“The most precious resource we have is time.” Steve Jobs
I have accumulated many mementos over a lifetime of service in the military. Plaques, photos, farewell gifts—but there is one that really stands out among the hundreds of items that fill the walls and shelves of my office. A very simple clock with my name and call sign inscribed on it. It is not an expensive or elaborate time piece. In fact, it doesn’t even work anymore.
I received this farewell gift when I was responsible for directing a squadron’s fighter operations, a position which included supervising a group of enlisted support Airman. As the operations officer of an F-15C squadron, I was responsible for the daily flying operations, which also included supervisory responsibility over about 20 enlisted members. After serving in that job for about a year, I was notified that I was selected for a squadron command position. So, I’d be leaving the F-15C squadron and moving next door to the new F-22 squadron. On my last day, my Senior Enlisted supervisor asked me to come into the squadron conference room where all the enlisted members had gathered for an informal farewell. She proceeded to wish me the best in my new position and said a few sincere words.
“Sir, you always took time for us. You would teach us. You would remind us if we were not meeting standards. But most of all, you would just spend time with us.”
Then she handed me this clock.
“Please think of this team and remember our thanks for spending your time with us when you look at this clock. Thank you sir!”
As she looked me in the eye, shook my hand , and placed the gift in my hands, I felt so proud to have had the opportunity to have a positive influence on these people. There was one particular young Airman in the room, we’ll call him Casey, that I could tell would grow to be a very talented leader.
A few years went by, I moved to a couple new assignments, and I found myself back at that same base, but now as the Operations Group Commander, responsible for four squadrons—two of which were the squadrons I had served in previously. One day I ran into the now Staff Sergeant Casey. He had earned two more stripes and was known in the group as an up and coming and very sharp leader.
As I settled into my new position, I needed to hire a new Executive Officer to manage my front office team. This position is usually an experienced field grade officer. At the time, we were short-handed in the field grade officer ranks, so I began to open the aperture and thought of Casey. I called his supervisor and set up an interview with him. He was very surprised and a bit intimidated, but he said he was willing to give it a try. So, he took the position and started to “drink from the fire hose.” It took some effort and a lot of coaching, but he quickly proved very capable and excelled in a position several levels of what would typically be expected for such a young Airmen. Don’t get me wrong, we had a few fumbles and developed a fair amount of scar tissue, but in the end, we worked well as a team and Casey’s leadership skills grew tremendously.
After moving on to the next series of jobs and several years passing, I hadn’t heard from Casey in a while. Then one day, out of the blue, an email from Casey. “Sir, I just wanted to say thanks for your support. I just made Chief Master Sergeant!!” (If you are not familiar, only about one percent of the enlisted force ever makes it to the most senior enlisted rank: Chief Master Sergeant.)
This simple clock is a great reminder of the importance of deliberately developing people and providing opportunities for growth--using our most precious resource, our time, to build our future leaders. How are you spending your time today?
Authored By: Dirk “Stuff” Smith, Managing Director