Tomorrow's Leaders Need Today's Mentors

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Before we start, I'd like thank the Williamsburg Hospitality House for hosting us, our moderator and panelists for participating, and everyone here for taking time out of your schedules to join us. "Leadership for the future" is a great topic, one that is important not just for America's Air Force, but also for our nation.

I've been in the national security business for more than 30 years now. I've had the opportunity to see it from many angles - as a Senate staffer, as part of the National Security Council, and in several different positions in the Department of Defense. In fact, how to build better national security teams is a passion of mine - it's a subject area that I have published on, and one that I care about deeply. So I'm happy to be here today.

I'm also very glad that we're having this panel in Williamsburg. And that's not just because it's always good to get away from D.C. during budget season!

I'm a history buff, so coming to Williamsburg is always a treat. Like cities up and down the eastern seaboard, Williamsburg has a clear place in the lineage of America's early democracy. After all, in 1765, Patrick Henry delivered his famous "Caesar-Brutus" speech at the Capitol just down the street. Williamsburg is where a young Briton by the name of Thomas Jefferson began to develop into a staunch American. It's where James Monroe arrived in 1774, at the age of 16, to pursue his studies, and then left to join the Continental Army. And it's where Revolutionary War veterans like John Marshall would come to read law as America's fledgling democracy established itself as a confederacy, and later, a republic. These founding fathers are an important part of our American heritage, and all have strong connections to Williamsburg.

These early Americans share another important connection, one very relevant to today's topic. These men were recipients of a lifetime of mentorship by George Wythe, whose association with William and Mary ranged from serving as its burgess, then on its board of visitors, and then as a member of its faculty as "America's first law professor." Wythe's mentorship was an important influence in early America - as young men, future President Jefferson, future Chief Justice Marshall, and future Speaker of the House Henry Clay all studied under him.

Mentorship plays an important role in shaping leaders of character, discipline and vision. It represents an investment - one where we may not know the impact until many years later. After all, Wythe had no way of knowing that his interactions with Jefferson, Marshall and Clay were contributing to the intellectual foundations of a future president, chief justice or speaker when they were his pupils. In fact, when Wythe came to Williamsburg, Virginia was still a British colony, and declaring independence was still two decades away! Yet centuries later, scholars credit Wythe's mentorship with shaping the American Revolution's early philosophical roots, and later, early American case law.

Across the Air Force, we can learn a great deal from Wythe. Each year, for example, we accept thousands of new members to the Air Force team. And like Wythe, we have no way of knowing which will become the Air Force's - or perhaps even the nation's - "leaders of the future."

What we do know, however, is that every Airman and civilian who joins the Air Force team makes valuable contributions to our national security - and that as Air Force senior leaders, we must ensure those contributions are as effective and efficient as possible. This means asking fundamental questions about our workforce, such as: "Did we prepare them adequately for the work we asked them to do - and provide them the right training and education for their immediate jobs?" and "Did we give them trained and experienced leaders?"

As senior leaders, we also set the tone for the Air Force's organizational culture - it's up to us to tap the tremendous talent and diverse backgrounds of our workforce to deliver the most effective and efficient air, space and cyber power possible. That leads to other questions, such as "Did we lead them to appreciate, value and exploit the contributions of every Airman in their units?" and "Did we promote an institutional environment that is open and responsive to change?" And since it is rare that we can predict the future, we need to also ask, "Did we give them the tools and skills necessary to navigate successfully through the challenges and uncertainty they will face in the future?"

An organization's culture, of course, hinges on its values - and this is an area where we in the Air Force are particularly fortunate. The men and women of today's Air Force come from different motivations, but in joining the Air Force, all have chosen public service as their profession, and all signal their commitment to our Core Values of Integrity, Service and Excellence. The values represent who we are, what we believe and how we behave, and leads us to also ask, "Did we instill, demonstrate and hold fast to the right values?" In my opinion, the answer is yes - the Air Force Core Values are the steady hand that guides us whether the skies are bright or turbulent.

From Wythe's example, we also learn that mentorship is a journey - one that requires time, effort and dedication. In the Air Force, mentorship means providing progressively more challenging work and educational experiences; at the same time, mentorship means providing frequent and constructive feedback so our workforce is ready for these new challenges.

In the Air Force, our mentorship program has informal and formal components. On the formal side, Air Force policy empowers supervisors to mentor their subordinates. Additionally, at every Air Force unit, commanders are expected to help advance the professional development of their personnel. But as we all know, ANYONE can be a mentor. Mentorship happens every day - such as when colleagues pool their experience to solve new problems, when a peer offers his or her advice to a co-worker, or when a friend acts as a sounding board. So mentorship in the Air Force is also informal.

Like my other Air Force panelists, I recognize that all of us are temporary stewards of a tremendous institution. Millions of Airmen and Air Force civilians have preceded us, and millions more will follow. So as we prepare our Air Force for the future, we must also prepare its workforce to assume its lead.

This includes dedicating ourselves to meaningful mentorship, the kind of mentorship that deepens our bench of national security professionals for generations to come. Which leads, of course, to a final question that we must ask of ourselves, and of the Air Force: "Did we adequately prepare the next generation of leaders?" Leaders like Eileen Collins, the first woman to command a space shuttle; Chuck Yeager, one of the most famous test pilots of all time; members of Congress and even a President. After all, today's junior officers, enlisted and civilians are tomorrow's leaders, and they will grade our work.

With that, I'd like to open up the floor to our panel discussion. Thank you for joining us today - it is a pleasure to be in Williamsburg and have the opportunity to hear your thoughts.