Excellence in leadership lessons learned from top-performing units

Air and Space Power Journal

Volumn 22, Issue 1, 2008, Pages

  Pitt, Martin ^a   Bunamo, Michael ^a  

^a NONE

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

EID: 45849112457     PISSN: 1555385X     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: None     Document Type: Article

References (19)

1. Air Force Doctrine Document (AFDD) 1-1, Leadership and Force Development, 18 February 2006 (interim change to the version of 18 February 2004), 1, https://www.doctrine.af.mil/afdcprivateweb/ AFDD_Page_HTML/ Doctrine_Docs/afddl-1.pdf.
2. See Michael Bunamo and Martin Pitt, Excellence in Leadership, vol. 1, Peacetime, vol. 2, Wartime (Washington, DC: US Air Force Office of Special Investigations, 2006).
3. Law-enforcement agencies measure performance in many different ways. The Municipal Research and Services Center of Washington, a nonprofit organization that works to foster excellence in local government, maintains an excellent Web site that illustrates the use of metrics by law-enforcement agencies. See http://www.mrsc.org/subjects/pubsafe/le/le-main.aspx. See also Use of Data in Police Departments: A Survey of Police Chiefs and Data Analysts (Washington, DC: Justice Research and Statistics Association, 2005), 12-26.
4. Upon request, we will make available a short paper that describes the criteria and methods used in selecting excellent units.
5. Dr. Mike Thirtle, "Developing Aerospace Leaders for the Twenty-first Century: A Historical Context for the DAL Concept," Air and Space Power Journal 15, no. 2 (Summer 2001): 52-57, http://www. airpower.maxwell.af. mil/airchronicles/apj/apj01/sum01/thirtle.pdf. This article contends that the Air Force was lax in documenting its own excellent leadership practices in a comprehensible, universally articulated way.
6. Drea Zigarmi et al., The Leader Within: Learning Enough about Yourself to Lead Others (Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, 2005), 211-44. Chapter 7 examines the relationship between personality and leader behavior.
7. Oren Harari, The Leadership Secrets of Colin Powell (New York: McGraw-Hill, 2002), 125-40. Chapter 8 emphasizes the importance of people.
8. Larry Bossidy and Ram Charan, Execution: The Discipline of Getting Things Done (New York: Crown Business Press, 2002), 1-9. The introduction discusses the necessity of getting things done.
9. Michael Watkins, The First 90 Days: Critical Success Strategies for New Leaders at All Levels (Boston: Harvard Business School Press, 2003), 1-15. The introduction discusses why transitions are critical times for newly assigned leaders.
10. Maj Gen Perry M. Smith, Rules and Tools for Leaders: A Down-to-Earth Guide to Effective Managing (New York: Perigee Books, 2002), 45-52. Chapter 3 discusses setting standards.
11. Ibid., 53-68.
12. Daniel Goleman, Richard E. Boyatzis, and Annie McKee, Primal Leadership: Realizing the Power of Emotional Intelligence (Boston: Harvard Business School Press, 2002), 53-69. Chapter 4 discusses gearing one's leadership style to the situation.
13. Gen Hal M. Hornburg stresses the importance of communications in "What I Believe," Air and Space Power Journal 19, no. 1 (Spring 2005): 4-16, http://www.airpower.maxwell.af.mil/airchronicles/api/api05/spr05/ spr05.pdf.
14. Jack Welch with Suzy Welch, Winning (New York: HarperBusiness Press, 2005), 25-51. Chapters 2 and 3 discuss the importance of honest feedback.
15. Robert Galford and Anne Seibold Drapeau, The Trusted Leader: Bringing Out the Best in Your People and Your Company (New York: Free Press, 2002), 29-41. See chapter 3 for a discussion of the characteristics and competencies of trusted leaders.
16. Bunamo and Pitt, Excellence in Leadership, vol. 2, Wartime, 7-17.
17. John Keegan, Intelligence in War: Knowledge of the Enemy from Napoleon to al-Qaeda (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2003), 7-25. Chapter 1 discusses preparing for a wartime command.
18. Edgar F. Puryear Jr., American Generalship: Character Is Everything: The Art of Command (Novato, CA: Presidio Press, 2000), 188-235. Chapter 6 discusses how contact with the troops influenced General Eisenhower's decision making.
19. Col Thomas A. Kolditz, "The In Extremis Leader," Leader to Leader, no. 36 (Spring 2005, supplement): 6-18, http://www.leadertoleader.org/knowledgecenter/L2L/spring2005-supp/kolditz.html. This article describes the characteristics of individuals leading in dangerous and high-risk situations.