(10 hours ago)Fireball Wrote:(10 hours ago)Thumpalumpacus Wrote: I heard that on the radio while out running errands. That man is a leader. When he talked about demanding his subordinates to come forward with any skepticism, and how Trump surrounding himself with yes people can only lead to problems, he really hit the nail on the head.
I remember in Boot Camp that some poor sap in our midst was nominated to be the company's representative to the base commander. Company Commander called him, "The Commander's ratman". I'm certainly glad that I didn't get that task. But I wouldn't have been a "Yes Man", either. I worked for a major aerospace company (actually many, in the southern California area) and was told a bit of information about a process that had not been reported to the gov, that had serious issues. It had to do with the strength of a material when it aged. Stress analysts were all over that, as the delivered product depended on their analyses, and it didn't actually meet specs. It was an issue that the company (and quite likely the customers) had known about for decades, given the nothingburger that it turned into.
When I reported for duty at Carswell AFB I had the good fortune to draw an excellent supervisor (SSgt Lucas MacDonald, you better believe I remember his name). Sgt Mac was a great trainer. He knew I'd follow his orders, but at the same time tolerated me questioning them provided we weren't on a fireground or exercise, operational things.
I think all good leaders should encourage not only that inquisitiveness but the spine that guys like you or those engineers from Morton-Thiokol or McDonnell-Douglas who tried to stop disasters. "Sir, you're about to step on your dick" is often decent advice. A good leader is able to hear it.
