...There's A Way

When I worked for my last job I had to attend some sort of class teaching me about something. The woman teaching the class was an Air Force reservist Lieutenant Colonel. Now, this was relatively close to me having left the Air Force myself as a Major and somehow she and I got to talking about what led me to my current gig doing what I was doing.

I told her about my last job in the Air Force, being a commander of about 200 or so people on a small island in the middle of nowhere. How I was the person who, as a satellite operator, was the guy largely in charge of the flying mission that got dignitaries from the United States to South Africa and back for Nelson Mandela’s internment. Things which normally look pretty good on an officer’s performance review. Probably good enough to be considered for a promotion to the next rank. After a quick frown, she pretty matter of factly said “You weren’t sponsored.”

When you are sponsored that means that someone has taken a vested interest in your career. This is something that normally needs to happen pretty early on and then that person, someone who also was sponsored at one point, makes sure that your performance reports say the things they need to say to make sure that you can achieve the ranks you need to achieve and then one day reach ranks that I never did, such as Lieutenant Colonel and higher.

I hope that makes sense. Someone has to look out for you in order for you to get promoted. If you’re thinking “No way could everyone get sponsor treatment,” well, yeah. True. I can attest to that. It’s highly possible you have just as much talent or potential as the person next to you. Probable, even. But if that person is sponsored and you aren’t? Oh well.

Ok, that’s a bit negative. We have to assume that not everyone can be sponsored, for fair or for unfair. That’s just the way the Air Force system, or any system, is rigged. Well what can you do if you aren’t sponsored? I have experience with this, so I can help: hard work. That may sound clichéd but it is very true. You keep your moral compass facing north. You help as many people as you can while looking out for opportunities for yourself. You build your village brick by brick and you populate it with people who look out for yourself and look out for each other. The end result may not be the lofty heights that others may attain but you can look back and what you built and be proud of it because you built it.

If you’re not one of the sponsored, you can’t really get mad about it. I mean, you can but it’s mostly wasted energy. You either are sponsored or you’re not. But what I will allow for is not allowing any place in your heart for those who went out of their way to isolate you; to never take any time to train you or help you; to tear you down when you’re not in the room; to only glorify themselves and not any others. Those people I have nothing for in life and when they leave, I’m glad they’re gone. It’s one thing not to be sponsored. It’s another entirely to allow anyone to step on your dignity and self-respect. 

Keep fighting. Keep building that village. Let no one get in the way of that.