Learn something from a Janitor?

[SASless]

An excerpt from a short article about Military Leadership.

http://www.costoffreedom.org/CoF_pg3_Crawford.html


William "Bill" Crawford certainly was an unimpressive figure, one you could easily overlook during a hectic day at the U.S. Air Force Academy. Mr.Crawford, as most of us referred to him back in the late 1970s, was our squadron janitor.

While we cadets busied ourselves preparing for academic exams, athletic events, Saturday morning parades and room inspections, or never-ending leadership classes, Bill quietly moved about the squadron mopping and buffing floors, emptying trash cans, cleaning toilets, or just tidying up the mess 100 college-age kids can leave in a dormitory. sadly, and for many years, few of us gave him much notice, rendering little more than a passing nod or throwing a curt, "G'morning" in his direction as we hurried off to our daily duties.

Why?

Perhaps it was because of the way he did his job-he always kept the squadron area spotlessly clean, even the toilets and showers gleamed. Frankly, he did his job so well, none of us had to notice or get involved. After all, cleaning toilets was his job, not ours.

Maybe it was is physical appearance that made him disappear into the background. Bill didn't move very quickly and, in fact, you could say he even shuffled a bit, as if he suffered from some sort of injury.
His gray hair and wrinkled face made him appear ancient to a group of young cadets. And his crooked smile, well, it looked a little funny. Face it, Bill was an old man working in a young person's world.

What did he have to offer us on a personal level?

Finally, maybe it was Mr. Crawford's personality that rendered him almost invisible to the young people around him. Bill was shy, almost painfully so. He seldom spoke to a cadet unless they addressed him first, and that didn't happen very often. Our janitor always buried himself in his work, moving about with stooped shoulders,a quiet gait, and an averted gaze. If he noticed the hustle and bustle of cadet life around him, it was hard to tell. So, for whatever reason, Bill blended into the woodwork and became just another fixture around the squadron. The Academy, one of our nation's premier leadership laboratories, kept us busy from dawn till dusk.

... and Mr. Crawford...well, he was just a janitor.[/QUOTE]

A bit of background on the Janitor....


http://www.medalofhonor.com/WilliamCrawford.htm

[scottishbeefer]

A lesson for us all...

[7gcbc]

Actually it would have been good if the Cadets respected the Janitor , IRRESPECTIVE of any medal, it smacks of fawning and "playing the game" once they knew he had a medal.

Does not impress me one bit, they should have shown respect and had concern for the janitor , regardless of their knowledge as they already knew he was a vet. :confused:

[airborne_artist]

When I joined the RN, my Dad suggested I practice what he reckoned to have invented, MBWA - management by wandering around. As a Sub Lt he found 30 mins every day to go around the ship talking to the lads. He found out which teams they supported, heard about their new babies, girlfriend grief etc, just by stopping and listening.

He would often surprise their Divisional Officers by telling them things about their lads they didn't know. My Dad retired as a 1*, and 15 years later was still getting Christmas cards from retired POs and Chiefs he'd met 40+ years earlier.

[Tourist]

It's people like your dad who are to blame for the Divisional cr@p we get nowadays!
Engineers should be looked after by Engineering officers.
Cooks and chefs by Pussers in charge of catering.
Aircrew officers should look after crewies and NCO aircrew.
Divisional system is a bag of w@nk!

[ukatco_535]

A nice story,

But it is just basic common sense and courtesy at the end of the day.

[SASless]

7G,

None are so blind as they that will not see....your usual insightful post we all look forward to reading.

[BEagle]

A salutary lesson indeed, SASless, and thanks for bringing it to our attention.

I doubt whether the Cadets were ever disrespectful of Mr Crawford. Rather that they showed him normal basic everyday courtesy until they learned of his gallantry - thereafter they showed him the honour and respect which all juniors (or rather, every uniformed military person) should show to such a distinguished veteran.

7gcbc and two-wrister, your comments are rather inappropriate on a thread discussing such an unassuming hero.

[South Bound]

I thought the Col's 10 leadership lessons were pretty accurate, especially when directed at some of the junior leaders taking their first commands...

I agree it is common sense, but how many of us arrived in our first jobs and stopped to think about what we were doing? Apologies to those that did, but I learned several of the 10 the hard way...:ouch:

[tonkatechie]

A really interesting story, and a valuable lesson for all ranks.
The MBWA that a_a talks of is a good idea, but only as long as it's done with sincerity - I'm sure his dad is popular to this day as a result of him wanting to do it on his own accord, not because someone has said it's a way to manage, we're dealing with other humans after all, and as we're taught from an early age - treat others how you'd like to be treated.

