Servant Leadership

Air Force Chief of Staff Gen David L. Goldfein shares his personal story about his past and his time at the U.S. Air Force Academy. General Goldfein challenges Airman to be servant leaders during a speech with Chief Master Sergeant of the Air Force, Kaleth O. Wright at the 2019 Air Warfare Symposium in Orlando, Florida, Friday March 01, 2019.

Transcript

And I had two completely different experiences as a Cadet at the Air Force Academy in my six years there. You know when I arrived at the Academy my older brother Steve, who’s just an incredible officer, great Airman, he had been the Cadet Wing Commander when I showed up and so I was trying to make my own way in the world and you know if you’re trying to make your own path and your older brother is perfect the only avenue available to you is anti-perfect and so I spent my first two years fighting the organization and then we made a mutual decision between the Air Force Academy and Cadet Goldfein that maybe I needed to leave and get my act together. And so I left, and rode a 10-speed bicycle because that’s how many speeds there were available in 1980, around the country for an entire year. As I traveled around the country and people took me in, total strangers, who would come up and talk to me, and bring me in, take care of me, I came to the conclusion on my own that this nation is worth defending. And I went back to the academy and my last two years were a completely different experience and the only thing that changed between the first two years and the last two years is I embraced what the academy was trying to do and I realized that it actually, the world didn’t revolve around Dave Goldfein. That actually I was part of something really big and that there’s opportunity to serve others. And so I offer that story to you and then let’s all of us do our own mirror check here. Where are we on our journey? Where are you on your journey? You fightin’ the institution or you embracing the institution? And as leaders, are we looking at this business of leadership from the eyes of a servant or from the eyes of someone who feels entitled? And I think if we embrace the institution, the values that we stand for, our Airman are gonna wanna follow us because leadership is a gift and it’s given by those that we serve.