Are you a leader Published July 8, 2010 By Barry Kistler 90th Missile Wing Director of Staff F.E. WARREN AIR FORCE BASE, WYO. -- Contrary to what you may think or what you have been told, every one of us in uniform or as a civil servant is a leader in the 90th Missile Wing. For those of you who have considered yourself a leader, are you really doing what is expected of you to be a leader? Sure, you can read books on leadership, and you can follow the accomplishments of other leaders to emulate, but have you developed your own style and put to practice your leadership qualities? What about those of you who don't think of yourself as a leader? Where do your leadership qualities come from and take you? Have you thought about picking up that piece of paper that was stuck to a fence? Have you thought about explaining to the Airman or the officer their uniform is not correctly being worn? Have you thought about informing a work section you are visiting their bulletin board was outdated? Have you explained what inappropriate language is when you overheard someone using offensive language? Have you stepped in and taken the car keys from someone that clearly had too much to drink and was about ready to commit a crime and possibly kill someone? Stepping up to a challenge and setting the example is where leadership starts. Leadership is not always directing and ordering people. Nor is it always being out in front. Many times, leadership is the behind-the-scenes actions and communications to others. We recently retired a civilian leader from the wing. Bob Kodis retired last month after 50 years of combined uniform and civilian service. He was truly a leader in the wing and much of the time it was as an informal leader. Although he led a small office on the wing staff, his interactions with people across the wing were instrumental in the wing meeting its mission requirements. If you followed him around on a daily basis, his actions, not his words, were the epitome of leadership. He was always looking around, and if he saw something wrong and it was within his ability to fix it, he did, even if it was outside his area of responsibility. If he couldn't fix it himself, he found the right person who could. The people who had the opportunity to watch him in action have been inspired and are out trying to follow the legacy that Bob left behind. He wasn't bored and didn't go looking for things to do; those challenges were always there, so he acted on them. I contend they are there for you and me as well. So look around, be engaged and be a leader, even with the small things that may seem meaningless, like picking up trash. You will be amazed that your actions will be noticed and, hopefully, will be encouragement for others. Mr. Kodis took a personal interest in the mission of this wing and worked every day on ensuring he took part in accomplishing that mission. We should all look up to what inspired Bob every day to do what he did, and learn from his leadership as he was engaged across this wing at all levels. So, regardless of your rank or status on this base, you are a leader in this wing. I challenge you to put your leadership to work.