A520.9.5.RB_FogartyShawn

            If I were to list the determinants of personal power in order as I see them for myself expertise would lead followed by effort. Next comes personal attraction and lastly is legitimacy. I consider a lot of my personal power to come from my expertise at work. I’ve been through a lot of training and served on several deployments so my level of experience far supersedes that of my peers and many of my bosses. I also place a lot of effort towards whatever mission I’m tasked with completing. We have a saying, “My mission, my men, myself” to gauge of priorities. Although personal attraction and legitimacy come up last they are not in the distance by any means. I am generally friendly and personable. Overall, I am comfortable gaining power within my organization.

            I would say that I do embody many likable characteristics. I am open, honest, and personable.  I consider loyalty to be very important in the way of business and even personal relationships. Along with loyalty comes trust. I don’t however provide unconditional positive regard and acceptance. I think of as “fluff” and I don’t like “fluffing” or “fluffers.” You don’t have to always accept a person, if they make a critical mistake that jeopardizes the mission or sanctity of the organization. This is especially true if they did something for personal gain.  Lastly, I place a lot of importance in social events, interactions, and activities. I wouldn’t consider myself a “social butterfly” but I do enjoy going out with the guys from time to time.
            Relationships are critical within an organization. I always maintain open and honest communications with my superiors. I don’t hesitate with bad news and am not afraid to ruffle a few feathers. Bad news does not get better with time. I believe the open dialogue with my superiors enables me to fully understand the organization objectives but more importantly what his visions includes. My previous organization I considered grand in the way of relations with my boss. We would routinely get together at our organizations bar and throw back a glass of whiskey or two, or three, or more. This was our way to relax but still tackle issues. My current boss is not much of a whiskey fan and we generally tackle everything between nine and five. Overall, open and honest communication is key in whichever style and method works between you and your boss.

A520.7.3.RB_FogartyShawn

Coach & Mentor:

The importance of a coach or mentor in your life can be paramount to the success of you as an individual within both your personal and profession life. A mentor is helpful and will give you personal guidance and direction in times of uncertainty or difficulties. A coach will help to evaluate your performance, and develop and set goals to improve or mold your productivity.

            I think back to when I was in little league baseball and the relationship I had there with my coach. He was the father of two other baseball players and very knowable in the sport. He had played personally in the sport upwards through college. I’ve always had a lot of natural talent and I remember at our practices the one on one coaching I received. I played the positions of pitcher, catcher and short stop and only recall 3 innings of my entire little league “career” spent in the dug-out. I could throw the baseball fast and hard but my coach trained me to throw it accurately. His techniques and form also made it so I did so safely not to injure my arm. My coach in this scenario would dedicate as much time as I did to practice; if I wanted to stay late so would he to work on a particular skill. His coaching made me a better player and is how I think coaching works to develop skill sets to improve performance overall. This applies also to the professional realm, without someone to give you guidance and hone in your skills you may not achieve your full potential.

            A mentor takes on a similar but different role. I view a mentor symbolically as an “old, wise man with gray hair.” I picture him to have a bag of experiences but would not necessarily be getting his hands dirty in task specific elements of your personal or professional life. The role of a mentor will act to provide inspiration or guidance and allow the individual to seek out their path. I’ve had several instances of being mentored throughout my career however after reading more into how mentorship and coaching differ I can say I’ve not had a steady mentor. I‘ve discussed my future plans with some senior leaders and there feedback gave me guidance and provided some direction.

            Overall, mentors and coaches have particular roles that aid an individual along their personal life or professional career. Although individuals can make it on their own, their productively will be better with a coach and their determination will progress with the inspiration of a mentor.

A520.6.5.RB_FogartyShawn

Team Roles:

Roles and responsibilities are clearly delineated within my organization. Seldom do we have anyone who oversteps there bounds, at least not more than once. As a senior leader I have certain expectations of my guys and when we plan a mission there are basic tasks I expect them to be able to perform. As a team member I would consider myself to be generally light-hearted and carefree for the most part until its “game day.” When we depart for a mission it’s all business and I expect my fellow team members to perform at 110% until we complete the mission.

The relationships we have are separated by rank and seniority however there is also a symbiotic level of equality. As a pilot I can only react to what I’m able to see and hear which at times can be extremely limited by dust clouds, low illuminations or field of view. In this time frame their observations and decisions are crucial to the success of the mission.  I count on my team members to provide situational awareness for me and to make the right decisions as there is not always time to discuss every instance. Because of this we have a high degree of trust in each other.

Throughout the mission, acting as the pilot in command, I am responsible to maintain my crew in a healthy and active state. Long enroute times to a location can breed complacency and I have to monitor each team member’s involvement within the aircraft. I usually provide each team member with a task that is required for the flight but will also keep them employed. An overarching term for this is crew coordination and it rests in the hands of the pilot in command to manage. Failure to do so can have catastrophic consequences.

As a team or sometimes a team of teams we always strive to work at the highest level of efficiency and effectiveness. I cannot recall a time we’ve set out to check the block, we’re always striving to knock the ball out of the park. For each mission we execute there is a follow up meeting where we conduct the after action review. This meeting is generally informal but we focus on the good, bad, and the ugly of the mission. This is primarily to isolate those actions that need to be sustained or improved for the team and individual. The goal of this process is to make improvements that will allow the individual and team to perform at a high level for future missions.