4th FW Leadership Lecture Series: The Freak Factor

  • Published
  • By Senior Airman Aubrey White
  • 4th Fighter Wing Public Affairs
SEYMOUR JOHNSON AIR FORCE BASE, N.C. --  Imagine a person is told their entire life they would never amount to anything and they'd never play an essential role in society, simply because they don't fit the definition of a "normal" person. How do you think that person's life would be affected by such negativity?

Dr. David Rendall, local leadership professor and speaker, spoke to members of Team Seymour Sept. 6, about how to turn what people view as weakness into strength, as a part of the 4th Fighter Wing's Leadership Lecture Series: The Freak Factor.

Audience members laughed as Rendall told stories which gave insight to what makes him different and how his dissimilarities added to his success.

He went on to say that in his current profession, he's always standing, talking to people and successfully runs his own business; three things which he attributes to his inability to sit still, be quiet or do what he was told while he was in grade school.

"As leaders in today's Air Force, we need to take our younger Airmen and individuals we see troubles with and say, 'okay, they're struggling in this area, what can we do to put them in a position of opportunity to succeed?'" said Master Sgt. Peter Perez, 4th Maintenance Group Staff First Sergeant, after the lecture.

Rednall encouraged attendees to "discover uniqueness by flaunting weakness," something Staff Sgt. Diana Green, 4th Logistics Readiness Squadron individual protection equipment supervisor and lecture attendee, intended to do as soon as she returned to her workplace.

"The lecture gave me a different perspective on how to look at leadership and step back a minute to approach issues in another way," Green said. "Just as Dr. Rendall said, 'what makes us weird makes us wonderful and also makes us strong.' I hope to use this approach to ultimately support my team and make them stronger."