Commentary: It's up to supervisors to set the standard of excellence Published May 28, 2010 By Master Sgt. Diego Cevallos 100th Operations Support Squadron first sergeant RAF MILDENHALL, England -- Your assignment to RAF Mildenhall offers various challenges, foremost, a desire to excel at your chosen military profession. When asked to stretch beyond self-imposed limits, people often discover abilities they never knew existed. How do we achieve this? To begin with, ensure you and your peers exhibit standards of behavior that remain above reproach. The satisfaction of your subordinates and the success of the squadron are not mutually exclusive - each is dependent upon the other. It's impossible to build pride unless you set high standards. When people achieve excellence they not only distinguish themselves in the eyes of others, they also experience an accomplished feeling from having achieved the extraordinary. They feel like winners. However, having standards is not enough. They must be the correct standards. By correct I mean neither too low nor too high. If you set standards too low you will lose productivity. Standards that are too high can pose a problem as well. If people know the standards are impossible to reach, they will reason, "Why try at all?" Eventually performance and morale will falter. Supervisors have a responsibility to define the standard. You cannot expect a person to meet a standard if they don't recognize what the standard is. Sometimes supervisors get so caught up in telling a person what to do they forget to tell them how to do it. The supervisor has very clear expectations in his or her own mind, and unfortunately, may assume the individual naturally knows what those expectations are. Nevertheless, it is the supervisor's responsibility to communicate the standards and ensure understanding has taken place. Like goals and responsibilities, standards should be communicated repeatedly. Since unit standards reflect the values and philosophies of the Air Force, they should always be communicated during the initial interview or feedback sessions. From the beginning, members should understand this is a unit with very high standards of performance - standards of excellence that everyone is expected to meet. To inspire people to strive for excellence is no easy task. That is especially true if the people you are leading are accustomed to doing average work. Here is when you step in. A good supervisor expects double the effort, three times the output, and vast improvements in quality. People simply do not like to change and will fight it every step of the way. Provided your standards are high but realistic, it will simply be a matter time, patience, and work on your part. Your job is to bring them along step by step, to the point where they can meet your standards and take pride in their accomplishments. You will know you have arrived when the people reporting to you begin to enforce these same high standards. When supervisors and subordinates begin to enforce standards once believed to be unreasonable, you have done your job. It has now become their standard as well as yours. Set the example for others to follow. The best way to motivate people to achieve excellence is to inspire them through personal example. You are their role model. Everything you do implies a standard to your people - the way you dress, your interactions with peers and superiors, and the quality of your work. Last, but not least, do not forget that our job is to bring our military members up to meet the standard not to bring the standard down to meet them.