Useless People

I knew I had done a write up awhile back about useless Managers and Supervisors, but I didn't remember what I wrote. I found the original (Feb 16, 2007) but it mentioned more about the useless people in the Corporate world. Which, believe me, there are more than you can count out there. I have no use for those people. The military, on the other hand, doesn't have quite as many, but in this day and age of political correctness and being sensitive to every one's needs, we are starting to get more and more each year. It's a sad state of affairs when the US Military starts worrying about people's feelings. I can honestly say that, when I got out of the Air Force in 1996, I had 2 supervisors that I thought were great guys and role models to being a supervisor. These guys a couple of great guys. We even partied together outside work. But if you screwed them over they would bust your ass just you like deserved to be busted. On the other hand, if you did everything you were supposed to do and you did it to the best of your ability, they would stand behind you 100% no matter who was coming down on them. That's what good supervisor is. And, I will never forget Pat Thorsen nor Matthew Teasdale as long as I live because of their mentoring, their motivational skills, their support and their friendship. Both of these guys had plenty of reason to bust my ass, but both of them also saw what potential I had and they never gave up on me, no matter how much outside forces were trying to make them. And, for that, I am eternally grateful. I have patterned my supervisory skills after both of guys. And, I believe, after quite of few years of supervising young airmen that have made a few mistakes themselves, I think I did a pretty good job of emulating my supervisory "heros."

Now, I was Active Duty for 11 years. And I had TWO supervisors like that. That's not a good ratio. But, since getting out of the Active Duty Air Force and being a civilian for the last 11 years, I can tell you I have had exactly ZERO supervisors that were worth a crap. Not a single one!!! They have all been "Yes" men with no backbone. None have had the balls to stand up to anyone that even questions our motives, much less downright disagrees with what we're doing or how we're doing it. It has been super frustrating dealing with this useless people. After getting royally screwed by my supervisors at both Deltacom and Powertel, I realized that the only person that was ever going to have my back was me. But, when I cam back to the Military, I expected things to go back to the way they were when I was Active Duty. Wrong. The kindler, gentler Air Force has brought about the same type of supervisors and officers that I saw on the outside. No backbone and no backing of their people. They are too afraid of pissing off some higher up, so they just bend on command. It's sad, but I've learned to deal with it. I just go in, do my job and leave. I don't stick around, I don't go the extra mile anymore. It never helped anyway. After they proved that they aren't going to back us when the chips are down, we just do our job to the best of our ability and leave it at that. I don't ask for permission to do anything. I do what needs to be done to get the job done. If it wasn't the right call, then maybe someone will say something to me. But, with these people, it's doubtful. So, I don't put too much worry into repercussions of doing my job the way I see fit. As you can tell, I'm really not worried about it if I'm going sit here and discuss it on a World Wide BLOG. LOL.. Of course, all personal pages are blocked on Base, so none of them can read this anyway. Not that I care. I'll never write anything on this or my website that I wouldn't tell them to their face. But, they are too caught up in their little political ass kissing games to be bothered by a little person's opinion, like mine anyway, so it's moot point. But, I do like to vent and get my feelings out there. That's what helps me release the "pissed-offed-ness" that sometimes keeps me awake at night. Hopefully, this will help me get back to sleep tonight. Actually, I think it might.. My mind is starting to slow as I type now.

On a brighter note: We have booked a charter to dive the Oriskany, the aircraft carrier intentionally sunk of the shore of Pensacola, FL on 28 July. That's gonna be a blast!!! Of course, there will be a trip report and pics when I get back.

4:00 am Ramblings

For the first time in a long time, I don't have anything specific I want to talk about. I woke up at 2:30 am this morning and haven't been able to go back to sleep. So, I got up around 3:30 and have been at the computer for about 45 minutes surfing my addictive Scuba Diving Forums. I figured I'd start writing and sooner or later a subject would hit me.

For those of you interested in the Forums:
Diving Talk is a fairly new and pretty low key forum. There isn't a huge amount of users on this one yet, but the membership is growing. Most folks that are on there are nice and helpful.
Then you have ScubaBoard. This is the mac-daddy of the Scuba Diving forums, in my opinion. Huge amount of members and many different areas to search. If you have any diving related questions, you can get your answer there. I am a member of both as "dalehall." Yeah, I know, that's a real original screen name.

