Air University Review, May-June 1976

In a recent article in Airman magazine, General David C. Jones is quoted as saying, in part, about leadership styles: "….develop a style of your own in working with others that is based upon motivation, sensitivity and common sense."¹ The Air Force manager who would develop such a leadership style needs to understand what motivates people, to be sensitive to these factors, and to recognize the differences in the individuals with whom he works.

In studies of the behavioral sciences as applied to management and leadership, the Air Force supervisor becomes familiar with concepts such as the late Douglas McGregor's Theory X and Theory Y approach to managing people: i.e., people are lazy and must be prodded and coerced to produce (Theory X), or people find work to be as natural as play and will work diligently if provided an opportunity (Theory Y).² Frederick Herzberg, in his studies, found that people either tend to be motivation seekers, who wish to excel for the sake of achievement and growth and are willing to take some risks in order to excel, or else they tend to be maintenance seekers, who are more concerned with a safe and secure job and are less willing to take risks than is the motivation seeker.³

Many other theories of motivation and leadership activities are advanced in the myriad of publications in this area. Some are merely an extension of an earlier concept. The degree of usefulness of such theories to the supervisor varies with the supervisor's background and ability to correlate the data presented. However, almost all fail to provide the manager/ supervisor with what he really needs. That is' how does it all fit together? How does he know which theory to consciously apply? The answer lies in the old saying, "Know your people."

Alvin W. Gouldner provided a way to do this when he developed his models of employees by classifying them as either "cosmopolitans," that is, people oriented toward their professional skill, or "locals" those oriented toward the organization.⁴

Gouldner lists the characteristics of two categories of people:

It is important that Air Force managers understand this concept. Talks with young officers indicate that we have moved away from an officer corps composed almost totally of "locals" toward one with a considerable percentage of "cosmopolitans." This appears more evident among the young nonrated officers than among the rated officers. This is primarily because of the various professional specialties found in the nonrated areas, such as research scientists and engineers, personnel officers, instructors in technical areas, and other staff positions. The staff positions demand a type of specialized knowledge, skill, education, or experience which relates specifically to the professional area of the individual job.

The Air Force encourages professional development by providing an abundance of opportunities for the young officer to participate in education and training related to specific professional areas through the Air Force Institute of Technology and other training activities. The officer is usually surrounded by civilian professionals during these programs. It is natural for him to gravitate toward these professional people and their professional organizations.

A recent survey by Business Week magazine revealed the following about 1965-1972 college graduates and their relationships with employers:⁵

1. Employers describe them as brilliant, hard-working, and imaginative.

2. The graduates:

a. Value money for different purposes than their predecessors (camping gear rather than posh furniture) but value it just as much.

b. Value security so little that some companies no longer mention pension plans during recruitment.

c. Prefer to work for "socially responsible" companies. They will not leave otherwise desirable jobs but will channel ethical impulses into after-hours projects.

d. Differ in their reactions to the business world. Liberal arts graduates are often happier than business school graduates. Liberal arts graduates expect business to be dull and are happy to find that companies can be human and responsive. Business school graduates are prepared wholly for rational business methods and recoil from decisions made on subjective grounds and promotion through favoritism.

3. The young graduates are independent, creative, willing to take risks and to stand on principle. They become unhappy when the organization stifles or does not adequately recognize their ability and accomplishments. They are very mobile and do not hesitate to change jobs when they are not provided with challenge and opportunity for advancement.

It is these qualities of young people that make them desirable officers and that also can create headaches and misunderstanding between more senior officers and themselves. As an officer matures, he tends to accept policy and directives without questioning them as do the younger officers. Also, officers who spend most of their career in operational positions, where mission requirements cause close adherence to checklists or routine procedures, find themselves unaccustomed to the cosmopolitan leanings of the young officers they supervise when they receive career-broadening assignments. Further, in this period of trying to operate more effectively with less money and fewer people, our current personnel reduction programs tend to make the young officer unsure of the course he should pursue.

We must be alert and understand the contributions that can be made by cosmopolitans. Do not rush to the conclusion that the young professional scientist, engineer, or staff officer will not become one of our better officers because he talks in terms of his specialty rather than of the Air Force.

The cosmopolitan tends to provide competition to the local, which can improve the local's performance, and at the same time the local and his "company" orientation can help the cosmopolitan better appreciate that the "company" goals and his own can mesh.

A healthy mix of cosmopolitans and locals is needed to insure a strong, effective, and innovative Air Force. The challenge to the Air Force manager is to recognize the potential in such a mix and provide the atmosphere in which both types can be productive.

1. Captain John B. Taylor, "The Uncommon Jones," Airman, March 1975, p. 21.

2. Douglas McGregor, The Human Side of Enterprise (New York: McGraw-Hill Book Company, 1960).

3. Frederick Herzberg,"One More Time: How Do You Motivate Employee?" Harvard Business Review, January-February 1968, pp. 56-58.

4. Alvin W. Gouldner, "Cosmopolitans and Locals: Toward and Analysis of Latent Social Roles,"Administrative Science Quarterly, vol. 2, December 1967-March 1968.

5. "A Home in Business for the Radical Generation," Business Week, October 5, 1974, pp. 78-81.