Ex-Squadron Commander - stay? or leave?

[Flying Pig]

As is true more often than not, I guess we'll have to agree to disagree!

Geeeez..... some of you guys were part of a much different CAP than I was

[Eclipse]

I know why are suggesting they take a break......I disagree that it should be policy or suggested as "a good idea".

If the old commander can't squash the temptation to back seat command or undermine the new commander's authority.....then the new commander should deal with it.

Because we all know how much command imperative exists in the average CAP unit or from their next echelon.
There's never been a case in CAP history where the previous commander sowed discontent from the back row
and worked against the new guy, and the new guy just walked instead of dealing with it.  That's OK, though, right?
Because every unit has like 5 other guys ready and wiling to command thanks to CAP's robust recruiting
and development programs.  why make things easier on the new guy when we can avoid making the last guy sad?

I walked that road myself, and it's no fun.  I was able and prepared to tell people to "follow or leave", but
for those not so inclined, I can't imagine how unpleasent an experience it would be to have to run things
while "Lt Col Jimmy whispers about me in the back room..."

How many companies think it's a good idea for a department manager to go back to the line
when they are replaced?

What does the USAF do with unit CCs when their time it up?

The policy should be "up, elsewhere, or out" at least for a year.

What you're missing is that term limits and knowing it's not going to be your show, put good commanders
against a clock to get things done, and puts bad ones on notice that no tyranny is infinite.

Basic management 101 issues CAP can't seem to understand.

[lordmonar]

And we have had more were the old commander  is a valuable contributing member who understands his role. I am not saying there are not problems.  Just that instead of making BS policy we let commanders deal with it if needed

[The CyBorg is destroyed]

I walked that road myself, and it's no fun.  I was able and prepared to tell people to "follow or leave", but for those not so inclined, I can't imagine how unpleasent an experience it would be to have to run things while "Lt Col Jimmy whispers about me in the back room..."

I have not really been in that situation in CAP, because all I have been is a Deputy Commander.

However, should such a situation happen to me in CAP, I would deal with it as I would in any other situation.

My dad told me from day one that if someone says something behind your back it's because they haven't the guts to say it to your face, and if you hear of something being "whispered," you call them on it and kibosh it before it has a chance to grow any more.

That is the way I have always dealt with it.  I find the person purportedly responsible, take them aside (praise in public, admonish in private, remember?) and ask them if it is true what they have been saying.  If they have the courage to own up to it, I tell them, "if you knock it off right now I'll forget this happened."  However, if they get pigheaded with me...that is another story.

[Eclipse]

And we have had more were the old commander  is a valuable contributing member who understands his role. I am not saying there are not problems.  Just that instead of making BS policy we let commanders deal with it if needed

Repeating now...

How many companies think it's a good idea for a department manager to go back to the line
when they are replaced?

What does the USAF do with unit CCs when their time it up?

[Checotah]

I'm certainly glad some of you are not writing policy.  I would have missed out on the last 29 years of CAP! When I stepped down as sdn. CC, I stayed, like many around here do, helping wheresoever I was needed, and held just about every position in the squadron (except Legal, Medical, Chaplain).  "Up" was not an option for me; Wing HQ was 300 miles away and remote fulfillment was not very practical.  "Elsewhere" meant traveling 30 miles each way to a Cadet Sqdn without pilots, not something that would have kept me in for very long.

When I was working, I ran manufacturing companies.  I vigorously supported team concepts, and many times had leads, supervisors, managers, or department heads step back down into the rank and file, sometimes of my choosing, sometimes of theirs.  I always had preliminary meetings with those individuals, explaining that the company needed their help both as team players, supporting the new leader, and as the experienced individuals they were.  They understood that I expected them to work with the new leader, that efforts to the contrary would not be in their best interests.  Once in a while it didn't work, and the individual had to leave.  That became my problem to solve.

I see that same responsibility being held by the next echelon CC, ensuring that the new unit CC has support and that the previous CC knows that his/her conduct needs to be supportive of the new CC, or actions would be taken. 

The problem is not just of the local unit, but of the Group and/or Wing as well.

[ZigZag911]

The same solution will not, cannot, should not work for every squadron.

I am speaking from many years of CAP experience in a more densely populated area, Northeast Region.

The spirit behind my views is that a former CC needs to  visibly back off and let the new CC have the reins.

How that will happen will vary based on local conditions....but it does need to happen.

[Chappie]

Though not a Squadron Commander (current or former), I have been a Wing and Region Chaplain.  My practice was to not attend the first couple of Wing Conferences or first Region Conference so that my successor would get to have the stage (so to speak) to themselves.  I did not want to appear as a leader in the shadow.  In both transitions, my successor had been one of my deputies or on staff -- so we had a healthy relationship.  They knew that I supported them and would serve as a counselor/advisor -- should they seek out my counsel or opinion.  I feel that I had my time to serve and put into effect what I could...it is now their time.  They knew on the front end that I would not be making appearances so that it was nothing personal.  It gives them time to build their own relationships and set the tone for their tenure (which according to regs can possibily be up to 6 years).   I hadn't planned to attend this year's Chaplain Corps Region Staff College -- since it was my successor's first and want he and his staff to "own" the event.  However, I did attend -- but it was because I was serving in a different capacity -- so I stayed in my own lane    Never attended the CCRSC staff meetings or intruded in my successor's dealing with details of the college or interjected my observations.  So it is possible for a former leader to stick around and enjoy the company of those whom he/she served without casting too big of a shadow over the one who is current holding the #1 position.