A good friend of mine shipped off to Afghanistan today. He’ll be there for the next six months serving as an Air Force pilot on a variety of important missions. He’s one of the three pilots I interviewed for my upcoming chapter in that leadership book I’ve alluded to in my emails.
I’m always impressed by Andrew. He received the same scholarship I received for college, but spent most of his time on the East Campus of Arizona State University, now known as the Polytechnic campus. Even though he attended school miles away, he never missed a single meeting for our scholarship program. At our retreats, he’d often stand at the grill, cooking food, and serving his peers. After graduating, he joined the military and has been spending the past few years flying huge medical transport planes in addition to other missions. He lives in California, but still proudly serves on the alumni board for our chapter, organizing our signature event each year, and traveling out to Arizona almost monthly to attend meetings. His tour will prevent this additional involvement this year and I think it is honestly one of the only things that frustrates Andrew about his tour.
Andrew doesn’t have to serve in the military. Like many other proud service men and service women, he elected to serve by his profound sense of duty. Andrew has always been a perfect example of service, duty, and commitment.
I know I’ll be hanging out with him in a few months, listening to his stories, and joking about our current states of life. Still, I have a huge respect for who he is and what he does.
Andrew knows the WHY in his life and it guides what he does. This past weekend he really surprised all of us by venturing out to Arizona for his last “free weekend” before he headed off and celebrating with us during homecoming. He wanted a chance to talk with current students and reconnect with friends who were in town. He is humble about his service and won’t really mention it unless someone else brings it up.
There is no ego in his leadership, but there is an incredible amount of purpose.
I hope we all can learn from his approach.