Rise Above: Leadership Lessons from the RAF

WE CAN ALL BE LEADERS, WHATEVER OUR LEVEL. The RAF is a well-oiled machine that gets the job done - but what can you learn from them to transform your own leadership skills? This book demonstrates how the RAF leadership model works and that we can all be leaders, whatever our level. Forget the idea that leadership is a senior position - it should be distributed and shared by all. Much attention is being paid in industry and academia to contemporary leadership challenges and opportunities including workforce diversity, technology and innovation, virtual teams, emotional intelligence and mindfulness, and resilience. Whereas these issues may only recently have become in vogue for some, they have long been a reality within the RAF which has led by example in many of these areas:

• Diversity and inclusion - The RAF has a diverse workforce in terms of gender, age, race and culture, and has, as the book will show, embraced diversity throughout its history.
• Digital disruption - The RAF is highly technologically-dependent, and consequently has a very skilled, educated and professional workforce that shares responsibility and authority according to function and role, and not just by rank or position
• Innovation and creativity - The rate of advancement of defence and aerospace technology has been rapid since air travel began 100 years ago. To remain relevant and effective the RAF has always relied on internal innovation and creativity
• Resilience and adaptability - High speed, high altitude and high tempo operations place great demands on humans who need a high degree of resilience

Together with practical strategies to improve your leadership, there are inspirational real-life examples from over 100 years of the RAF to illustrate how leadership works so you are better equipped to lead effectively