The Air Force Podcast - Chief Master Sgt. of The Air Force Wright on Leadership

United States Air Force
7.7K views • February 04, 2019

Chief Master Sgt. of The Air Force Kaleth O. Wright spoke to Airmen on Andrews AFB, Md. about the importance of listening to subordinates as a leader. He then sat down for the Air Force Podcast to discuss issues that have resonated with the enlisted force. In this episode of the Air Force Podcast, CMSAF Wright talked with TSgt Brad Sisson about changes to WAPS testing for future SNCOs.

0:00 on January 11th chief Master Sergeant of
0:02 the Air Force khi Wright and retired
0:04 General Larry Spencer spoke about
0:06 mentorship to Airman on Andrews Air
0:08 Force Base the thing that stuck out to
0:10 me the most was Chief's opening comments
0:12 about listening to his fellow Airmen a
0:14 week and a half later Chief Wright sat
0:16 down with me for a brief conversation
0:17 about how Air Force leadership is
0:19 listening and wants to make the correct
0:21 changes which includes a major
0:23 announcement concerning wops testing for
0:25 future senior ncos I'm Tech Sergeant
0:28 Brad sisen and this is the air Force
0:32 podcast the Air Force
0:35 podcast uh so first and foremost let me
0:38 say thank you for being who you are
0:40 thank you for the things that you do for
0:42 our great Air Force I I would say that
0:45 uh more than at least uh anytime that I
0:47 can remember it's a pretty good time to
0:49 be in the air force uh I think you have
0:51 in and me uh the chief and the secretary
0:54 a leadership team that really cares
0:56 about who you are what you're doing and
0:58 trying to get after the things that you
1:00 think are important uh our main
1:03 responsibility I would and I'll just
1:04 speak for myself uh my main
1:06 responsibility is what I call squinting
1:09 with my ears right I'm just here to
1:11 listen I'm here to listen to the things
1:12 that are most meaning for you meaningful
1:15 to you and uh also to help you put
1:17 things in perspective so listening
1:19 doesn't mean that every time you say hey
1:21 chief I think we we need this that I'll
1:23 turn around and try to create this or
1:25 fix this for you sometimes I can give
1:27 you the why sometimes I can give you a
1:29 perspective uh sometimes I'll tell you
1:31 hey we all have to suck it up I know you
1:33 don't like it I know it doesn't make
1:35 sense but we we all have to suck it up
1:37 and that's there are very few
1:38 opportunities uh that that do that and
1:41 what I really enjoy are the times when
1:43 you say hey I think we need more of this
1:44 less of that and I get to actually fix
1:49 it chap right talks about listening to
1:51 the force and understanding what's
1:53 meaningful to enlisted Airman in his
1:54 opening statements of his mentoring
1:56 session following the event at Andrews
1:58 he sat down for a brief ation about the
2:00 thought process and impact of a major
2:03 change in senior enlisted promotions
2:05 welcome to the Air Force podcast um
2:07 first time I guess on the podcast we've
2:09 been trying to uh get you in probably
2:10 for the last year so thank you I
2:13 appreciate you taking the time on your
2:14 day to to join us yeah thanks for the
2:16 invite it's uh it's pretty exciting to
2:17 be here yeah so uh you have a reputation
2:20 of being an engaging leader an Engaged
2:22 leader uh Airman seemed to be
2:27 extremely receptive of your leadership
2:29 style
2:30 uh your personality I mean they've even
2:33 given you a nickname but uh I've been
2:34 told I cannot reference it on the
2:36 podcast so um the real question is how
2:39 have you been able to connect with so
2:41 many Airmen and how can other leaders
2:43 kind of do the same thing yeah so I I I
2:46 would say the key to uh our success has
2:50 been my ability to just be me right so I
2:52 haven't changed a whole lot obviously
2:54 I've I've grown some since uh you know
2:57 on this leadership Journey but but
2:58 mostly uh I try to be myself and uh I've
3:02 always been able to relate to uh our
3:06 Airmen I've always been able to relate
3:08 to the the challenges and the struggles
3:10 I was a uh a young Airman who had
3:12 struggles struggles myself um so you
3:15 know really I get the opportunity to to
3:17 be me to enjoy uh the job I have a good
3:21 time doing it and and mostly man I have
3:23 a fantastic team I got a f fantastic
