By Mike Friesen

Developing as a leader requires the convergence of a handful of critical factors. These include paradigm openness, theoretical learning, and application experience.

Paradigm Openness – Upon beginning Air Force Undergraduate Pilot Training (UPT), my classmates and I were open and eager to learn. We students were like sponges to everything in the environment. When the base commander talked to us about how up to half of us would not graduate, our willingness to learn and grow only intensified. We pondered such questions as, “What makes the difference between and wannabe pilot and a UPT graduate? What are the pitfalls to avoid? What are the areas to devour?” This was all about paradigm openness.

The students had passed the first hurdles of character fitness, academic excellence and medical soundness. Now was the time to begin proving our mettle. The field was plowed ready for the new knowledge and experience. Our mindsets were open for learning.

Leadership by its very natures requires openness to the environment. What do the internal and external stakeholders want? Which stakeholders are key to our success? How far do we go in including the expectations? What are we passionate to deliver and where does this mesh with the stakeholder perspective?

Theoretical Learning – And so the academics began. In some ways, the material was not as challenging as expected although it did come thick and fast. Regardless, each of us soaked up the book knowledge down to the fine detail. Lecture, study, and testing became routine parts of our days. This was not flying but it was a necessary start on our way to the “flight-line.” What we did not realize so much at the time was that theory would always precede practice and then application throughout our respective careers. The foundation was laid with its new vocabulary, concepts and possibilities.

It is critical for a leadership student to also have a conceptual model before plunging into the art of leading. However, do not wait for the "paint to dry" on the theory in order to implement. The leadership journey is just that ... a process of development and refinement. Having a mental picture first will exercise the right-brain/left-brain muscles and help the student to grow that much quicker.

Application Experience – The basic Air Force model at that time was to learn it from a book, practice it in a simulator, and then fly it in an airplane. We had spent the first month of UPT mostly in the classroom. Now we would begin work at the “flight line.” The very phrase caused students to lower their voices in an almost sacred tone. What would it be like? What would be expected? How well would we do? Most importantly, when would we actually touch a real airplane?

The flight line soon became our second home and now we routinely trundled off to practice new flight techniques in the simulator (sim). Normal procedures such as starting engines, taxiing, take-off, landing, basic maneuvers, etc. Further, we were brusquely and routinely confronted by emergency procedures (EPs) that required instinctive responses. Suddenly, theory took on a different face as we tried to make the obstinate sim do what sounded so straight-forward in the book. No matter how well a student was doing, an instructor could always add more EPs to the stew. The days were now longer and the first romance of flying jets was quickly fading away.

The natural inspiration for doing leadership work can ebb and flow depending on how the results are happening. Regardless, stay the course and keep growing. As my wife told me when she was teaching me how to downhill ski, "If you are not falling, you are not learning." I must have learned a lot in those first few sessions!

Two of the leadership thinker's main tasks are to be a teacher and a student: A teacher in order to share a view of the world and a student to gain from others in the same way. Always be cultivating other leaders so that all can gain motivation from each other with the invariable successes and failures.

Oh for the naïve zealousness of a new leader. Theory is so inviting and pure while resting on the pages of your favorite business book. Leadership really is not a complicated model but consistent implementation can be elusive. Application experience is a crucial part of a leader’s development. Being authentic about self and the environment are critical skills for anyone desiring to grow as a leader.

E-mail contact: LSInfo@LeadingStrategies.net

Copyright © 2008 Mike Friesen. All rights reserved.