Shon is a 25 year retired chief master sergeant in the United States Air Force. That title doesn't just come along every day and we're going to talk about that at the beginning of the interview and why that's so significant and how that's led to her writing a new book called Leadership Is About Behavior, Not Just Title. And I think that that is so significant because we're in a day and age now, where title, okay, but really what we want, what creates real influence, it's not just the title anymore, it's about the influence that we have on other people which comes through behavior, so I love that.
We talk about some acronyms that's she's got going on. We talk about the book and the content of what's in that book. We talk about her personal journey and she shares with us at the end a story and an activity we can use to implement some better practices in our own lives. So let's get on with the interview. Thanks, Shon, for being here, let's do it. Welcome to the show, Shon. It is so good to have you.
Shon Barnwell:
Thank you for having me. I'm very excited, Skot.
SKOT WALDRON:
You are a 25 year veteran of the air force, so that's awesome. Thank you so much for serving the country. And you achieved quite a rank there that is not achieved by many people, what is that? Can you tell me about that? I just saw it, it was really interesting in your bio. So this may be a little bit selfish of me, but I'm interested to hear what that was and how did you actually get to that point.
SHON BARNWELL:
Correct. So in the air force or really armed forces, there are two hierarchies, an officer track and an enlisted track. I was an enlisted member and the highest rank that an enlisted member can achieve is chief master sergeant. Chief master sergeants represent 1% of the entire enlisted force and those numbers get a little smaller when you extrapolate by gender and then race and even career field. I don't use the term elite, but it's ... There's a lot of prestige and esteem shown to individuals who achieve the rank of chief master sergeant.
SKOT WALDRON:
That is unreal. So 1% of the enlisted?
SHON BARNWELL:
Yes.
SKOT WALDRON:
And then on top of that, you are an African American woman?
SHON BARNWELL:
Yes.
SKOT WALDRON:
So I'm sure that makes it even smaller, right?
SHON BARNWELL:
The numbers go down, they do.
SKOT WALDRON:
Oh goodness, that's amazing.
SHON BARNWELL:
Yeah, [crosstalk 00:04:18]-
SKOT WALDRON:
Yeah. And your experience of doing that has obviously given you tons of knowledge to do what you have just recently done and launched a book in April. Congratulations on that, it's super awesome. Maybe one day I'll write one if I get the courage. So props to you guys for all your book writings out there, authors. Tell us about the book. Tell us the name of the book, what it's about, why did you write the book, give us that background.
SHON BARNWELL:
So the name of the book is Leadership Is About Behavior, Not Titles, and I wrote the book ... I was in a position to deliver on-demand training to local private and public corporations and during one of the training sessions, it was a course on emerging leadership, a group of the people in the course said, "Ms. Barnwell, how can we find your book? We really like your interactive workshops and things of that nature." And then I had to look around and I had to tell them I didn't have a book. And so when I do workshops, when there's something we need to work on, I always say, "That's your homework. That's your homework," and so when I told them I didn't have a book, they said, "Okay, ma'am, that's your homework." And so I listened and I said, "Okay, that would be great," but then I'm thinking, "When would I get time to write a book?" And so I just kind of parked that idea in the cobwebs of my brain and just went on with life.
And then of course COVID swept the world, and so as an event planner, I couldn't plan events and I just had to find a way to do something with that time. Yeah, I'm a little A personality, and so I had to stay busy. And so I said, "Okay, well let me look at this book concept." And so I just had a theme of what I would talk about. I asked a few friends what traits in my personality do they view as something that led me to be a good leader or mentor to them, and they shared those traits.
And so I just started expanding from that concept and now we have these nine traits that are captured in the book, which makes the nine chapters, which the rank, chief master sergeant, our pay grade is E-9. So I said okay, there has to be nine chapters to reflect each of those progressive tiers of rank, and so there's some symbolism in the book in that regard. And so here we are, launched on the 15th of April, as you stated, of this year and yeah, we're just set to rock and roll.
SKOT WALDRON:
That's fantastic. So your experience of chief master sergeant I assume led you to want to write a leadership book, right? I mean, it's not that you went to school necessarily for leadership development. Why'd you pick the topic of leadership?
