You make the call

10/16/2002 - BOLLING AIR FORCE BASE, D.C. (AFPN) -- Have you ever heard the saying, "If the baby's ugly, call it ugly"? Not a very nice thing to hear, but it gets your attention, doesn't it?

The meaning of this anonymous quote, quite simply, is to make the tough call.

As a supervisor, you are placed in positions every day by your troops to try and accommodate one or more of their wishes. When you work elbow-to-elbow with fellow Air Force members, it's tough to be the bad guy -- but someone has to do it.

For example, if your troop asks to work a 6 a.m. to 3 p.m. shift because traffic is easier to manage at that time even though you need him to cover the customer service desk until 4:30 p.m., do you tell him you'll have to ask the superintendent?

If your troop is scheduled to attend Airman Leadership School or the NCO Academy, do you support her request to reschedule her school because she'll miss the big softball tournament she's worked for all summer, and let the commander tell her no?

If you have answered yes to either of these questions, you may need to take a step back and ask yourself if you're upholding your duties as an NCO. You have much more power than perhaps you realize.

When you took the NCO oath, you accepted the responsibility to make "things" right in the world. That means saying no when it's not the most popular answer or what your troop wants to hear.

We are all human and it's natural to want to be liked. But as flight chiefs, first sergeants or superintendents, we see and hear many requests that we will have to say no to that could have been stopped at a much lower level.

By making the call at the supervisor's level, you have set yourself up for success because you have set a standard for your troops. They will know where you stand and will think twice before they ask that question that makes you say, "Hmmm? Did he really ask me that?"

You have also saved your squadron leadership from always looking like the bad guy, and even more importantly, you have saved time! You are now revered as a person who makes good, sound judgment calls and is a member the unit can turn too when a tough call needs to be made.

So the next time your troop shows up to the squadron recognition ceremony in a uniform that fit 10 pounds and five years ago, don't force the first sergeant to tell him he can't walk on stage. Seize the moment!

Remember what those four or five stripes on your arms mean and put your leadership to work. Tell him to go home and change.

Gen. Colin Powell once said that to be a leader, you don't necessarily have to be liked. As a supervisor and NCO, you are entrusted to do the right thing and make the right call.