3 deadly sins of supervision

SOUTHWEST ASIA --
We can't afford to have weak supervisors. With manpower being scarce, the Air Force at war cannot afford sloppy supervision. I am not talking about a poorly written feedback form or a late EPR. I am speaking of methods that if adopted by supervisors, can cause the degradation of discipline and eventually get people killed.

1. BEING AFRAID TO BE THE BOSS
A young Army private first-class once answered, "No, sir," to General Eisenhower when asked if he was excited to get his new stripe. Asked why, he said, "I'd rather be a no-stripe private because everyone else has to be a leader."
People can sense someone without a backbone. It is healthy to put out a vibe of "I am a fair boss, but disobey me and there are consequences." Put out this vibe by telling your Airmen what you expect and when they test you, which they will, show them that there are consequences. And, people are more comfortable when they know where they stand and have consistent rules.

2. NOT CORRECTING THE LITTLE PROBLEMS
At the end of Rudy Giuliani's seven years as mayor of New York, he had reduced crime by 57percent. One of his main methods was a focus on petty crime. This is called the "fixing broken windows" theory in sociology.
If a building has a lot of broken windows, vandals, drug users, and thieves will come around and eventually you lose the entire building. Fix problems while they are small and they tend not to develop into bigger problems.
For example, I once caught a Security Forces Airman 1st Class in my squadron dipping tobacco in my building. I informed him of the rule against it and said, "Don't dip in a government building again." "Yes, sir," he said. The next night, I went into work at an odd hour. I saw him on duty in the same place with a big tobacco dip in his mouth. His eyes got as big and round as two headlights. I told his flight sergeant to handle it.
I was now testing that supervisor. When I followed up in a couple of days and asked what action was taken against him, the NCO had only "verbally counseled" him. The sergeant told me it was "no big deal" and nobody had been put in danger.
My Chief, who at times even scared me, barked, "In my day, blowing off the commander's order was a big deal!" Maybe no one was hurt this time, but one day the Airman could decide not follow an order that would result in the deaths of many.

3. BECOMING FRIENDS WITH YOUR AIRMEN
When I mean "friends," I don't mean just "friendly." Friendly is okay, but friends is not. Have you heard, "It's lonely at the top?" If you ever get to command, you will know what I mean. Your only friends can be other commanders. If you are a chief, you can be friends with other chiefs, and so forth.
What crosses the line? It is defined for us in the "Unprofessional Relationships" regulation. Things like not dating the Airmen you supervise, not making them run personal errands for you, etc.
Your gut also tells you when something is wrong. Your gut should tell you that it's okay to have a flight cookout as a group, but a staff sergeant and his Airman 1st Class hanging out and getting drunk downtown together is not good.
The "friend" that helped you stagger out of the bar last night won't obey your orders in the morning.
In closing, I have sent Security Forces members all over the world. Some took over Iraq prisons after the Abu Garib abuse scandal. Some were wounded in Baghdad by IEDs. Before we sent them over, I made sure that each one of them would follow orders, enforce the rules, and take charge.
My Chief and I were extremely clear in what we demanded. My goal was that if something bad happened to an Airman, I could look in the mirror and tell myself that I did everything I could to prevent it.