I have not read this entire thread and hence might repeat some words of wisdom already offered.
I did a 12 week OCTU in late 63/early 64 amongst direct entrants and ground and aircrew NCOs, who were going for a commission. I asked a Sergeant AEO what I should do when taking up my first job: ‘keep your mouth shut and your eyes open’ was his advice and I did my best to follow that. QRs imposed a specific task on warrant officers to guide junior officers and it was accepted generally that pilot officers were still learning and to a certain extent on probation.
On day to day matters, I usually sought advice from an ancient flight sergeant with anything new and I never tried to chuck my weight around except on one occasion when I was taken aside by a senior flight lieutenant who offered a few words of wisdom and it never happened again. I was always prepared to admit I didn’t know something and tried not blunder into the pooh too often. Years later, as a wing commander, I had a bumptious young officer who was trying to lord it over a warrant officer. I said to the officer, something like; “I don’t always do what Mr ‘X’ says I should do but I always listen to his view and if I go in a different direction, I always tell him why”.
In summary, I don’t think officers need to serve a period in the ranks but they do need guidance in their early years and I sometimes wonder if that fact isn’t lost amongst all the fancy management speak and box ticking.
One thing always stands out: ‘treat others as you expect to be treated’.
My wife, a retired sqn ldr, said that when anything difficult needed a decision, she applied the test: 'what will the subsequent Board of Enquiry find'?
Old Duffer