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Roy, joined by his son, Colby, spoke with Airmen and civilian employee members about numerous topics to include deliberate development, developing exceptional leaders, caring for Airmen and families, management versus leadership, and finding balance.
At the completion of the event, Roy sat down for an interview to expand on his focus areas and his thoughts on the Air Force today.
How do you feel the requirements for taking care of Airmen and families has evolved since you were the CMSAF?
CMSAF Roy: Taking care of Airmen has always been a priority. When I was CMSAF it was one of my pillars of focus; it's something I've always believed in.
When we look at how we take care of families, it's something in your heart you must believe in, it can't be just words. The more impact we can have with taking care of them, the better impact we can have on the mission. Of course, the counter to that as well, is that if you don't take care of the families, the member is going to be distracted.
We should never forget the member serves, and the family serves as well.
Colby: This is a family affair and it's not just our family, it's every military family. Regardless of what branch of service, it's that family dynamic that holds that member together, but if you look at it in a broader context it's what holds our military together.
CMSAF Roy: Even as a peer I think you have influence. When you get together, and you break bread together, or you're going out to a social event, you're going bowling together, whatever the case may be, that kind of bond is so, so important. Peer-to-peer relationships are so important to taking care of families as well.
Is it feasible in today's Air Force to be a career minded Airman and having a meaningful work/life balance?
CMSAF Roy: Yes, I do believe that you can have a military career and work-life balance. Understand when we talk about military career, that's just one side of it. When you talk about a family, you're talking about the spouse who is going to have their own career. [My wife] Ms. Paula has always worked, so we've had to balance both sides. It’s a higher preponderance of people in that situation. Families today you have the military member, and you have military spouses, will have their own careers and that's an equal balance.
Some things about the Air Force have never changed. The missions never change and it's never been a nine to five. It’s always been a 24/7/365. It's always been that way and it will always be that way because we're the nation's sentry. Our nation relies on us for its security, that will never change.
I think what has changed a little bit, and I'll just be candid, is the whole social media piece. It has helped us to communicate messages, it's helped us to be better connected. Unfortunately, you’ve got to find your way to escape that a little bit at times. You got to put the phone down, you got to put that stuff away for a while.
What about as a follower—are there moments you look back on and realize you missed an opportunity, or wish you had prioritized differently?
CMSAF Roy: If somebody sits in front of this camera and says no, everything's good, I did everything the way I was supposed to do, you can shut the camera off and go home because that's not factual.
I served in uniform for 31 years. I don't think you can be a leader if you're not a good follower.
I think fundamental to all that is you've got to be able to communicate effectively. It's not just orally, it's written, and listening. You've got to listen as a leader. Did I always listen to what my supervisor told me to do? I heard them, [but] I'm not sure I listened to them; I'm not sure I listened to the intent. I think you can be a more effective leader if you focus on the fundamentals of communication.
As I look back on my history in the United States Air Force, I look back to my very first supervisor. I always talk about him, Technical Sgt. Nathan Herd. He pushed me to do things that I didn't think were possible or I didn't have the capability to do. I think as a leader you need to identify those talents within people and highlight them. That’s probably one of the things as a leader that you need to understand how to do.
I was challenged with a lot of things in the Air Force. I wasn't always the Chief Master ofthe Air Force. I grew up through the ranks. I tell people if you knew me as a dirt boy, if you knew me prior to my sons coming along, as your supervisor, you probably wouldn’t have liked me very much—because I didn't listen. I didn't listen to what people were telling me when they were saying that they had families, they had their own lives that they were trying to live. My focus was on the mission. I'm not saying that that's wrong, but what I'm saying is you have got to balance that. There must be a balance. You can’t just work, work, work people. You've got to find the balance if somebody's child is not well and the other spouse is not available to watch the child. You can't just say deal with it and come back to work.
I can tell you many times as a Chief Master Sergeant in the Air Force that I probably should have listened a little more and I probably should have taken to heart what I was saying. Leadership is not something you study in a book and you're done with it, it's constant.
At a small group leadership lesson a couple weeks ago, I was telling people that within a particular unit the commander would always come to me to fix problems. I questioned why are you giving me this problem? What did I do? What I learned out of that was it's not about the position you're in, it's what you're being prepared for in the future. If you always look at it that way, as a training session, an opportunity to learn along the way and if you change it around a little bit, change your scope, things usually come out a little bit better.
If you could go back to the past, what advice would you give to SrA Roy?
CMSAF Roy: How long do we have?
I’ve always been very aggressive that if I want something done, I'm going to push hard because I know the importance of it and I can see the importance of it. Sometimes I think you have to slow down a little bit to explain [that importance to others]. Take one more step and train somebody else along the way so then they'll be ready when it's their turn.
I would ask every Airman to please, please tell your loved one how much you appreciate them. You serve, they sacrifice. Tell them how much you appreciate the sacrifice that they endure. There's going to be a lot that’s missed, whether that's a recital, ball game or whatever the case may be. Even if it's a split second, be there for them and have an impact. If you have 15 minutes, make that the most impactful 15 minutes of your life because they need it. Tell them how much we appreciate it from Air Force leadership, but more importantly, make sure you tell them how important they are from you.
| Date Taken: | 03.30.2023 |
| Date Posted: | 04.07.2023 09:10 |
| Story ID: | 442230 |
| Location: | BARKSDALE AIR FORCE BASE, LOUISIANA, US |
| Web Views: | 40 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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