SHON BARNWELL:
Okay. Well, I do have an MBA, so there's some leadership in there. It's just one of those things. My husband teaches eighth graders, I still stay connected to military individuals, I still mentor local, in the community and military folks who know me, wherever they are in the world, and so you keep that connection. And just at the heart of everything we do, when you listen to the conversations that people have been having in the past year or two, it was just this ... You're hearing accountability on one side or the lack thereof. You're just hearing and having these conversations about what can we do, want to prepare the next generation of leaders to be prepared to do what they need to do as we move forward, and everything just drilled down to leadership.
And just that term, even if you don't put the about titles on there, leadership is about behavior. If you're cooking something and you boil it down, a reduction, leadership is that reduction in anything that we do when we're interacting with people on a team, a concept, or a project. And so it just spoke to me, it stood out, I said, "Okay, so then that's the message. It has to be about leadership."
And then people will say from the capacity of a mentor, when you think about what you're doing ... But I don't like to just keep it in the context of work or military, because we're leaders in our families, we're leaders in our communities. And so it's the basic reduction that follows us no matter which hat we wear on any given day, whether you show up as an executive or you show up as a middle level manager, an entry level worker, or a frontline supervisor, an apprentice, a trainee, it's still leadership is coming forward, and so we all have a role to play and I just thought it would be something to try to tackle.
I don't use the word guru because I'm a lifelong learner. So I never want to say I'm the best of something because then that means I'm not open to learning. But I just thought it would be something to speak to. And then I also one day want to pursue a doctoral program. I've been accepted, I just need to find time to actually start.
And I said, "Well, let me speak to something that I could help contribute to in hopefully a significant way." And so since I do have this military background and I think the air force prepared me very well as a leader, why not speak to that theme and just see how further I can push the ball forward for others, as a sense of inspiration and encouragement, and help them do their homework as they come into their roles as leaders.
SKOT WALDRON:
Very great. I love it, I love it, I love it. So let's talk about this acronym, AIR.
SHON BARNWELL:
Oh yeah.
SKOT WALDRON:
Can you tell me about this acronym?
SHON BARNWELL:
Yeah. So in my military time, we would use it to describe how we would write award packages. And so the common denominator when you write something, you want to be able to communicate the action of what you did. So what you did, what the thing was, how you did it, which is your impact, and then the results. You ask the question, so what?
So Shon formulated X, Y and Z, how did she do it? Expeditiously? I saved some time? And then what was the result? We saved money or we helped put a plane in an area or some type of humanitarian effort, right? So you string that along. And then I thought, "Well, we do that as leaders." We show up, our action is to be prepared. Our action is to show some type of empathy for our team. And then our impact, right? We want to either educate, train, motivate, leverage their talent, whatever that verb or action piece is that we're enhancing. And then the result.
And what do we want to do? We want to get them to the next level of performance. We want to get them to some level of awareness, whatever the case might be as far proficiency, or whatever the thing is. But we use that every day and I said, "So, if we plant this concept, action, impact, result, any time you touch a project or a process, or you're interacting with someone, think about that, what's my action?
My action in this case is to show some empathy because maybe this member has had a hard life crisis. And then what's the impact? I don't want to be too hard, but I want to introduce resources to the member, or help them gain some sense of resiliency and strength. And then what's the result? We want them to be able to pick themselves up, move forward, hold their head up if that's the case, if it's an esteem or confidence effort. If it's a family related issue, we want them to be able to see that there's a brighter day, the rainbow is forward, and we want to keep them moving.
But we do that, we just don't put a name on it. We do that every day. We show an action, there's some level of impact. It's just we want to make sure we're being intentional and deliberate to ensure that that impact is positive and forward moving. And then there's a result. So you're almost engineering success when you use this AIR concept. You're just starting from keeping the end in mind, and then you roll it back as a leader and say, "Okay, what's the best way to proceed with this?" And if we do that every time, when we do that every time, then I call it ... It's golden, it's magic.
