‘A friend of mine’ is a FS and a similar aged Sgt is starting to undermine their authority. These two were meant to be promoted at the same time but only my friend got promoted so the Sgt is still bitter (understandable).
However the Sgt is much more chatty and comfortable with the staff so sometimes it can be hard to keep them in check eg talking to staff about events/doing things, before talking to my friend about it.
How could my friend regain authority without making things awkward/hostile?
Thank you in advance!!
Why would a Senior NCO need to run everything through the Flight Sergeant?
They are just another Cadet SNCO they are not the filter through which all communication from the staff must flow.
When I was a Squadron Commander I didn’t pass everything to my Dep OC to pass to the SWO to pass to the CWO to pass to the FS to pass to the Sgt to pass to the Cpl to tell Cdt Bloggs, I spoke to the person most suited to arranging the task I wanted doing and told them to get on with it.
I would suggest that your friend needs to give their head a wobble.
They can be bitter for a moment but then they need to grow up. They are a Cadet SNCO, they should roll with the hits rather than causing a divide within their NCO team.
No, they’re not. What you describe is not undermining, it’s being a proactive and affable NCO.
To be undermining, the Sgt would need to be overtly acting counter to instructions, denigrating, or otherwise showing disagreement with the FS in front of lower ranks.
The FS needs to be less fragile. Being a FS doesn’t mean they are at the centre of everything and a link in every chain and throwing a paddy over someone else talking to the staff is not a good look on an NCO. Would they feel undermined if a cadet went straight to a staff member about a camp they had a place on?
The FS’s place in the chain exists only in areas where the FS has a specific remit.
Yeah igy for sure- tbh i do see ur side and cheers for putting it bluntly
Idk if my mate’s gonna see it straight away but you’ve made valid points! Thanks!
‘Yeah, I get you for sure - to be honest, I do see your side, and cheers for putting it bluntly. I don’t know if my mate’s going to see it straight away, but you’ve made valid points. Thanks!’
That’s the spirit of it old chap. Both sides considered, I can see from where your argument lies and I thank you for giving your perspective in such a succinct manner. Whether my friend sees this or not is yet to be known, but your comments are appreciated! Much obliged!
You will see this sort of thing as you get older in wherever you are employed and imagine you are seeing it at school. Remember the Air Cadets provides training for your future life in many ways.
And it could well be that, if indeed the Sgt was ‘supposed’ to be promoted but wasn’t for whatever reason, that they’re being given opportunities to prove that they can be a FS.
I’m curious as to why you are asking… unfortunately this is down to good old fashioned communication and your friend should speak to his Sgt. I expect the Sgt doesn’t really understand that what he is doing is undermining your friend and the whole thing could be reset quite quickly. I also suspect he did this as a cadet and Cpl before. This doesn’t need to be a “I’m a FS and you’re a Sgt so do as your told” conversation but at SNCO level this is more colleague to colleague chat to start with.
If, after the chat, things don’t improve then there are many options to sort this but start simple and work up.
