Supervision and constructive discipline

Supervision To “Supervise” means to direct and observe one’s followers in fulfillment of the mission. As a leader you are not only responsible for inspiring your people to achieve, but also making sure they complete their goal. There are three specific characteristics of good supervisors: -Trust -Fairness -Wisdom

Trust: The Cornerstone of Supervision Leaders of large groups cannot supervise and directly monitor every little thing each follower does. As a leader you need to be able to trust your subordinates to accomplish tasks without you watching them. Trust is a two way street: If your followers see that you trust them, they will trust, and in turn, respect you.

Fairness This means applying the same set of rules to everybody equally. Bigotry is your biggest enemy when it comes to fairness. You must be able to treat the followers you don’t like just as well as the ones you do. If you aren’t fair, your followers WILL notice. You will lose trust, respect, and your overall influence on the group.

Wisdom Wisdom is required in order to know what is fair or unfair. Wisdom is required to better understand one’s followers. As a leader you must be able to treat things that are alike in the same way. This cannot be done without the virtue of wisdom.

Constructive Discipline A positive learning process that provides a mistaken person with the corrections they need to do better in what they failed at. In order to discipline constructively, one must understand the following concepts: -Ability vs. Willingness -Praise in Public, Correct in Private -The Right Time -Control of Emotions -Correcting the Performance vs. Attacking the Person -The “Discipline Sandwich”

Ability vs. Willingness Don’t make an assumption as to why someone made a mistake. Verify whether they chose to do something wrong, or whether they were unable to do it correctly. ALWAYS verify your facts before disciplining.

Praise in Public, Correct in Private Nothing motivates a cadet more then being praised in front of the group. Nothing breaks a cadet down more then pointing out their mistakes in front of everyone else.

The Right Time Disciplining a cadet can be hard, but don’t procrastinate. If you wait until days or weeks after it has occurred they will question your ability as a leader. “Why is my Flight Sergeant addressing something I did three weeks ago?” -At this point they may not even really remember what it was they did.

Control your Emotions! Nobody wants to be corrected by the angry, negative Flight Sergeant. All it does is tear your cadets down. Being serious is ok, being angry or emotional shows a lack of leadership and control. Anger frightens, humiliates, and hazes your followers.

Correcting the Performance vs. Attacking the person Attacking the person because of their mistakes only demoralizes them. Focusing on their performance will keep things positive. Part of being an effective supervisor is criticizing mistakes, not people.

The Discipline Sandwich A foolproof formula for keeping your discipline constructive and positive. Step 1: Give the cadet some positive feedback. Step 2: Correct the problem, explaining it in detail and criticizing only the performance, not the person in question. Step 3: Wrap things up with more positive feedback to keep up morale.

Conclusion Good Supervision requires the following: -Trust -Fairness -Wisdom -Constructive Discipline. Good Constructive Discipline requires the following: -Knowing how to discipline without punishing or hurting the cadet. -Being able to tell the difference between Ability and Willingness. -Remembering the Praise in Public, Correct in Private rule. -Correcting mistakes immediately. -Controlling your emotions. -Focusing on the performance and not attacking the person.

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