SKOT WALDRON:
So going off of that, what do you consider some of the most key leadership principles, because that tool of AIR is really good to actually put some structure behind what we're doing and how to define it, and then the impact and the result that we're going to have and make? And that's a good tool to recognize everything we do every day, right? And it's super simple, so I really love that as well. But we get into leadership challenges, leadership concepts, those types of things, how do we measure that success over time in any environment? How do we do that?
SHON BARNWELL:
So in my humble opinion, I always measured success by how my team was doing, and it comes in different aspects. Can my team operate without me being present? And if I've got to look over everything they're doing, then I'm micromanaging and either they're not trained ... So they're not capable, able, or willing. I got to find out which one it is and then we've got to come full circle and close that loop.
So at the end of the day ... But this is in my family even. My daughter, she would say, "What's your role as a mom?" I said, "My role as a mom is if I took my last breath five minutes from now that you can survive on your own, that's my role, I prepared you for that." And so in any aspect of life, the measure of success I believe is that whatever you've touched will be better and it will move forward even after you're gone and if you're not physically present.
SKOT WALDRON:
Are there stories in your 25 years in the military that show that? Are there stories in your journey that have created that impact in you that's made that more clear to you of what you're trying to do for other? What did that leadership journey through the military help you instill in yourself to want to be that for other people.
SHON BARNWELL:
Oh my, we don't have that much time, Skot. Okay, I will always tell people an experience can do one or two things, right? It can show you how to do something or how not to do something. So Nelson Mandela has this quote and I love this quote, it says, "I never lose, I either win or learn." So, "I never lose, I either win or learn." I love that quote.
So in my career in the military, I've had some phenomenal, phenomenal coaches, mentors, even some from a distance who didn't realize that they were showcasing to me excellence and how to be, but they did. And then of course, every now and again you hit a rough patch and there's that one, I'll use the term science project that it's just interesting how they've developed and it's one of those bless your heart moments and you want to hug them, but you've got to keep your distance because they're a little toxic or whatever. But I learn from those too, I learn how I will not lead my team, I learn how I will not treat people.
And you raised a good point earlier when you asked the question about going into leadership, what are important traits. Definitely the willingness to be vulnerable and the willingness to just be your authentic self. I think, at least for me, those have been the two. So you see the sign, the Mama Shon sign? I show up no matter if I'm in a room with a brand new, we call them a slick sleeve, someone who doesn't have any rank on the enlisted side arguing with a four star general, I still show up as Mama Shon.
Now of course, my diplomacy might range because a four star general, there's protocols and customs and courtesies, but I'm still Mama Shon in essence when I show up. So what I would do for that four star general, I will do for that airman basic, and then I don't differentiate. And so I think those two are important.
SKOT WALDRON:
What does that do at the end of the day? What does that do for the culture of that organization when you show up that way?
SHON BARNWELL:
Definitely. So Skot, I think it shows authenticity, right? Shon is, however you want to call that. I don't know what the young folks are saying right now, but down like four flats in a Cadillac, however you want to say it. I tell my team, "I will charge hell with a water pistol for you, that's what I'm here to do. I'm here to solve problems, that's what I do as a leader." And so that authenticity shows through people, see? Yep, she's genuine. She keeps her word. She told us she was going to do X, Y and Z. She did it, we didn't have to ask her 50 million times or followup. You put it out there, it was done. So definitely just your genuineness that you show people.
But for the culture of the organization, it shows people you care. I can't win your mind until I win your heart, and I win your heart when I show you that I genuinely care for you. And so for me it's worked to show up that way. I don't like to say show up that way as if it's an act, it's just the essence of Shon. And it's been wonderful for me, because I've been well received and it's not hard to pull the team together because everyone knows this is the culture. You are safe in this space .... Excuse me ... your point of view matters in this space, you can share information in this space. You can fail in this space, because we're going to all recover together and we're going to learn and we're going to move forward.
So I think that's important when you have a team, that people know they're respected, it's a space where they can be safe. It's a space where they can make some mistakes and just not be thrown off to the wolves or something, and they can come back into the fold and be received, and encouraged and supported and prepared to move to their next big thing.