[Whaaa newark]

Do you know I find myself drawn towards 7g view. What about all the other people that have done equally as brave things, but never got a medal? Does that mean 'well he hasn't got a medal, so *********** to him, I'm not going to talk to him and find out anything about him, he is obviously not worth talking to as all he does is clean the floor'. That attitude stinks.

I really enjoyed that little rant.

No whaaa

[Ali Barber]

Shouldn't they have saluted him rather than "Good morning Mr Crawford"? I thought holders of the CMofH were to be saluted by all others, irrespective of rank.

[7gcbc]

SAS, hows this,

Point 6, Humility , you have to have it before you start, you can't take a class, no matter how much you go through the motions, you cannot fake it.

Once you have developed that, you can then really shine, because as a person, you'll never feel threatened, then you can give all to your team and it really clicks in, Betcha Bill never felt threatened, as the perception was in the cadets eyes , not his, and now ours.


by the way, the measure of a leader is not how good he leads, its how well he protects his team when the sh** hits the fan.

here endeth the lesson. :O

[BEagle]

Ali Barber, I understand that the saluting of Medal of Honor recipients by all other US military personnel, regardless of rank, is a tradition whereas other privileges are enshrined in US law.

[FJJP]

In the early 70s, the MOD Army officers used to doff their bowlers at a tramp sitting on one of the benches on the embankment in front of the MOD buildings.

I found out that he was a holder of the VC. Apparently he refused all attempts at help from the VC Assoc, Army Benevolent Fund, RBL, etc. He told them all to leave him alone - he was content to lead his life his way.

His heroism was rightly recognised, despite his current condition...

[SASless]

by the way, the measure of a leader is not how good he leads,


Is that the kind of Logic you use in your daily life 7g?

You some sort of a AOC are you Guv?

[7gcbc]

SAS, hows this,
by the way, the measure of a leader is not how good he leads, its how well he protects his team when the sh** hits the fan.
here endeth the lesson. :O


I believe the quote was as above, when you agree to that, and not selectively editing or clipping it for some rather pathetic "getaround" then we'll discuss, either way, you've played a card, and I've seen it.

Good luck. :ok:

[BEagle]

7gcbc, perhaps you should desist from teaching SASless about combat leadership - much as you should stop talking such utter nonsense in another forum about how Flight Instructors should teach the recognition and recovery from a fully developed stall with minimum height loss....

[7gcbc]

ah! Wing commander Beagle !!, are you the same Wing Commander that derides and demeans US flight training ? Perhaps your should share such sentiments with SAS ?

Either way, Bill Crawford should have been treated with respect, whatever you or I think.

thanks

7gcbc

trust me mate, any student of mine is going to have a huge arsenal of spin recovery to draw from, inverted, accelerated, cross ctrl, bad recovery and so forth.

I'd be a tosser for not making sure they know how, and we're going to end up on our back and arse more times than I can count, and I'll do it again and again and again until they get it.

cos mate, thats' what keeps you alive :)


ah, I went to a US of A flight school, and they were absolutely excellent, and I mean that like they invented it, which of course , they did. :D

[SASless]

7g,

Perhaps you missed the point of the good Colonel's writings....he noted clearly the Cadets were courteous of Bill before they knew of his Medal of Honor but then went to extra efforts to show their respect by improving their effect upon his workload and in other ways after learning of his background.

You might also have missed that Bill, and Army enlisted man, is buried at the US Air Force Academy.

To lead men well, in combat, demands far more of a leader than in any other situation. Maybe you might consider drinking from the chalice you offer...a bit of humility never hurts.

I certainly hope you are not confusing a powder horn with an arsenal?

[str12]

ah, I went to a US of A flight school, and they were absolutely excellent, and I mean that like they invented it, which of course , they did. :D
1783 - Montgolfier brothers conducted first public display of hot-air ballon flight
1852 - Frenchman Henry Giffard demonstrated first controlled powered ballon flight
1890 - German engineer Otto Lilienthal made over 2000 flights using hang-gliders
1900 - Count von Zeppelin flew his first airship LZ 1
1903 - First powered heavier-than-air flight by Orville Wright

Flight, 100 Years of Aviation by R. G. Grant [Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum; Duxford Imperial War Museum]

Good book, lots of great pictures plus the odd fact or two...:8

Respect to William "Bill" Crawford

[Tigs2]

7g
by the way, the measure of a leader is not how good he leads, its how well he protects his team when the sh** hits the fan.
here endeth the lesson. :O

you need to go back to school on this one! The definition of a leader is "someone who has the ability to get the best out of their people for any given situation" I had a boss in war! who was the best boss ever in peace time but when in war was not there for us. We had one guy stand in when it all went horribly wrong (ie when the sh*t hits the fan) and he could not do it either. You have to do the whole lot not just one or the other.