Analyzing Good Leadership in the Air Force: Theories and Practices

This report examines leadership within the Air Force, defining it as a crucial human factor for motivating teams to achieve desired outcomes. It contrasts good and bad leadership, highlighting the importance of effective leadership in military settings. The research describes leadership in the Air Force as an institutional character that fosters unity and trust among airmen, essential for success during peace and war. Various leadership theories are explored, including classical theory, and their application within the Australian Air Force. The report emphasizes the importance of strategic leader development through self-development, operational activities, organizational education, and training. It concludes that while institutional training is valuable, self-development and practical experience are vital for cultivating effective leaders in the Air Force, enabling them to maintain discipline, responsibility, and fulfill critical missions.

Running head: GOOD LEADERSHIP IN AIR FORCE
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Good Leadership in Air Force
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Executive Summary
Primarily, the research concentrated on the description of leadership in the Air Force. The report
then focused on the explanation of the available leadership theories. The discussion then
continued with the chosen event of good leadership that resulted in success followed by the
leadership implications in the Air Force and military of Australia. Finally, the report ended with
a conclusion.

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Table of Contents
1.0 Introduction................................................................................................................................4
2.0 Description of leadership in Air Force and Military.................................................................4
3.0 Leadership Theories...................................................................................................................5
4.0 Event of good leadership that resulted in success within Australian Air Force........................5
6.0 Conclusion.................................................................................................................................6
7.0 References..................................................................................................................................8

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1.0 Introduction
Leadership is regarded as the act of directing and it is considered to be the ability of an
individual in influencing a group of people for achieving any kind of desired outcomes. The act
of leadership can be subdivided into two distinct parts which include good leadership and bad
leadership. A good leadership is regarded as the human factor which helps in motivating the
people to achieve any desired goal while a bad leadership may lead to the failure of any project
that was achievable. The chosen area of aerospace for this report is Air Force which is
considered to be a branch of military service. The event that is chosen for this report is related to
the good leadership in the Air Force department of Australia and which resulted in success.
Primarily, the research concentrates on the description of leadership in the Air Force. The
report then focuses on the explanation of the available leadership theories. The discussion then
continues with the chosen event of good leadership that resulted in success followed by the
leadership implications in the Air Force and military of Australia. Finally, the report ends with a
conclusion.
2.0 Description of leadership in Air Force and Military
According to the research it has been found that a good leadership is regarded as the
institutional character of Air Force within a dynamic military environment. Leadership helps in
creating bondage among the airmen and serves as a foundation for the achievements in Air Force
during the time of peace and war (Suchenwirth, 2017). Enhancement of the leadership in Air
Force results in fulfilling the challenges related to military settings and will also help in
developing a mutual respect and trust within the Australian Air Force team. When the leadership

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practices are developed with good management skills then the military organizations get better
attention within the society (Blake & Lange, 2018).
3.0 Leadership Theories
In the research, it has been found that there are several kinds of leadership theories
available that can be utilized with the military settings. Based on the classical theory it can be
seen that the classic leader within the military settings utilizes several methods that generally
concentrates on personal gain for maximizing the organizational benefits thereby reducing the
costs of military resources (Lumpé, 2016).
4.0 Event of good leadership that resulted in success within Australian Air
Force
Every kind of organization is composed of a distinct culture that helps in shaping and
supporting their philosophies of leadership. During the research, it has been analyzed that the
leadership thinking and the organizational culture gets affected due to the distinction between the
military and civilian sectors (Radford, 2014). In most of the civilian organizations, it can be seen
the employees are not keeping their lives at risk for fulfilling their working objectives. But in the
case of the military settings, the Air Force team dedicates their life to the betterment of the nation
and which can only be achieved with effective leadership qualities (Builder, 2017).
Researchers have found that the members of the Air Force in Australia have to pass
through several kinds of hardships for developing the interpersonal bondage by utilizing their
leadership skills (Hong & Lee, 2016). The leadership within the military settings tries to fulfill
the requirement of any mission under critical conditions. After applying various kinds of

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leadership theories to the Air Force it has been found that the team members within the military
settings became much responsible followed by maintaining a disciplined structure. It is the
common task of all the leaders in Air Force to maintain the act of leadership within the
subordinates. The framework for strategic leader development in Air Force concentrates on three
crucial factors which include self-development, operational activities within the military settings,
organizational education, and training (Singh, Raj & Tambe, 2018).
According to the research, it has been identified that the institutional education and
training provides help to the leaders for acquiring behavior, knowledge, and necessary skills that
are required to perform the duty in Air Force (Harrison, 2015). It can be seen that good leaders
mostly learn the leadership theories with the usage of computer simulation, practical experiences,
and by following the past case studies on good leadership. Self-development is utilized in the
military settings for enhancing the seniority of the leaders. When the leaders in the Air Force
gets good ranking then their working structure also becomes unique in nature (Cowart, 2015).
Thus, it can be seen that the institutional training does not fully help in preparing good leaders
rather for becoming good leaders in the Air Force it is necessary to enhance self-development
through personal study and personal experience.
6.0 Conclusion
After the examination of the research, it can be reasoned that a good leadership is viewed
as the human factor which helps in inspiring the general population to accomplish any desired
objective while a bad leadership may prompt the failure of any project which was achievable.
Researchers have analyzed that leadership helps in creating bondage within the airmen and
serves as a foundation for the achievements in Air Force during the time of peace and war.

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Considering the instance of the military settings it can be said that the Air Force group commits
their life for the advancement of the country and which must be accomplished with viable
leadership qualities. In addition, the classical theory portrays that the classic leader inside the
military settings uses a few strategies that generally concentrates on personal gain for
maximizing the organizational benefits thereby reducing the costs of military resources. After
applying various kinds of leadership theories to the Air Force it has been found that the team
members within the military settings became much responsible followed by maintaining a
disciplined structure. In the examination, it has been discovered that the institutional instruction
and training gives assistance to the leaders in obtaining conduct, knowledge, and fundamental
skills that are required to work properly in the Air Force. Finally, it is found that the institutional
training does not completely help in getting great leaders rather become great leaders in the Air
Force it is important to improve self-development through individual lessons and individual
experience.

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7.0 References
Blake, D., & Lange, T. (2018). A new horizon: Australia in the global space race. AQ-Australian
Quarterly, 89(3), 8.
Builder, C. H. (2017). The Icarus Syndrome: The Role of Air Power Theory in the Evolution and
Fate of the US Air Force. Routledge.
Cowart, J. S. (2015). Organizational leadership: A study on the effects of certification to
International Organization for Standardization (ISO).
Harrison, M. (2015). How leadership attributes influence employee loyalty in the aerospace
industry: An exploratory qualitative inquiry (Doctoral dissertation, Capella University).
Hong, S. J., & Lee, K. S. (2016). Early Morning Concurrent Session:
Leadership/Innovation/Aerospace Technology/Applications: Presentation: Perception of
safety culture for Air Traffic Controllers in Korea.
Radford, J. B. (2014). The United States Air Force Aims to be Fueled by Innovation, but is it
Developing Leaders Who Can Hit That Target?. ARMY COMMAND AND GENERAL
STAFF COLLEGE FORT LEAVENWORTH KS.
Singh, S., Raj, P., & Tambe, S. (Eds.). (2018). Proceedings of the International Conference on
Modern Research in Aerospace Engineering: MRAE-2016. Springer.
Suchenwirth, R. (2017). Command and Leadership in the German Air Force. Pickle Partners
Publishing.