Look at the whole screen

  • Published
  • By Capt. Santiago Camacho
  • 9th Force Support Squadron
BEALE AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. --  I have been fortunate enough to work with many outstanding individuals at Beale during the last three years. In recalling Maj. Jelks' commentary in the last issue; I cannot thank those team members enough for what they have helped me with while being a part of the Force Support Squadron (FSS). These "thank yous" are important to me, because it helps me appreciate each piece of the mission and how that contributes to the overall picture.

There was a Beale track meet a few weeks back that I attended in which I had the opportunity to converse with one of the volunteers. The young Airman and I were talking about role models and in the conversation the Airman told me about a leader that shared an important concept. This idea was the very goal I had going in as the acting commander for FSS. That idea (my striving goal) was to "not focus on each pixel, but to sit back and look at the whole screen." I thought about what that meant from two different perspectives.

The first perspective is from the literal sense. If I were to stare at any television set from a distance of only 1 to 2 inches, I would be able to see individual pixels. If I were to stay at that distance for a prolonged period of time, I would probably go blind or have temporary blurred vision at the very least. The details are great, but are we "blinded" from the bigger picture if we do not pay attention to the rest of the mural?

The second perspective is from a metaphorical sense. This is the one point of view I challenge everyone to contemplate. I would venture to say most would agree that we are an extremely busy military, and that operation tempos have been further constrained with fiscal challenges (i.e. furloughs and sequestration). It would be easy to lose sight of the big picture when we each are side-tracked by small "fires" within our respective organizations. Have we each been losing sight of the big picture and not thanking or getting to know those who make the mission happen? There is no time, unless you make time. As a supervisor you should be getting out from behind your desk and physically showing-up to socialize with your colleagues and subordinates at their work centers. Wings, Groups and Squadrons are obviously diverse and unless you take time to understand the breadth of your mission, you will always be stuck in just knowing what is only a couple of inches in front of you.

In summary, I have found great pleasure in strengthening my team by getting to know the talents, hobbies, family members, likes and dislikes along with the aspirations of the people I work with who support me. It is a privilege to lead and follow, but it is more of a privilege to "lean back in a chair" and witness what we all, as a team, have done and will do. The pixels that make up a common computer screen are little, but the total sum and connected relationships they all have project an image that is larger than each of us alone. The bottom-line: Your mission statement can only clearly be read if your nose is not touching the computer monitor.