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We have all heard the phrase “Sometimes you have to go along to get along.” Some of us may have even used the phrase ourselves.
We have also all heard the Air Force core values of integrity first, service before self and excellence in all we do.
But let me introduce you to another phrase: “We don’t have a choice!”
As an Airman, NCO, senior NCO, officer or civilian leader, we don’t have a choice about sharing the truth or having integrity when it comes to informing our leadership. We do not have to go along to get along. Our leadership expects us to inform them on all the facts as we have them. It is our responsibility to inform our commander, the decision maker, at every level of all the facts. The commander will gather all of the pertinent information they need and make decisions, sometimes life and death decisions, based on the information we provide them. We do our commanders a disservice when we choose to “go along to get along.”
I have been a chief master sergeant for more than a year now. I think every chief will tell you, your Air Force career, as you know it, changes when you sew on chief. People treat chiefs differently — I get that. One of my greatest challenges, however, is to get people to tell me how things are really going. We should all work to get everyone we work with to bring the facts to the table as we find them. The Airmen we reach out to might have the information we need to affect positive change in our unit, wing, Major Command or even the Air Force as a whole.
Will we get yelled at? Yep. Will we get kicked out of offices? I have. Will we silence a conference room in a second? Yep. Will the boss storm out of the meeting? Sometimes. Will the commander have all the facts? As we know them. Will the commander be able to make an informed decision? Most definitely.
We are currently facing some of the most difficult changes our Air Force has seen in more than 25 years. We must provide as much information to our commanders and senior AF leaders as possible. We do not have the choice of going along to get along. We must have the courage to live with integrity and inform our leadership with important information so they can make decisions that are best for the Air Force.
Go along to get along? Not in our Air Force. Not anymore!
