ILMA Compoundings - July 2019 - 34

COUNSEL COMPOUND

Leadership Lessons in
Colorado Springs
By Jeff Leiter

I

am looking forward to ILMA's Annual
Meeting in September at the Broadmoor in Colorado Springs, Colorado,
particularly the keynote presentation
by astronaut Scott Kelly on lessons on
teamwork, leadership and pushing one's
own limits, based on his year in space.
Scott and his twin brother, Mark, lived
a few miles away from me in northern
New Jersey when we were kids, so I
hope we can "talk Jersey."
Because of the Compoundings
production deadlines, I am writing
this column on the 75th anniversary
of D-Day. I have been caught up in
the events commemorating the Allied
invasion for a number of reasons,
including my late wife's father having
served as a member of the American
Battle Monuments Commission
during the Nixon administration.
The commission is responsible for
the American cemeteries overseas,
and I visited the Normandy cemetery
with ILMA members in May 2003. I
watched on YouTube last month President Ronald Reagan's speeches from
Normandy on the 40th anniversary of
D-Day. It really had me thinking.
The U.S. Air Force Academy is
about 15 miles from the Broadmoor,
so I plan to visit the cemetery there
to see the grave of an American
hero, William J. Crawford. Many
of you may not know his story, but
Bill Crawford received the Medal
of Honor for his actions during a
World War II battle in Italy while
serving as a private in the U.S. Army.

34

JULY 2019

| COMPOUNDINGS | ILMA.ORG

Too often, leadership is associated with
words such as 'charisma,' 'power,'
'strong,' 'outgoing' and 'confident.' "
After the battle, he was captured by
the Germans and presumed dead.
The military presented the Medal of
Honor posthumously to his father.
Two years after the end of World War
II, Crawford re-enlisted and spent
the next 20 years in the Army before
retiring as a master sergeant.
After retiring from the military,
Crawford became a janitor at the Air
Force Academy, beginning in 1970.
The cadets there largely ignored him
for some time, unaware that he was
a military hero. At some point, a
cadet was reading a book about the
Italian campaign in World War II and
connected the dots. After acknowledging that he indeed was awarded the
Medal of Honor, Crawford became a
celebrity and a student mentor at the
Air Force Academy. Reagan presented
Crawford with his medal and spoke
of his heroism at the 1984 graduation
ceremony at the Academy (watch it
on YouTube, beginning at 19:00).
Crawford died in 2000.
A number of past Air Force Academy graduates have talked and have
written about the valuable leadership
lessons they learned from Bill Crawford. Most of them describe how after
many classes, hundreds of books and
presentations from many great people,
Crawford was the person who taught

them the most life and leadership
lessons. Here are some of them:
No job is beneath a leader. If
Bill Crawford, a Medal of Honor
recipient, can sweep floors and clean
bathrooms - and do it with a smile
- is there any job beneath one's
dignity? Crawford treated the Air
Force Academy as if it was his home.
He taught the students to pursue
excellence, regardless of how menial
the task might seem.
Don't pursue glory. Along the
same lines, Crawford did his duty. He
swept floors and cleaned bathrooms
for a living. Crawford did not seek
attention because he was awarded the
Medal of Honor.
Leaders need to be humble. Many
people today equate heroes to star
athletes. Crawford did not celebrate
his heroism. In fact, he was not feted
for his Medal of Honor for nearly 40
years. He worked at his job and did
not "spike the ball" in the endzone.
Treat everyone with respect and
courtesy. Crawford had the "janitor"
label placed on him, so he was treated
with less respect because of his job
description. Crawford deserved respect
because he was a janitor and because
he was a valuable team member at the
Air Force Academy. Crawford showed
how simple courtesy to others makes a
true difference.
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ILMA Compoundings - July 2019

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