“The more abstract people become, the more capable we are of doing them harm.” ~ Simon Sinek

I remember very clearly a mission I flew in Afghanistan.  The weather was poor; the clouds were low and the wind both at ground level as well as up at altitude was fierce.  To make matters worse, heavy icing was present in the clouds and it was imperative that we minimize the time our jets were in the clouds to prevent heavy ice build up.  My flight lead and I were tasked with providing overwatch and on-call close air support for an element of British Royal Marines in northern Helmund Province.

Unfortunately, due to the clouds, neither my flight lead nor I could see the Royal Marines we were tasked with protecting.  We could talk with them via radio, but we could not see them.  After an hour of routine radio checks and mild chatter between us and the Royal Marines, the radio exploded with a tense British accented voice declaring “troops in contact.”  The Royal Marines were taking accurate, direct fire and needed help.

Since the Royal Marines were hidden from our view, my flight lead and I were not well-situated to assist.  The last thing we wanted to do was release ordnance without knowing exactly where the good guys were.  After 45 seconds of quick deliberation between my flight lead and I, the flight lead decided he would descend below the clouds and attempt to make visual contact with the Royal Marines and assess the direction of the attack.

Thankfully, due to a thorough map study he and I had made prior to our flight, we knew that the Royal Marines were situated in a valley that ran north to south and was surrounded by high terrain on either side.  While I coordinated with the airspace controlling agency to ensure there were not any other aircraft below us, my flight lead aligned himself with the valley and prepared to descend.

We quickly went over our dive recovery rules and verbally confirmed the altitude on our radar altimeter we would begin a recovery of our aircraft if we did not see the ground.  With this quick verbal agreement confirmed, my flight lead pointed the nose of his jet at the deck and began a dive.

Screaming toward the ground at over 500 MPH, my flight lead watched his altimeter unwind, followed by the warning of his radar altimeter, and finally, just before his pull out altitude, saw the ground.  My flight  lead roared through the valley dispersing flares while conducting a show of force.  Out of the corner of his eye, my flight lead picked up the vehicles of the Royal Marines and quickly placed their location into his navigation system.

As my flight lead climbed back through the clouds into clear air, the Royal Marines came back over the radio and excitedly remarked that the firing had slowed down and that they had just witnessed the best “fly-by they had ever seen.”

“When people are just voices on the radio, or even worse, just numbers and statistics, it is easy for leaders at all levels to lose sight of what is at stake. “

Now that we knew where the Royal Marines were located, we were able to develop an attack plan with the Forward Air Controller embedded with the Royal Marines.  Ultimately, the attack was successful and the Royal Marines were able to proceed out of the ambush zone without any loss of life.

What made this mission successful was the fact that we were finally able to make visual contact with the Royal Marines; they were not just voices on the radio.  Seeing is believing.  And seeing with our own eyes the situation the Royal Marines were in, gave us the impetus to take our efforts to help them to the next level.

When people are just voices on the radio, or even worse, just numbers and statistics, it is easy for leaders at all levels to lose sight of what is at stake.  When people become numbers and statistics, leaders are less willing to meet the needs of their employees or empathize with the real situation their employees are facing at the ground level.

We live in an age in which people around the world have more options than they ever have before.  Work can be done remotely and it has become easier to make a living without having “a job.”  And yet, people still want to belong to something, to be part of a tribe.  They expect their leaders to see them as people, not just as a number.  If the leader loses sight of who she is leading, the people who are working for her will look for another tribe .

And so, my challenge to all of us – leaders all – is what are you doing to “get beneath the clouds” and maintain visual contact with those you lead?  Resist the temptation to look at people as numbers and statistics.  Go the extra mile to keep them in sight as the valuable people they really are.