3:26 team of professionals that that uh allow
3:28 me to to get out out and be all over the
3:30 Air Force and uh make changes uh give me
3:34 provide me feedback and in most cases
3:36 you know we get an opportunity to get
3:39 what I would consider real time feedback
3:40 when we go out and visit air and and
3:42 then uh we get it right back to to our
3:44 office and start working it you know
3:46 sometimes right right after somebody
3:48 passes it to us uh and then leveraging
3:50 social media so I mean that's that's
3:51 just been a GameChanger uh for us yeah I
3:55 think all Spectrum social media has kind
3:56 of changed you know everything as far as
3:59 communicating and all that so it's
4:02 incredible so you're were talking about
4:03 getting feedback from the field and uh
4:05 you know making changes when you need to
4:07 so uh during the last year um your
4:11 team's been super busy as you were just
4:13 saying uh just to highlight some of the
4:16 few things you've worked on uh A1C eprs
4:19 ocps higher tenure how how are you able
4:23 to make all these changes yeah so again
4:26 it goes back to to the team of
4:27 professionals um you know lot lot of
4:29 folks working really hard behind the
4:31 scenes and uh but I maybe I would say
4:34 the key to our success has been the
4:36 relationship the strong relationship
4:38 that we built with uh our A1 Community
4:41 who really owns most of these programs
4:43 uh and uh afpc who who who also have a
4:47 play in it and just uh ensuring that
4:49 we're all on the same page uh going into
4:52 these uh discussions decisions not
4:55 necessarily looking to win or lose but
4:57 making sure that we're doing what's best
4:59 for all of our our Airmen across the
5:01 force but having uh good relationships
5:04 uh not just listening to the Airmen and
5:05 to the people who come up with these
5:07 ideas but actually listening to the
5:10 action officers and the folks that that
5:12 are responsible and who've kind of seen
5:14 this before and can give us the the hey
5:17 here's going to be the second and third
5:18 order effect so we take all that into
5:20 consideration which is why some of the
5:21 changes take a little bit longer than
5:23 what people would prefer is because we
5:25 really like to do our homework to make
5:27 sure that uh it's going to be beneficial
5:29 for for all of our Airmen makes sense so
5:33 uh I guess one of the main questions
5:35 that at least we've seen online is that
5:37 what's next what's
5:41 next uh so so the big thing uh the big
5:44 thing that that'll come up next is the
5:46 elimination of uh the testing uh and
5:50 wops testing for senior non-commissioned
5:52 officers really so uh any any um
5:57 promotion process that where we have a
5:59 board board will will eliminate the the
6:01 actual test the uh the the PDG uh and I
6:05 and I know there's not everybody agrees
6:07 not everybody thinks this is the
6:08 greatest greatest idea but but same
6:10 thing so we've been talking about this
6:12 for about a year and a half now uh we've
6:14 done uh a lot of research a lot of uh
6:18 data mining on what the potential impact
6:21 and outcome will be and what it really
6:24 uh came down to is in order for for me
6:27 and every commander and Senior leader in
6:29 the Air Force you know what gives us the
6:31 greatest level of confidence that we're
6:33 promoting the right people and uh we
6:35 feel pretty confident in the board
6:37 process uh that that we have we sit down
6:40 and we look at five years worth of
6:41 performance reports we look at the
6:44 entire uh portfolio of decorations and
6:47 then other data data verification
6:48 briefing surfing and some of those other
6:50 things and uh we feel pretty confident
6:53 that we can select the right leaders
6:55 based upon their performance and what
6:56 they've done uh in terms of how well
7:00 they've led the level of job
7:02 responsibility breath of experience and
7:04 all those things that we look at on the
7:06 on the board and so we really no longer
7:08 need uh the test and and uh so so again
7:12 you know we we've uh We've looked at
7:14 this in all different waves gotten a lot
7:16 ways and gotten a lot of feedback and uh
7:18 so we'll we'll remove that so Chief why
7:21 do you think getting rid of the senior
7:24 NCO wops is a good thing for the Air
7:27 Force yeah so I think it's a good thing
