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Qualities of a leader:Integrity, loyalty, humility

  • Published
  • By Maura Sillas
  • 90th Space Wing Military Equal Opportunity
Jack J. Ingram, Jr. was my father. He was also a father figure to five of my cousins and one uncle.

He took all of us to carnivals, fairs and the circus. As we got older, he was our biggest fan at all our track meets, basketball and football games. He was at our college graduations, promotion ceremonies, marriages and the births of our children. Not a day went by without my father having some form of involvement or communications with me.
My father instilled the values of hard work, education and professionalism in my family. We all imitated his actions in hopes of becoming just a glimpse of what he was. We all thought he was unbreakable, unstoppableĀ -- until he passed away.

After reminiscing about my father and how the family used to be, I remembered my father having the qualities of a good leader. He was there for the entire family.

A leader that is there for their troops during the good, bad and even the mundane times shows he or she cares.

An Airman who gets reprimanded by a supervisor with which the subordinate has no relationship and no communications can lead to a variety of perceptions and ultimately lead the Airman to the MEO office.

A good leader does not have to take their troops to the circus but does have to be available for their promotions, graduations and other significant events.

My dad was there for us, so we showed him the same respect by being the best daughter, son, niece and nephews we could be; an excellent leadership quality to have.
Being there for your troops shows loyalty, and in return your troops will show their loyalty. Not only could this apply to commanders but to supervisors, subordinates and co-workers.

At my father's funeral, I realized he impacted more people than I previously recalled: from the young to the old. As each person stood and spoke of my father, I recognized all of the leadership attributes Col. Michael Morgan, 90th Space Wing commander, expects out of us: integrity, loyalty, humility and being there for the troops.

Display these qualities, attack negative perceptions and watch these actions become contagious within each unit.