Effective leadership at all levels and across all ranks will be key to the Service’s success in meeting the challenges of new technology, expeditionary warfare, structural changes to the defence organisation, an increasingly diverse workforce and changes in wider society that affect our people and those we seek to recruit.

The view of the RAF Leadership Centre aligns with that of the Defence Leadership and Management Centre (DLMC), in that the possession of any particular set of attributes or characteristics does not guarantee success in leadership and no list is exhaustive. However, any organisation seeks a particular contribution from its leaders and the following list of attributes outlines those required by the RAF. This list does not contradict those attributes identified by the DLMC but rather complements them.

Warfighter, Courageous All our personnel, commissioned or non-commissioned must be, first and foremost, warfighters and second specialists, though they may be second to none in their specialisation. The distinction between the front line and the support area will become increasingly blurred and all of us need to be military minded and of a determined fighting spirit to overcome the adversity of circumstances that any of us may face in operations. Physical courage is expected of all leaders, as far as each is able to give, but we must nurture moral courage to do the right thing.

Emotionally Intelligent Self-awareness is one of the key foundations of effective leadership. Leaders who know themselves will be able to develop self-control and subsequently understand the needs of others. This will enable them to manage relationships at all levels better and remain calm under pressure. Thus individuals will be able to function as part of a wider team, invariably multidisciplinary, increasingly joint and often multinational, in the delivery of military capability.

Flexible and Responsive In a world that is now changing faster than ever, where technology is advancing rapidly, the RAF needs leaders who are flexible in approach and able to consider new ways of doing things. RAF leaders must be open minded, responsive to change, constantly looking for the opportunities that change brings and be able to cope with the discomfort that is associated with change.

Willing to Take Risks The RAF needs leaders who understand the difference between a gamble and a risk and are willing to take measured risks in appropriate areas without abrogating responsibility. This will be achieved if leaders at all levels fulfil 2 roles: they must themselves set the example in this regard and must develop an ethos where a failure to act is considered a more serious fault than making a mistake.

Mentally Agile – Physically Robust Our leaders need to be able to handle complex and multifarious problems and have the creativity and mental agility to move quickly between various concepts. Their thinking must be innovative and their minds receptive. They must be physically robust and able to withstand the strain of operations, so that their mental capacity does not fail them under stress.

Able to Handle Ambiguity Ambiguity pervades our lives and becomes prevalent with the Clauswitzian ‘friction’ that causes the fog of war. At the more junior levels of leadership there may be little ambiguity but at the highest levels it is considerable. Our leaders must be able to handle it and, if possible, turn it to their advantage.

Politically and Globally Astute Leaders will be more effective depending upon their aptitude in two areas. The first is their ability to understand and thus cope with the politics of their immediate environment and, hence, their ability to influence those around them. Similarly, a leader’s awareness of much wider issues at a national and international level, and their ability to put their actions and decisions into the context of air power and air warfare, is crucial.

Technologically Competent The RAF culture has always been to embrace new technology. It behoves all members of the RAF to be competent within their specialisation and many, at various stages of their career, will need to display considerable expertise. Yet, in the age of Network Enabled Capability, this may not be enough. Leaders must strive to keep pace with technological advances on a broad front, through a focus on continual personal development, so as to ensure its most effective application.

Able to Lead tomorrow’s Recruit As society develops, each new generation of recruits to the RAF is different. They have been seen by some as worse – Children today are tyrants. They contradict their parents, gobble their food, and tyrannize their teachers. (Socrates - 469 BC - 399 BC) – t'was always thus. Leaders must recognise the qualities the new generation brings and must learn the leadership skills that will allow them to maximise their potential. Everyone in the chain of command needs to understand the new generation, be able to lead and inspire them so that in their turn they will lead the RAF to new heights of excellence

Should I look around for another studying centre and re-do my A levels somewhere else, but I'm 18 now and that would mean finishing around age 20-21 meaning I would be having to pay for education also

I'm in quite a prediciment at the moment.Basically I'm currently studying for my AS levels at college (which I have to say is s**t)So I've been looking at the RAF webby and looking at a possible career as a WSOp.