7:30 uh for a couple of reasons uh number one
7:32 is I'm uh very confident in the process
7:35 the board process that we use to select
7:37 our our senior leaders um so we you know
7:40 we take a look at five years worth of
7:42 performance data and then an entire
7:44 careers worth of decorations so so
7:46 really an entire career's worth of uh
7:48 performance data and then you know other
7:50 things through the this the basic
7:52 information uh and I again I feel pretty
7:55 confident that the the information that
7:57 we use the process that we have uh gives
8:00 us the highest level of confidence that
8:02 we're selecting the right individuals uh
8:04 for promotion and frankly uh we no
8:06 longer need need to test as a
8:11 discriminator as a um one of the things
8:14 that we realize with with testing is um
8:18 you could be an average to below average
8:22 performer and test your way into a
8:24 promotion that you probably don't
8:26 deserve you can be an excellent uh
8:29 perform and test your way out of a
8:31 promotion that you likely uh deserve and
8:33 and so we wanted to eliminate that bit
8:36 of inconsistency in the process and oh
8:39 by the way one of the fringe benefits I
8:41 would say is man we get to uh give
8:44 senior non-commissioned officers a ton
8:46 of time back so most of us I would say
8:48 spend anywhere from four to eight months
8:51 studying preparing really memorizing the
8:53 things from uh the the the PFE uh now
8:58 you can use that time to focus on family
9:02 your own personal resilience uh taking
9:04 care of your Airmen your cat your dog
9:07 whatever whatever things you want to do
9:08 at that time uh but but primarily I
9:11 think this is a good thing because uh
9:14 again it it really focuses you know who
9:16 we're promoting to our our highest ranks
9:19 um it focuses the it places the focus on
9:23 their performance what they've actually
9:24 done in the career those things that we
9:26 that we value um and so um
9:29 and like I mentioned before there will
9:31 be I think some dissenting opinions
9:33 which is okay and we've taken all that
9:35 into consideration but um for the most
9:38 part uh our data has shown us that this
9:40 is the right move for the Air Force
9:42 right now so speaking of taking care of
9:44 ourselves uh we recently heard you speak
9:47 about Airman resilience could you talk a
9:48 little bit about putting your mask on
9:50 first message yeah absolutely so you
9:52 know really uh I took this this Theory
9:55 from you know when you get on an
9:57 airplane and and the flight attendant
10:00 um when they they tell you hey if this
10:02 cabin loses pressure a mask will drop
10:03 down from the ceiling then you should
10:05 put your mask on first because if you
10:06 don't take care of yourself then you
10:08 can't take care of your kid or whoever
10:10 is sitting next to you and so same
10:11 philosophy I think we spend so um so
10:14 much time as Leaders taking care of our
10:17 Airmen taking care of our teammates
10:19 being good wingmen taking care of our
10:21 bosses and our commanders and uh
10:24 sometimes we neglect uh ourselves in
10:26 terms of being resilient and getting the
10:29 right right amount of exercise and
10:30 focusing on our nutrition and sleep and
10:33 all those things and uh I recently heard
10:36 a commander we had a uh command Chief
10:38 training course last week and one of the
10:41 commanders said hey as a leader people
10:43 will always be looking to plug into you
10:45 so that they can get you know so that
10:47 they you can feed them whether it's
10:49 motivation or information or inspiration
10:52 or whatever it is and when they plug
10:54 into you you got to have something in
10:56 the tank um and so uh I I really think
10:59 it's important for all of us um so we
11:02 talk a lot about being good wingmen and
11:04 taking care of each other and all this
11:06 other stuff and and sometimes we forget
11:08 we forget to take care of ourselves um
11:10 because it it won't just happen um
11:12 through osmosis you're not just going to
11:14 wake up and be in shape uh you're not
11:17 just going to show up to the dinner
11:18 table and there there's a healthy meal
11:21 uh so it's something you have to be
11:22 deliberate and purposeful uh about and
11:25 and I and I just think sometimes we
11:27 forget about taking care of us
