Photo By Staff Sgt. Gabriela Keiser | An Airman listens to a brief during the Front Line Leaders Symposium, Dec. 4, 2019, at...... read more read more
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“You’ve been told that your work center needs to work security detail for the installation’s airshow this weekend. Give them a ‘why’.”
Seymour Johnson Air Force Base’s Front Line Leaders Symposium asked mixed groups of Air Force NCOs, senior NCOs, company grade officers, and civilians this exact question. This five-day course consisted of several soft skill lessons and activities often asking the groups what they would do as a leader or have experienced as a follower in a specific scenario.
Col. Donn C. Yates, 4th Fighter Wing commander, met with Master Sgt. Harry Abplanalp, 4th Force Support Squadron career advisor, in July 2018 after he had just taken command of the 4th Fighter Wing. Yates asked Abplanalp how the wing could get better leadership material into the hands of its front-line leaders. He told Yates, “This material doesn’t exist. If we want it, we’ll have to create it ourselves.”
The course was designed to act as the bridge between the traditional curriculum of Air Force professional development and the expansion of skills that enable our Airmen to build trust, relationships, and establish earnest communication with their teams.
Abplanalp notes that the symposium dedicates one day to focusing on important administrative tasks and base resources available to Airmen. They finish the week-long course with a panel of senior leaders from around the wing. This provides them an opportunity where they can share personal stories of vulnerability and emphasize that we are all dealing with things in our own lives.
“While our helping agencies are amazing and they do a great job, we often forget that our most powerful and often neglected resource is each other,” added Abplanalp.
When asked about participant and facilitator feedback, Abplanalp confirmed it has been overwhelmingly positive.
“I’ve started receiving emails and text messages from leaders about how one specific briefing resonated with them, how it changed their career, or improved the quality of their marriage or relationships with their children,” said Abplanalp.
Staff Sgt. Gollie Felder, 4th Health Care Operations Squadron mental health technician, said he plans on taking what he has learned during the symposium back to his work center.
“The main thing I’m learning here is talking with your Airmen,” Felder added. “We need to focus on our Airmen more, communicating and having conversations where we get to know them.”
Felder emphasized he would be doing mental health an injustice if he didn’t pass along what he’s learned.
He explained, “You’re not going to get the mission done effectively if your Airmen don’t trust you.”
Abplanalp has been contacted by multiple wings across the Air Force interested in what Seymour Johnson is doing with this seminar. He disclosed that “It is not as simple as exporting our product to another wing and having them using our materials. The strength of our course does not lie in the topics or slideshows, but in the minds and hearts of our passionate facilitators and knowledge-hungry front-line leaders. This program can be built at other bases, but it will take significant effort and commitment from passionate leaders at all levels.”
The next Front Line Leaders Symposium will be held in January 2020. Members are nominated by their leadership to participate in the course but are encouraged to let their leadership know if they are interested in attending. Each course averages 100 participants and will continue to be held every 7 to 8 weeks throughout the next year.
Story was originally posted to the Seymour Johnson Air Force website on Dec. 4, 2019: https://www.seymourjohnson.af.mil/News/Article-Display/Article/2041224/team-seymour-develops-its-leaders-for-the-front-lines/
| Date Taken: | 12.13.2019 |
| Date Posted: | 12.13.2019 16:00 |
| Story ID: | 355649 |
| Location: | GOLDSBORO, NC, US |
| Web Views: | 42 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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