making process.  Getting everyone on the same page. What do you think?