Around the home, there isn't much going on, for a change. I almost have my voice back. I can, at least, carry on a conversation with others now. There have been no more outbreaks of virus' or anything else at the house, the daycare, or either work place, so we are thankful for that. (knock on wood) Both baby and #1 Mom are doing fine. In fact, Baby Ansley was just stirring, so I went in and gave her back her "passi" and she fell right back to sleep.

Valentine's Day has gone and passed. Heather and I normally don't do anything for Valentine's Day. V Day, to me, is just another "Hallmark" holiday made to make you spend money at card stores and flower shops. As Heather stated, we don't need someone else telling us we're supposed to treat the other special on this day. So, normally, we just skip the whole ordeal. But, this year, I had a change of heart, and didn't tell her. I just thought about all the ladies at her work getting flowers and her being one of only a handful that didn't get any. The thought didn't thrill me, so I had some sent to her. She loved them, but felt bad in the beginning because I sent her something and she didn't do anything for me. I told her my reasoning behind it and she was fine. Normally, when we set "rules" for gift giving, I follow them, but I just had to kinda ignore them this year.

I've been helping my niece do her home study for her confined water portion coming this Saturday. That was the first time I actually sat down and taught anyone how to use the Recreational Dive Planner. I was surprised how much I still retained and how much I had forgotten due to not doing certain portions. Like, I can get my pressure group after a dive, surface interval and a second dive with my residual nitrogen time. That's the easy bit. But, I never determine the shortest surface interval I can take to get back in the water for a certain dive and a certain amount of time. So, I had to re-learn how to do that. But, as long as you know the basics of the table, it's all cake to figure out. (No, I don't use the electronic version of the tables) But, helping her do that along with the other areas in the plan and helping Steve in the pool helps me to become a better diver all around.

Speaking of becoming a better diver, I finally have a date for my Rescue Dives... 31 March and 1 April, I will finally get my Rescue Diver class completed. Since I did my paperwork back in September of last year, I'll have to brush up on all of that again, but I'm ready to get this one out of the way.

I'm sure you've heard the old saying about people getting "promoted to the level of their incompetence." Yeah, that's about the same everywhere you go. But, in my instance, I seem to get those that get promoted by the amount of backbone they have removed. No one seems to have the balls to make a decision anymore. And, if they do make a decision, it's only after making complete sure they aren't going to offend anyone or make anyone mad by what they decide. And, if it does offend someone, they are quick to change their mind and recant their decision. These people amaze me. Sorry folks, I don't work that way. When it comes to my job, I make a decision and I stand by it whether it pisses people off or not. I finally got to the point, a few years ago, that I don't ask my boss for his opinion when it comes to my job. I was put in charge of the shop and I make the decisions as I see fit. If they have a problem with it (which 99 times out of 100, they don't) then they can come talk to me about it. But I believe in that old Navy Admiral's philosophy: "It's better to ask for forgiveness than to ask for permission." I live by that and I think others ought to also. If you're in a decision making position, do yourself and your people a favor: Grow a set, make a decision and stand by it. If it's wrong, so be it. You'll know better for next time, but at least you made a decision and you're people will respect you for it. If you don't have the balls to make a decision, they're all laughing at you and disrespecting you and your lack of a back-bone any time you walk. How do I know? Because, if you look at the management I've had over the last 10 years, you'd know I've been doing it most of the time. That may not be very adult or PC, but respect from me is earned. You don't automatically get it just because you are above me on the chain of command. You must earn my respect and trust. Just as I must earn the trust and respect of those under me. I will tell you this, the military has a better ratio of back-boned supervisors than Corporate America. Corporate America is filled with prima-donna CEO wannabe's that work their way up the ladder with ass kissing and not hard work. And the quickest way to move of the corporate ladder? Be a "Yes Man." When I worked at Deltacom, I only had one supervisor that had a set on him. Of course, he only lasted a few years and then went on to a real company. All the rest were spineless jellyfish of men that couldn't make a decision if their mother's life depended on it. They were a complete joke. Military doesn't promote by being a "Yes man", so they have people that will actually do what they are supposed to do to get the job done. However, not every supervisor is that way. We still have our "jellyfishes" we have to deal with also. But, at least I can say, with complete confidence, I'm not one of them.

See, I knew I find a subject to get me ranting this morning. :)