We started this series talking about integrity, ethics, and values. I bragged about my wheels (do you like the picture with the CAP license plates?) but it is past time to get on with one of the most important skills that I learned as a cadet in CAP, the art of delegating authority.

Back in the good old days, my Squadron met in the basement of a church. It was a big basement with a lot of classrooms and a lot of green space all around the church. The deal we had with the pastor was we did the exterior upkeep of the lawn for free, shoveled the snow in the winter, and helped out when he asked. In return we got to use the basement of the church every Wednesday, had a small supply area and office for a permanent home, and a great meeting place. This relationship created weekly opportunities for the Squadron to hold "work parties". Often, work parties became a chance for cadets to run an event and show that they could be leaders. The Cadet Operations Officer organized these fun filled events on ninety degree days using "donated" push lawnmowers. (you also had the opportunity to learn and perform a lot of small engine repairs). Normally a group of five to ten dedicated cadets spent a leisurely afternoon seeing how fast you can push a lawnmower. We perfected the art of doing "double time" behind a Toro.

There was always a Senior Member there to make sure we didn't get into too much trouble and to pick up any severed limbs on the way home, but the organization and the running of the activity fell to the cadets. This was an early opportunity for me and many other young "fast burners" to demonstrate our leadership abilities. The grass had to be cut and the snow had to be shoveled (seasonal tasks) prior to Sunday as required. As I progressed through my Squadron roles as a cadet I always remembered the early opportunities I had for leadership and I tried to provide them to my fellow cadets as I found myself in positions that allowed me delegate.

What I also discovered as I moved up the ladder and the size of our Squadron grew was that I couldn't do it all. I may have wanted to do it all, but as one of the largest Squadrons in the country with a cadet staff larger then most other Squadrons in our Wing I had to trust other people to do the things the needed to get done. Did they do it the way I would have done it.... nope! Did the task get done? ... most of the time, yes. Did we all learn a lot from this? ... absolutely! Many times we learned more from our mistakes then from what went right, but that's a whole different article.

In the immortal words of Goose "you're holding on too tight, you've got to let go Maverick", (well the words are accurate, even though the context in the film isn't). Great leaders learn early on that they have to trust and support subordinates to take on tasks and accomplish the mission. They need to provide support, take the blame is the wheels come off, and publicly heap large amounts of praise on the people who made it happen. Counsel the subordinate privately if they screw up and help them to learn from their mistakes.

For the next article in the series, I'm going to share some insight from my new job and what happens in an organization when the leader "can't let go".

If you have your own thoughts or insights into this or any other leadership topic, post a thread for discussion on the forum. If you really have something you want to share with everyone, write an article and send it to me for publishing on Cadetstuff.org.