The ‘four pillars’ of career success

  • Published
  • By Chief Master Sgt. Laten Williams
  • 379th Expeditionary Services Squadron superintendent
When mentoring my troops, I always speak of four specific areas; I call them the four pillars.

The first pillar is to do the absolute best you can within your capabilities, and have a positive attitude about doing whatever our Air Force has asked you to do. It doesn't matter if you are a member of the security forces, services, medical group or civil engineers, there isn’t any one job more or less important than any other. It takes everyone doing his or her part to make our Air Force what it is, the absolute best the world has ever known, and no one comes close!

The second pillar is to always do something to improve as a professional. Whether it is a course development or professional military education course or college course via testing, in a classroom or online, just do something to keep improving. The more knowledgeable you become, the better our Air Force gets, especially with today’s technology.

For the third pillar, get involved. You can make a huge difference people’s lives by helping organizations like the unit booster club, or one of the NCO groups on base. Join the Air Force Sergeants Association or Noncommissioned Officers’ Association, and get involved in your base community. We traditionally celebrate different heritages like African American, Asian Pacific and Native American; get involved.

Finally, the fourth pillar is to take care of each other. I find the best way to do this is to set an example as a role model and hold subordinates to the same high standards. Simple things like saying “Yes sir” or “Yes ma’am,” standing up when someone senior in rank approaches, wearing the uniform correctly and proper telephone etiquette are little things we trust you to do all the time. If you fail to do these things, how can we trust you to take care of greater responsibilities?

In today’s military, the expectation is to go above and beyond the call of duty and do an awesome job. Remember, we have comrades in arms who are making the ultimate sacrifice every day. They, just like us, volunteered to serve our country.

Let’s keep things in perspective. When airmen do well, recognize them. When corrective disciplinary actions are appropriate, take care of it. You don’t have to try to be their friend first. What they need is leadership.

Our airmen have always been respected by society as professionals. We must at all times maintain that long-standing image and trust. We are a representation of America’s best and a reflection of each other. We owe it to each other to always represent ourselves as such through our conduct and behavior. The best way I know is to live by our core values of integrity first, service before self and excellence in all we do.