Lessons in Leadership

A talk with Ron Fogleman

On Tuesday, July 12, 2016, AARs Board Chairman, Ron Fogleman, who is also a retired four-star General
in the U.S. Air Force (USAF), sat down with CEO David Storch in the Wood Dale HQ to talk about
leadership. This event was the second in a series of discussions designed give employees the
opportunity to get to know our Board Members and benefit from their experience.
David moderated the conversation and Ron kept it educational, inspirational, personal and fun. When
asked what Ron felt was important to being an effective leader, he put an emphasis on keeping it simple
and applying three core values the USAF taught him: service before self; integrity in all that you do; and
excellence during execution. He also mentioned a few basic rules he believes contribute to being a good
leader:
1)
2)
3)
4)

Dont rule through fear

Never lose your temper in public
Zero tolerance for harassment or discrimination
Demonstrate integrity, trust and loyalty

He went on to say that leaders learn one day and one experience at a time. He felt the key to keeping
employees motivated was good communication and providing an understanding as to why the mission
or in our case, the job - is important. Everyone wants to believe in something higher than oneself, he
said.
Almost as crucial, Ron said, when there is an obstacle, a leader does not fault the system or
circumstance, but rather steps up to work out the problem and find a solution. He went on to say that
leaders must have vision; share their goals; execute; grow; and mentor those they work alongside. He
shared a story about a half a pair of pliers he found in his garage after his sons had left home. He
originally looked at it and thought well, this is useless and was about to throw it out when he realized
that the broken tool was the perfect size to remove hubcaps on Miss Janes (an endearing name he
and others calls his wife) car. A leader should be able to identify an opportunity to focus on a unique
strength verses a weakness.
Thanks General Fogleman for taking the time to share your insights with AAR and helping us all to
become better leaders.