Section Leader Qualification

Section Leader Qualification Course

The Section Leader Qualifying Course is designed to teach you how to perform the duties of a Section Leader. Successful completion of the Section Leader Qualification is recommended for all those currently holding or aspiring to hold this position.

You will be a mentor to the cadets and NCOs in your section. How you conduct yourself will give them a firsthand look at how higher ranked personnel within the Corps conduct themselves.

Each lesson below will cover a different topic related to what a Section Leader must do in the performance of their duties.

Lesson 1: Duties and Responsibilities

As a Section Leader, your duties are amongst the most demanding in the Corps. It is your responsibility to keep the cadets active and interested in the program. Here your skills learned in Cadet Junior Leadership (CJL) come to the fore as you interact directly with those beneath you.

As you will recall there are three leadership types: authoritative, participative and free reign. They all have their benefits in real life but in the WCC, where there is no face-to-face communication, some work much better than others.

The participative style, or a modified form of it, is usually the best way. Speak to your cadets. Be friendly, courteous and speak to them often. You will learn more about the formal way to speak with members later on. Memos are the best way to reach everyone, but Instant Messaging is the best way to interact with your cadets in real time one-on-one or as a group.

Your cadets' activity is your primary responsibility! Keep them active, positive and interested! Duties of the Section Leader include:

• Communicating with cadets in regards to their progress and well-being, remember that while you are friends, you are still in a position of authority. There is a time to be friendly and a time to be professional. You will want to keep your cadets apprised of what they need for promotion.

• Setting a positive example for other cadets by participating in unit events. Participate in trades and features, be active on the forums, display respect for more senior NCOs and officers. It does not look good on you if you are on your cadets to complete trades and you are not doing the same.

• Completing cadet evaluations upon request.

• Serve as the link between the Divisional Senior NCO and your cadets. Sometimes a cadet evaluation report is not enough when it comes to your overall job as Section Leader. You serve as the first point of contact for your cadets and you will need to relay other information such as the welfare of your cadets and issues to the Divisional Senior NCO. Your Divisional Senior NCO will also be giving you tasks/orders from time to time, and it will be your duty to relay this down to your own cadets. This will help lead to a higher retention rate.

Lesson 2: Dealing with Issues

As a leader people are going to look to you for guidance. They will also go to you with problems, be it personal or with other cadets.

Individual Problems: These will usually come in two forms; personal and professional. Professional problems are going to be smaller things which are relatively easy to solve. Cadets can come for help in training issues such as Service Branch/Element Training and Trades. Cadets may come to you with concerns about NCO College courses not being marked, or recommendations for promotions or positions. Cadets may come for advice in regards to their cadet careers. Your job is to sort them out. Help them discover the answers to tests. Direct them to the right person. Write them recommendations if you feel they deserve it.

Personal Problems: This is where your ability as a leader will be tested. These issues may or may not relate to the Corps. If they relate to the Corps you may or may not be able to solve it.

Minor Corps Issues: If the problem is between two cadets, you can intervene and try and solve their problem. Figure out the facts and try to make a resolution. Report incidents to the Divisional Senior NCO.

Major/Senior Corps Issues: If the problem is involving someone senior to you in rank or position, report it to the Divisional Senior NCO. It is a little difficult to discipline someone above you! If there is a very serious problem involving abuse, harassment etc, report it to the Divisional Officer directly. Serious matters may result in charges and need to be dealt with the Divisional Officer or higher. For confidentiality reasons, you should go directly to the Divisional Officer. You may receive flak from various parts of the chain of command for not informing them, but don't worry, you are doing the right thing.

You may also, from time to time depending on what type of relationship you have with your cadets, be told about personal problems with their personal lives. There are many times that you will not be able to do anything. Sometimes all someone needs is someone to listen to them. You may encounter issues that are potentially dangerous or illegal in real life. 99.9% of the time you are not qualified to handle these situations. If you have any concerns in regards to this, speak to someone higher up in the chain of command for advice. You are there to help your cadets and give them someone to talk to if they need it.

Divisional Problems: There are two major issues that threaten the chemistry of a division; morale and activity. Both require an investigation (why is morale low? Why is there no activity?) The best solution is the memo. Email everyone with an inspirational message. Light a fire! Get your troops motivated and in the game! Don't be afraid to speak to the Divisional Senior NCO or the CSNCO to ask for advice. By asking for advice it may spark something in your own mind.

Lesson 3: Cadet Evaluations

The Cadet Evaluation is essentially a simple write-up about what a cadet has done and what a cadet is like. There are variants as to how far the records should go, but 1 or 3 months should suffice.

Cadet Evaluation (3 Months)

NAME: Cpl(AF) George Jungle

DIVISION: Hercules Division, Section 2.

Level of Training Completed: Advanced Air Cadet

NCOC Courses: 2

Cadet Junior Leadership Qualification : 4 Aug 15

Section Leader Qualification : 22 Sept 15

Trades: 10

Qualifications: 3

Medals: 3

NCOC Honors Medal : 22 Sept 15

Recruitment Medal (5) : 2 Oct 15

Cadet Input Award : 14 Sept 15

Positions: Features NCO

Justice/Forums Cases: N/A

Evaluation

Cpl Jungle is an exceptional cadet. He is very motivated and dedicated to the unit and his position. He has started 2 features and both were very successful. He wishes to progress in both rank and position and serve the Division. I recommend Cpl Jungle for any position he wishes to undertake.

Effective 10 October 2015,

FSgt(AF) Jenn Ingles,

2 Section Leader (HERCULES DIVISION).

These can also be negative. Remember to be truthful. The worst thing you can do is lie. These can lead to promotions and positions. You want the most suitable person in positions and getting promotions.

Lesson 4: The Memo

You don't need a special event to send out an email to your cadets! Once a month. Bare minimum. Once a week is preferred. It really doesn't take long! Just a "This is what's going on, this is what's going to happen, this is what people have done! Congrats!" If there's anything that gets handed down through the chain of command, memo goes out. If there are new regulations, new trades available, new staff members, anything - a memo goes out.

Remember that memos are to be positive. If there is something negative to pass down, we use the 'poop sandwich' model. Give a positive point, then your negative point, then finish with a good point. The memo format is quite simple. Only 3 parts are required: the header, the body and the signature. The header says who is getting it, who is sending it and what's it about.

TO: ALL MEMBERS of 3 Section, Fantasia Division.

FROM: TSgt(S) Kilmore

RE: Weekly Activities

The body is short and sweet as much as possible. Obviously some topics are going to be longer than most. Short and sweet though will be easier to read. The more you drag on, the less cadets will want to pay attention.

Hey guys! How are things! Everything in the section is running well. People are doing trades, training is coming along and activity on the forums is coming along! I'm happy to see it, but I'd love to see more activity on the forums. I'm glad to see so many of the New Entries are getting through Training!

CONGRATS TO:

(trades and promotions list)

If you have any questions or concerns let me know!

See? In this short and sweet message, you've given lots of praise, a poop sandwich about forums activity and an encouragement to talk to you about things.

Your signature follows the same procedure every time. Name and rank, position, unit.

TSgt(S) Heather Kilmore

Section 3 Leader (FANTASIA DIVISION)

Anything you want to do with it, go ahead. There's a little bit of wiggle room. Text formatting, rank images is acceptable.