But it's not all about that.
You took one of the few jobs left in the world that kids hang posters of on their walls, and you made it so damn miserable that thousands of guys like me are calling it quits. And the worst part is, you have no idea HOW you made it miserable, and even less of an idea how to fix it. You are focusing on the second and third order effects, but not the root cause.There's a lot more. The obscene song lyric quoted at the end, by the way, is from a Dos Gringos song called "Has Anybody Seen My Wingman?"
Boss, you were a fighter pilot. You were trained for years in how to identify the root cause. I know you have the ability to dig past the airlines, ops tempo, queep, and other reasons you’re currently focusing on, and find the DFP. I know that you know what it is, I just don’t think you have the stones to call it out in public and do something about it, so I’m pulling the handles.
Yes, life in my Air Force has gotten tough. But the real reason I’m leaving boss, the heart of the issue is this. I’m a leader, I always have been. People follow me because I’m good in the Air, I have a strong act in the bar, and I give a shit about the people that work for me. And because I’m a true leader, I will never lead in this Air Force. Instead, the guys that are leading in my place, and in the place of all of the others like me, are boot-licking, risk-averse, yes men who have spent an entire career being faithful followers and couldn’t lead a 2 ship to the end of the runway. They’ve been rewarded their entire careers for being non-confrontational, making only safe decisions, punishing downhill and protecting uphill, and most importantly, being loyal to the bad leaders above them.
Actually, it's one of the cleaner Dos Gringos songs.
His comments seem to describe leadership in a great deal of our society.
ReplyDeleteA former fighter pilot for the Air Guard, who served a couple of terms in Afghanistan and Iraq, is in our Bible study. He told us when he left to work for United several years ago, that the powers-that-be had retired one variety of aircraft. Instead of retraining the pilots for that fleet to work with different planes, they let them go. Maybe I'm missing some details of the story--I'll ask him tomorrow. (I know the Air Guard isn't the same as the Air Force.)
ReplyDelete"when he left to work for United several years ago, that the powers-that-be had retired one variety of aircraft. Instead of retraining the pilots for that fleet to work with different planes, they let them go."
ReplyDeleteI would bet the objective was to replace older, higher-paid pilots (because of more seniority) with younger, lower-paid pilots. Actually surprised their union contract would let them get away with this.
I was unclear. The government did the letting go.
ReplyDelete