You Get What You Tolerate
The following is an excerpt from the book Old School is Good School by Chief Master Sergeant Kevin Slater (U.S. Air Force). Reprinted by GovLeaders.org with the author's kind permission.
If you’ve served in the military for any length of time, you’ve undoubtedly spent quite a few hours of your life standing in formation during open ranks inspections, changes-of-command, retirement parades, or other formal military ceremonies. I’m also sure you’ve seen people fall out, some on their faces and others pulled out of formation at the first sign of distress.
As a young NCO, following an opportunity to stand in a change-of-command formation one afternoon, I asked my supervisor his thoughts on why people seemed to be falling out earlier and earlier (some didn’t even make it to the invocation—the invocation was barely five minutes into the ceremony) and in greater numbers (I think we lost five people from a fifty-person formation that day). He delivered a very short response. “You get what you tolerate”, he said.
“Tolerate?” I asked. “Nobody appears to be happy about it or even ok with it. What do you mean by tolerate?” He looked more than a little irritated when he gave me his full explanation.
He said, “Before every opportunity we remind everyone to hydrate, to wiggle their toes, to bounce slightly on the balls of their feet, not to lock their knees, and not to focus their vision on a single object or point. Yet, every time we have at least a few people fail to follow our direction and fall out. How do we respond? We respond by having First Sergeants, supervisors, medics and others coddle them, console them, and fawn over them. We darn near feel bad for them. I can’t think of another task we charge our people to carry out where we respond to failure in this way.”
He went on to say, “Think about it. Even our language encourages this behavior. During the planning meeting, do planners say, let’s have First Sergeants and medics ready just in case people fall out? Of course not. They say, let’s have first sergeants and medics ready for WHEN people fall out. Geez, we even have ‘extras’ often placed behind the formation to ‘fill in the hole’ NOT in case someone falls out, but for WHEN someone falls out. We’ve planned a self-fulfilling prophecy. We’re telling our Airmen we expect them to fall out rather than telling our Airmen it is unacceptable to fall out.”
He finished with, “Have you ever wondered why the commander of troops, Group, Squadron, or Flight Commander, First Sergeant, flag and/or guidon bearer never fall out, yet any number of flight members do? Not one of these primary players in a formation would ever bring upon themselves the embarrassment of falling out in full view of participants and guests. The self-discipline instilled in each serves as all the motivation they need to remain standing tall even while their feet tire and sweat brings discomfort to places we won’t discuss. They wouldn’t tolerate themselves falling out.”
Want to stop the madness? Tell your people you won’t tolerate them falling out of formation. Consider reprimanding those who do. Think that’s too harsh? Well, then you’ll continue to get what you tolerate—and you can bet these results will extend beyond formations too—it’s just a matter of time. What else will you tolerate?
Chief Master Sergeant Kevin Slater has served as an American Airman for almost three decades. He has served as a Command Master Sergeant three times at the Wing and once at a Numbered Air Force. Chief Slater has served overseas during the Cold War and in the United States Central Command Area of Responsibility engaged in Operations Iraqi Freedom and Enduring Freedom following the events of 9/11.
Copyright © 2011 by Kevin G. Slater