11:29 and I and I absolutely don't mean this
11:32 in a selfish manner right so hey let me
11:34 just I'm not going to worry about you
11:35 Brad I'm going to take care of me but
11:37 but really in order for me to be the
11:39 best supervisor in order for me to be
11:40 the best leader uh I really have to make
11:43 sure that uh I'm taking care of myself
11:45 as well so do you have any other
11:48 leadership advice at all uh that You'
11:50 like to share with the audience uh maybe
11:51 something you had to learn either the
11:53 hard way that you know that could
11:54 benefit
11:56 anybody um yeah I would say you know
11:58 probably probably one of the most
12:00 important um thoughts about leadership
12:03 that that I have is uh you have to know
12:06 yourself right you have to know your
12:08 strengths and your weaknesses so that
12:09 you can really play to your strengths I
12:11 mean you can't really perform from a
12:13 place of place of weakness to to to be
12:15 honest and uh often times you know I ask
12:18 leaders in different forms you know what
12:20 are you really good at and uh sometimes
12:22 they speculate uh and then I ask him you
12:25 know how do you know that well my wife
12:27 told me or my a told me or my my
12:29 supervisor uh told me so sometimes it's
12:32 it's really worth investing in um a
12:35 little bit in understanding who you are
12:37 what you bring to the table uh as a
12:39 leader so that you can know what areas
12:40 need to work on because again leadership
12:42 doesn't happen through uh osmosis I mean
12:45 it's something you have to work at you
12:46 have to be deliberate about uh I love
12:48 this idea that leaders I used to say
12:51 leaders are readers now um I kind of
12:54 changed that to leaders are Learners
12:55 right so some people are not big readers
12:58 but I recently within the last couple of
13:00 years started listening to podcast and
13:03 and audio books and other other ways but
13:06 uh you know I think it's pretty
13:07 important that if you want to be a great
13:09 leader just like if you want to be a a
13:11 great mechanic or logistician or
13:14 Personnel or I mean you have to work at
13:15 it it doesn't just just just happen over
13:19 overnight um and and when it when it
13:22 comes to you know leading and motivating
13:25 and inspiring uh people kind of three
13:29 three basic rules for me try to set high
13:31 standards uh so so no no sloughing uh
13:35 high standards for regardless of how you
13:37 look how you dress um how you deal with
13:40 customers you know um all those good
13:44 things uh insist people measure up to
13:47 those high standards and that's where
13:48 the real work comes in you know that's
13:50 where you got to motivate and teach and
13:52 train and Inspire and encourage you know
13:54 all those things that we learn in in
13:56 leadership training and then uh probably
13:59 most important component of of my
14:01 leadership philosophy is man you got to
14:02 model the behavior you expect of people
14:05 so you can have these high standards you
14:06 can preach and teach about yeah you got
14:08 to you know um um meet these standards
14:12 but but then I have to model uh those
14:14 standards so I can't ask my folks to do
14:16 anything that I'm not willing to do well
14:18 I appreciate the CH time Chief it's uh I
14:21 don't know like I said we've been trying
14:23 to get you here for last year um and
14:25 it's I don't know I never would have
14:27 thought even as a young air I be sitting
14:29 at this table you know interviewing the
14:32 chief Master on the Air Force on a
14:33 podcast which is one of my passions so
14:35 um thank you again I appreciate the time
14:37 yeah no problem I have a question for
14:38 you actually yes Chief uh what advice
14:40 would you give to not only me as Chief
14:43 Mass sergeant of Air Force but any of
14:45 our emerging leaders oh you're putting
14:48 me on the spot put you on the
14:50 spot that's that's an excellent question
14:53 Chief I'm not uh too sure um hm
15:00 I'll tell you what think about it and
15:01 then uh uh I'll make a promise to you
15:04 I'll come back uh sometime in this first
15:06 quarter perfect I'll definitely have a
15:08 question then to think about CU that's
15:10 uh actually yeah put me on the spot
15:12 sorry Chief no problem all right have a
15:14 good one all right thank you the Air
15:16 Force podcast