SKOT WALDRON:
I love that. My background is in brand strategy and working with companies with external communication with customers and clients, and now I do that more on shaping internal perceptions, internal brands of companies and how they communicate and show up to each other, inside. And we talk about personal brands, we talk about team brands, we talk about organizational brands. And what that is, and it's in essence your reputation, how people see you, how they look at you and how they talk about you when you're not around.
So when I look at, as a brand marketer guy, I look at this name Mama Shon and I say, "That's a title. It's a label. It's something somebody gave you, or maybe you gave it to yourself at some point, but it's something that has stuck with you. It is your brand." As a leader, people saw that and they put in on your recognition when you left the military and whatnot. Why that title? What is it about your brand as a leader that causes people to want to think of you as Mama Shon, or what does that mean?
SHON BARNWELL:
So from my perspective, I think it's the nurturing, the genuine care. So it pains me for someone to be in any type of pain or discomfort or level of frustration. In the military, of course, that comes in different environment. So let's say something simple, someone arrives at a base ... And we have what we call a sponsorship program where basically you have an individual who receives you and makes sure you can get around the installation.
But before you even get there, they're sending you information on, "Hey, we have this program for your children. And if your spouse is looking for employment, here's some information. If you have pets and they need to travel, here's information." And they're just making sure that the first impression, as you said, that you get that, "Okay, these people, they know I'm coming and they really want me to be here and they're helping me transition to this new space," especially when you go overseas, because a lot of things are different if you've never traveled outside the continental US.
And so it's a program, some people see it as a simple program, but to have someone arrive and let's say we're in Germany and they come to the Frankfurt Airport and let's just say for instance they get there and the person who's supposed to greet them is an hour late. And some people are like, "Oh, they're coming." I'm like, "No, you can't do that because you send that person into a state of panic, maybe there's some anxiety, they're not sure if you're coming, maybe they don't have the current currency to call and find out who's coming to get me."
So when it comes to anything that affects someone's quality of life, their money, or their career, or their health, those are top, top people issues and we can't afford to fail at those, and the very first place where we win is that first impression. And so whether I'm meeting you in the grocery store and we're three feet away and I'm starting a conversation, or I'm meeting you in a professional capacity, that essence of Shon, if I'm using that reference, of how you first meet me ... Because I don't know how our paths may cross again in life, but that's the first interaction that you have with me, I only have that one time to get it right. And so that's very important to me, that impression.
So when you're in a circle that I'm responsible for, I have to get that right, and so I think that Mama Shon piece comes across, because I'm striving to get that right. I want you to know that you've landed in a place where we want you to be here, that the talent, I call it the time and talent and tenacity that you're bringing to this organization with your presence is valued and we want to leverage that as much as possible. And the only way we're going to be able to leverage that is if you feel safe and well received in this space and comfortable and light. And I don't mean light like a buddy, but we're ciVil and we're professional and we're pleasant with one another. And so it's just important for me that people receive that. You have to be the change you want to see and so I just try to just carry that in my spirit, that when I'm meeting folks, wherever I land, that that is being extended to them.
And then my teams ... And I don't like to call them my teams. I don't say my babies, because sometimes I'm in charge of a team and I'm the youngest person on the team, but I'm acting like I'm the senior person, maybe by rank or authority, but by age sometimes I'm the baby. So I don't see them as my babies in the essence that they're juvenile or junior, but from the essence of a humanity perspective, I am responsible for them. And I'm responsible for their livelihood, I'm responsible for their state of mind. I am responsible for making sure they're prepared for their next big thing.
And I carry that, and maybe because I'm an oldest child and I was responsible for some younger siblings and keeping them corralled from dipping their finger in my grandmother's cakes that she would bake for neighbors and for weddings and things like that. So maybe that's where all of that started, but it's kind of like a brother's keeper, sister's keep kind of thing. I just think we need more of that, so I just try to showcase that in hopes that other people will see it and it'll just spread.
SKOT WALDRON:
I love that. And that's kind of what I suspected, I suspected that that Mama Shon, with that came a feeling of comfort, of Shon's going to take care of me, Shon's going to make sure my needs are met. Shon's going to make me feel heard, valued, looked after. Shon's not going to leave me hanging out to dry. So there's this association with that, what I call leadership brand that is really, really significant for you, that we all as leaders are going to have. We're all going to have some kind of brand associated with us and we need to learn to either shape that, be intentional about what that brand is, because if we don't take control of it, other people are going to thrust it upon us and it may not be what we want, right?
