48th FW hosts leadership panel

  • Published
  • By Senior Airman Malcolm Mayfield
  • 48th Fighter Wing Public Affairs
ROYAL AIR FORCE LAKENHEATH, England --  The 48th Fighter Wing hosted a leadership panel, here, in the Strike Eagle Complex auditorium March 1.

The panel was composed of three business leaders who discussed how they develop teams, select leaders and solve problems in their companies. They were interviewed by Lt. Col. Timothy Tendall, 48th Fighter Wing chief of flight safety.

Tendall held the event as part of a mentorship program for officers to develop skills that will help them become well-rounded leaders. The audience was primarily composed of company grade and field grade officers.

“I believe that day-to-day leadership in the U.S. Air Force is essentially identical to leadership in business, just with a vastly different vocabulary and perspective,” said Tendall. “This panel provided a different lens through which the leaders of other teams could see their problems, manage their Airmen and motivate teams to succeed.”

The panelists covered a wide range of topics, from working with younger employees to creating new ways to solve problems, and every response tied back to the same theme: culture.

“Culture is not something you can just paste on,” said Nicholas Wodtke, Veon executive vice president. “You have to believe in something from your core, and then it becomes part of your company’s culture. As a leader you have to understand that everyone is watching you at all times; how you’re behaving, treating your employees, your work ethic and what you stand for.”

Along with creating a strong culture, education was another reoccuring point brought up. Each panelist expressed the importance of creating a space for this generation’s work force to be able to learn and grow.

“Training and development is the first thing we invest in,” said Hugh Cameron, PHD Omnicom chairman. “Like all businesses, you sometime have difficult years, but that is the one thing that we never let go.”

The hour-long question and answer gave those attending an opportunity to see how business is done outside of the Air Force.

“The opportunity to hear business leaders discuss leadership from their perspective is extremely valuable,” Tendall said. “The panelists were able to provide that new angle and I hope the Airmen were able to bring it back to their squadrons.”