Oklahoma Mentor: Two Mentors of Major General Jerry Holmes, Part I

Thursday, September 6, 2018

Two Mentors of Major General Jerry Holmes, Part I

At the Fall Mentorship Reception for the Jerry Holmes Leadership Program for Engineers and Scientists, Major General Jerry Holmes, adjunct faculty at the Gallogly College of Engineering, University of Oklahoma, shared what his mentors taught him and offered advice. Photos of attendees are below.

Read more about Major General Holmes and those mentors in his own words in the following post.

Brigadier General Chapman, the senior officer and experienced fighter pilot, was being taught by Holmes, a subordinate. Holmes assigned Chapman a lot of work to service the plane and to learn to fly it. Subsequently, Brigadier Chapman gave Holmes advice that shaped his career.

Brigadier General Creech taught then Colonel Holmes to achieve "Excellence in Everything." He also gave Holmes the opportunity and responsibility to make the world a better place.

In small groups, ask what can we do better? What would you do? General Creech assigned General Holmes a lot of work, gave him opportunities to learn and achieve--or fail--in addition to advice and resources.

For example, at the Idaho base, the weather was so cold that warming huts were placed near the flight line, but there were no lights. Poor lighting resulted in poor aircraft maintenance. Lights, costing $1,000,000, was a low priority. To get lights, General Holmes examined the budget and showed a way to redirect money for lighting. With appropriate lighting, maintenance quality improved.In addition, to fix up the facility, Colonel Holmes, who did much work himself, became the "painting colonel."

Advice
Ask questions. Go outside the lines or rules.

Be creative. Change the rules. Ask for waivers. Don't break the rules.

Look for opportunities to put excellence in everything.

Look for mentors.

When you graduate, live frugally. Save "go to hell money." When the boss tells you to do something that violates your principles, you can leave.

Leadership
A leader establishes a climate where people can tell him [her] that he [she] is wrong, talk about it and allow both sides with courtesy and respect to tell the why of their positions. Welcome disagreement.

Manners
Example: Bud Wilkinson, head football coach at the University of Oklahoma from 1947 to 1963, compiling a record of 145–29–4, always wore a suit and tie to the football games as if to a business meeting.

Manners carry over into the workplace. In the workplace, keep politics and divisive things private until they can be discussed with someone [safe.]. Divisiveness can be penalized.

General Holmes referred to George Friedman's Huffington Post article Manners and Political Life.