SHON BARNWELL:
I agree.
SKOT WALDRON:
In some way, shape or form. Your book, Leadership Is About Behavior, Not Titles, it goes into some stories, it goes into concepts, it goes into activities. What is an example of a brief story from there that you can give us? And then I would love an idea of a brief activity. What is something we can take away from this, if that's possible?
SHON BARNWELL:
So I do, I start out with courage and character. Character and courage is the first chapter and I go all the way back to where I'm in elementary school. It's a story about me being on the playground with another school mate, his name is Tommy, and we're racing. I mean, it was just something we always did as kids when we were on the playground, these footraces. I don't know if it's a Detroit thing. I'm sure kids around the world still do foot races or did in our age group. But it was just huge to just be able to win a footrace.
And so in the book, I tell the story about Tommy and I, and you've got one person at the end of our designated finish line and they're holding their arms out and hopefully you're the first person to cross this, what I call the human T, because that's how their body looks when you're racing towards them. And in this race, a person trips him, trips Tommy, and he falls. And so now you've got this dilemma as an individual, do you keep running and you win the race so everyone can cheer for you, or do you help this individual who's obviously in pain? Because of course those playgrounds were covered with gravel, and so you slide on gravel, it's not the prettiest thing in the world.
And so in the story, in life, I stopped and I helped him and we limped together to the finish line. And then because I was in the City of Detroit and this was when they were integrating schools, we were bused from our neighborhood to this school. And so we get back on the bus at the end of the day and the person who tripped him is on the bus. And so as the person is walking down the aisle, it just so happens, maybe coincidences, but I don't believe in coincidences ... But anyway. As the bus driver has closed the door and is pulling away to take us home, the bus jerks, and when the bus jerks, my leg just happens to be in the aisle and the person falls. And so just like people went in a rupture of laugher on the playground when Tommy fell, now everyone on the bus is in a rupture of laughter and this person gets to experience that.
So I do clear that up in the book, I no longer hold grudges and have this eye for an eye kind of mentality, I've grown some in my years, but the concept was have the courage to do what's right. So I chose to help a person who was in a crisis. I mean, there was blood on his hands and the skin is torn or ripped. So when you see something that's not right ... Here's the story, right?
When you see something that's out of the ordinary, or that's off kilter, or you know is not right, take an action. Take an action that's comfortable for, but do something because you do two things. You show that person who is in distress at that moment that they matter, and you show courage yourself, and you build trust, whether it's with that person or with the team. So that was the concept. So now how can we practice that every day in our lives?
So at the end of each chapter, there are activities and homework as I put it. So just think about, and not to beat yourself, just when's the last time you had the opportunity to show courage at something and you did it? Explain that, capture that. What did that look like? Why did you do it? How did it make you feel? How do you think it made the other person feel? And what are some takeaways for that? Will you do that same behavior each time?
Instances where you had the opportunity to show courage, but you failed to do that, then let's examine why. What would you need in order to offer support or assistance or help or advice or whatever that action might be, getting back to that AIR statement? What would it take to get you through those three steps, action, impact and results? And so you get to evaluate that. You can evaluate that one on one, to just do some internal soul searching or self development, you can do that in a small team, you can do that in a group setting.
And so that's why some of the people are using it as book studies because if there's a problem to be solved in their team or organization, they can dissect that as a group. This is a culture, this is something that we have in our culture right now, whatever it is, and we need to fix it. Here's what I can add to fix that and then just let everyone share what they can add, again, keeping that action, impact, result concept in mind. And by the time you get around that room, I am certain there's some actionable efforts that can move that team beyond whatever that problem or crisis is, so that they can just soar a little bit higher.
SKOT WALDRON:
I love that. Wow, that's really cool. Thank you for the story, thank you for the activity. That activity made me think a lot. It made me think, "When's the last time I had the opportunity to show courage, but didn't." So that's really interesting to think about, because we don't sit and think about that very often, so thank you for that. Well, congratulations on your book launch. That's so exciting for you. It came out in April. Where can people get a hold of that?
