The White Falcon - 04.10.1985, Side 8

Bureaucracy/ leadership...
Gen. Lary encounters F-15
Story by Col. Richard R. Prinster
HOLLERMAN AFB, N.M. (TACNS) — Want to bo a bet-
ter leader? Improve your skills as a bureaucrat!
You might wonder if there's really any connec-
tion -- can a bureaucrat really be a leader? You
bet. A leader needs to know the organization, its
goals and its people. He or she must have time to
think about the best ways to meet these goals,
time to talk to people at all levels of the organ-
ization and to "feel the unit's pulse."
"Fine," you say, "what's that got to do with
being a bureaucrat?" In recent years bureaucra-
cies have been cursed with a terrible reputation.
When you want to characterize someone as unthink-
ing or stupid you might call him or her a bureau-
crat. But really, a bureaucracy -- in the original
sense of the word -- is an organization that has
accepted procedures or standardized ways of doing
things.
So every time you follow technical data, comply
with a regulation or fill out a leave request,
you're acting as a bureaucrat. In fact, almost
anything you do in big organization, including
the Air Force, is governed by bureaucratic proce-
dures.
The computer is almost the ultimate bureau-
crat's tool; misused -- as it often is -- it will
swamp you with more data that you can hope to pro-
cess. But used smartly by a manager who knows his
organization, it will condense beams of data into
meaningful information. Do you begin to see the
connection?
A well-designed bureaucracy is the most effi-
cient organization known to man. It will produce
consistant decisions and prducts, orservices and
sorties, with minimum effort. But, you can't
build it and forget it. Circumstances and goals
change rapidly. And if you don't modify your pro-
cedures to accommodate the changing world, you'll
soon have an organization that deserves today's
connotation of bureaucracy -- what I call "mind-
less bureaucracy." You'll have people following
procedures that don't make sense.
By now the connection should be clear: build a
bureaucracy that will make your less-important
decisions almost automatic. It will free your
time to allow you to talk to the folks who count;
it will also give you time to think about and set
goals. As a spinoff, it will teach you a tremen-
dous amount about your organization and whatmakes
it tick.
My comments don't apply only to commanders. We
need leaders at every level. Even at the lowest
organizational level you can use bureaucratic
principles to make the most of your time. Build
a decision so that routine matters don't require
much time. Build a decision matrix so anyone sit-
ting at the desk would know what to do.
A good bureaucracy can be one of the strongest
tools in your bag of leadership tricks. Think
about it -- if you can find the time.
Photo courtesy of Photo Lab
Gen. Lary prepares to board an F-15
During a recent visit to the NATO Base, Maj.
Gen. Buford D. Lary, Deputy Commander for Air
Defense, Tactical Air Command, Langley Air Force
Base, Virginia, was treated to a ride in one of
Keflavik's new F-15 aircraft.
Gen. Lary stopped over at Keflavik to recieve
briefings on the new aircraft and air support
activities provided by the Fifty-Seventh Fighter
Interceptor Squadron (57th FIS). Gen. Lary also
currently serves as the senior military assistant
to the deputy secretary of Defense, Washington,
D.C.
The general also met with several NATO Base
senior military officials before departing for
his headquarters in Virginia.
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October 4, 19d5 The White Falcon