What’s your job like every day? Every day is different — it’s one of the best aspects of this job. Some days, it’s filled with meetings and others helping Airmen through their issues.
Do you have a mentoring or career tip for Airmen, including those who’d like to be a “first shirt” someday?
Don’t be afraid to fail as a leader. I think there is too much emphasis directed towards being the perfect leader and always being successful, but we are meant to fail ... a lot.
Looking back at my last 20 years, I can think of hundreds of times I was a terrible leader or made the wrong call. But each failure taught me something new and I learned what to do better next time.
If you have aspirations to be a “shirt” one day, you have to be comfortable with making the wrong call (and then recover), because when you operate in the gray, it is bound to happen.
What’s your favorite part of being a first sergeant and why?
Having the freedom to operate as I need to accomplish the mission. I have great triads that allow me flexibility to maneuver the system to get to the right answer, whatever that may be. Of course, helping people is a great part of my job, but without that support, it would be difficult.