SHON BARNWELL:
Okay. So bookbaby.com, they have a bookstore. That is a company that I've partnered with to do all my distribution and printing. I love them to pieces, I need to write everyone on that team into my new will because they are awesome. So BookBaby. And people who are fans of Amazon and Books-A-Million, it's also there as well. And then book signings for the next time, I will be actually ... Joint Base Andrews on the week of ... Oh goodness. The week of 30 August, I will be at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland. But local, I think the online platform is probably ideal for most people, so BookBaby, bookshop.com.
SKOT WALDRON:
Okay, very cool. And with Barnwell Publishing, who are you serving in that community and how can they get in touch with you?
SHON BARNWELL:
Yes, sir. So barnwellpublishing.com, that's our website, they can do the contact us. So looking for people who are interested in telling their story and they want to self-publish or co-publish, so just helping people navigate through that protocol. Before I started this, I said, "Well, someone wants to publish a book, they can hand me their manuscript and I'll get it across the finish line." And then I did the work myself and I said, "No, they wouldn't be able to pay me enough money, it's a lot of work."
So I'm actually working with veterans, members that are still on active duty, the spouses of veterans, everything from cookbooks to books for children, and then that entire range in the middle for people who are interested in co-publishing. So we'll each have homework in this relationship, but we will get a quality product out to people who are interested in what they have to say and it'll be fun along the way.
SKOT WALDRON:
That's fantastic. Well, that's great that you're serving your community of veterans and people on active duty, so very cool. That's a needed skill that's there I'm-
SHON BARNWELL:
And women. And women. I should add that, Skot, as well as women.
SKOT WALDRON:
Okay.
SHON BARNWELL:
Women-owned companies. We have stories and I don't know that we ... We tell our stories to one another, but I think we need to share them with the world.
SKOT WALDRON:
I agree. I agree. We can all benefit from each other, which is a beautiful thing. So I'm super grateful to have you on the show today, thank you so much. Is there anything else that I can do for you, or anything else you'd like to leave with the community, that one sentence, nugget of information, of inspiration?
SHON BARNWELL:
So I keep this quote here, it's actually on my computer here, by Gandhi, "Be truthful, be gentle and be fearless." Be well.
SKOT WALDRON:
Beautiful. Thank you-
SHON BARNWELL:
And thank you. Thank you, this is my first podcast, so thank you for hosting me. I appreciate the graciousness of your time, Skot.
SKOT WALDRON:
You are fantastic, Shon. Thank you.
SHON BARNWELL:
Yes.
SKOT WALDRON:
That was such an easy acronym that she shared with us at the beginning, AIR. What's the action, what is the impact, what's the result? And we can use that all the time. I love that, it's so simple. So short, so simple. Some acronyms are like 20 letters long and I can't remember them all, so that one is great. Thank you for sharing that one.
I also liked her thought about how experience, it can either show us what to do and how to do it, or how not to do something, and we learn from both of those things. That's super important for us to also take with us as we go through and learn about the experiences in our lives that are going to help us progress. We can progress through achievements, we can progress through failures, right? And sometimes we look at failure as, "Oh no, this is a setback," but wait a second, is it really? Temporarily, we may be, but for the long haul, we've gained something and we need to take hold of what that something is as we move forward. So I really appreciate Shon and her being here. I appreciate her service. Thank you, Shon, for doing that, and all you military individuals out there for serving us and protecting us and keeping us safe.
I want to say if you want to find out more about me, you want to find out more about the show, you can go to YouTube, you can look me up there. I've got tools, I've got resources, I've got all these episodes. You can go to my website at skotwaldron.com, you can connect with me on LinkedIn, I would love that as well. Thank you everyone for being here. I will see you next time on another episode of Unlocked.
Want to make your culture and team invincible?
You can create a culture of empowerment and liberation through better communication and alignment. We call these invincible teams. Make your team invincible through a data-driven approach that is used by Google, the CDC, the Air Force, Pfizer, and Chick-fil-A. Click here or the image below to learn more.
