Choose substance, not flash

  • Published
  • By Tech. Sgt. Don Crosby
  • 20th Air Force
F.E. WARREN AIR FORCE BASE, Wyo. --  Recently I had the privilege to attend a promotion ceremony for a young troop who had just sewn on his staff sergeant stripes. It has been a privilege to watch him the past several years, and I've been impressed with his motivation, skill, and dedication at every turn.

During the ceremony, I thought back to a former supervisor and the lesson I learned from him way back in the '80s. I was young buck sergeant then. My supervisor was an "older-than-dirt" technical sergeant, "a lifer." His name is not important but he must have been an ancient 37 or 38 years old. Despite the severe gap in our ages and his advancing years, he taught me one of the simplest, most profound, guiding principles I've ever learned.

He called me aside one afternoon for what back then was called "a talk." The Air Force didn't have formal, required feedback back then, but he did it anyway.

"There's something I want you to remember," he said. "As you go through your Air Force career, you're going to find two kinds of people. One kind are called 'flash.' Those are the ones who like their names up in lights, who draw attention to themselves. They're great at talking out loud, great at starting things, but seldom around to finish the job.

"The other kind of people you'll meet are called 'substance.' Those are the ones who show up early, stay late, do what it takes to get the job done... whether it's 'their' job or not. They just get the job done. They don't want, nor do they like public attention or praise. They just sink their teeth in and go.

"You'll soon learn how to tell the flash people from the substance people. I hope you always choose substance over flash, they'll always stick with you... you can always count on them."

Of all the lessons and principles I've learned and had to re-learn over the past several years, nothing is clearer to me today than that talk my supervisor and I had about "flash and substance." I can't imagine a more valuable responsibility than differentiating between them when building your team. When you're looking for qualities and traits such as discipline, dedication and selflessness, look for substance.

I have no idea where that "older-than-life" supervisor is today; he retired in 1989.

The way I see it, his service commitment was an exercise of preparations. He was a leader, a mentor and, most of all, an example to all. If we could all hit that mark -- to lead, mentor and set a positive example -- we'd all be people of substance. (Courtesy of Air Force Space Command News Service)