JOINT BASE PEARL HARBOR-HICKAM, Hawaii -- As our nation celebrates Women’s Equality Day and the U.S. Constitution’s 19th Amendment guaranteeing women the right to vote, Lt. Gen. Laura Lenderman shares her story and experiences that led to her becoming the first female deputy commander in the 80-year history of the Pacific Air Forces.
The following interview delves into Gen. Lenderman’s experiences and perspective – from equality advancements in the military to leadership lessons that have shaped her during 30 years of service.
Pacific Air Forces Public Affairs: Thank you for taking time to share your experience with us, ma’am. To begin, as a senior leader and the first female deputy commander of PACAF, how do you view your role in the military?
Lt. Gen. Lenderman: Serving as the first female PACAF DCOM is truly an honor. It’s exciting that in my 30-year career, I’ve witnessed so many firsts for women in our Air Force….the first female fighter and bomber pilots; the first female Secretary of the Air Force; the first female Thunderbird pilot; the first female 4-star MAJCOM and Combatant Commanders, the first female Chief Master Sergeant of the Air Force, just to name a few firsts. Serving in my current role is not only an incredible honor, but it’s also an opportunity to provide an additional perspective to operations here in the Pacific theater. This opportunity also takes us one step closer to having no more “firsts” for women going forward in our Air Force.
Pacific Air Forces Public Affairs: What inspired you to join the Air Force and what assignments have been the most rewarding?
Lt. Gen. Lenderman: I am incredibly lucky to be the daughter of a loving and supportive Air Force officer, and my dad has had a tremendous influence on my decision to join our Air Force. I grew up at Scott AFB, IL in the 1980s where the national anthem played every evening, and C-9 aircraft took off from the runway behind my house. My dad loved his job at Military Airlift Command, and my mom was very active in the Spouses Club and in the community. My sister and I had the best friends in our neighborhood, and we were involved in almost every Youth Center sport. I remember waking up one day when I was 10 or 11 years old knowing that this was the life that I wanted for my family. I wanted to part of this team, and I’m so grateful for the chance to be a part of something bigger than myself. That has made all the difference in my life.
As far as assignments, I can’t really single out which were most rewarding because I have learned so much about myself and about leadership in all of them. Each assignment I've had has involved creating a strong team mentality and has taught me not only how to be a stronger teammate but also, ultimately, a stronger leader on that team. I’ve also had some incredible commanders along the way. I enjoy when I’ve been able to give some of that back – a way of paying it forward. This started all the way back in pilot training with the process of working through the challenges of learning how to fly, learning the best ways to be part of a team, and developing the skills to build that team. That growth as both a teammate and as team leader grew when I deployed in combat, when I was part of high performing staffs with so many talented individuals, and when I served as wing commander on two exceptional bases. Each instance has reinforced the importance of creating an environment in which working together as a team is valued. This is an essential element of meeting challenges and opportunities at scale with focus and transparency.
Pacific Air Forces Public Affairs: How do you believe women in our military contribute to the effectiveness of PACAF and our Air Force as a whole?
Lt. Gen. Lenderman: From a global perspective, research done by the United Nations, the World Bank, and others over the last twenty years shows that women’s participation in the labor force has a multiplier effect on a country’s local and national well-being in terms of stability and more peaceful resolution of conflicts. In short, gender equity matters, and it makes a difference in the military. There are so many women I've met from earlier generations who have said, “I never would’ve known I could’ve joined the service, and I wish I could have.” So, I feel grateful that our country has evolved to a point where women can fully pursue a career in the military. To take that one step farther, I believe continuing our country’s leadership role in a global capacity requires that everyone be represented.
From a more personal perspective, my childhood was filled with strong, intelligent, and determined women – my mother, sister, aunts, and grandmothers. Growing up, I had wonderful role models. Coming up through the ranks of the Air Force, I found that I related more to the soft-spoken leaders, because finding my voice was something I found challenging in the beginning of my career. So, it’s no surprise that I was drawn to successful leaders who sounded more like me and carried themselves in the way that I did. I can see now that many of things that were perceived, by some, as weaknesses back then are actually my strengths today.
I think it is important to have somebody to look up to and be able to see some of yourself in others. It can create a sense of strength and add some confidence. Otherwise, you're always thinking you should be like somebody else. In reality, in today’s Air Force, we don't want you to be like somebody else. We want you to be you. And we want you to be the best you. That’s where we are today.
Is there work still to be done? Yes.
Do we have blind spots? Yes.
And are we working on them? Yes. We’re not perfect, but I do think we're aware. We're much more aware than we have been in the past.
Pacific Air Forces Public Affairs: How do you balance the demands of your leadership role with other responsibilities, both personal and professional?
Lt. Gen. Lenderman: Midway through my career, I worked for a general officer, and he shared something that resonated with me. Like athletes, as leaders we are not always balanced. We're aligned. For instance, an athlete aligns toward whatever the sport’s required skills are and their training is totally focused on improving that skill. It resonated with me in the sense that there are times in our lives as leaders where we are more aligned to a specific responsibility or job.
As my career has unfolded, I've had moments where extreme alignment toward the job was needed, like when you're in command. As a commander, time with your family is extremely hard to find, so it's not necessarily a balanced situation. In my family, we’ve put a bubble around our time together. We make those times extremely special and focused. As a result, I've created a battle rhythm or a way of going about my life where my time with family is intentional. That's the way we've done it. It’s important to identify what's important to you and then prioritize those things in your life.
Another aspect of that question is, how do you live your life in the military being married to another military member? That factor has definitely shaped how we live. Our battle rhythm and our balance has worked not just because of what we have prioritized but because we talk and we listen. We understand the dynamics of leadership and service, but we also realize how precious it is to be together. For us, the time apart makes those times together even more important and more valuable.
Another aspect of the balance and alignment process for me is that I chart my activities. For instance, I prioritize prayer as part of my daily life. I also try to get in early to set my days up for success. I focus on time with my husband on the weekends in which I try to keep work at work and enjoy the time with him, but that's all unique to me. I think we all have our own way of establishing what's important to us, then carving the time out in our lives. It's not easy. As noted, there are those alignment assignments, where you're going to have more focus on work than other parts of your life, but then there's the backend of those assignments where you discover a new balance and new rhythms. I've found I’m getting better at this as I've gotten older.
Pacific Air Forces Public Affairs: What advice do you have for young women who aspire to leadership roles in the military?
Lt. Gen. Lenderman: At the beginning of your career, give yourself the space to keep learning about yourself. You don’t have to have all the answers right now. When you have questions or need help, ask for it. Start identifying those things that make you stronger -- the capacity and capabilities that you bring to the organization. For example, that can be something as straight forward as being a good listener, which is not really a simple skill at all. In fact, over the years, I’ve learned that being a great listener is an essential component of leadership. It creates an environment of trust in which people know that they are valued because they are heard. When that happens, they are willing to take the conversation deeper and engage in authentic discussions.
Another important thing to remember is that we all have a great capacity to love. That starts with love of our country and love of our service and love of the team. A central part of successful leadership is really about the relationships we have with our teammates, the love that we have for their successes and the ability to cheer them on, but also that love we express when there is need to correct and hold our team and ourselves to the standards needed. There are some truly challenging conversations that we must have as leaders, but that's all part of doing our jobs from a stance of love. Love for our teammates, love for the organization, and love for the country we serve means working to bring all of us up to the highest standards.
We're an incredibly strong nation, and we have a lot of challenges that we are facing. We’ve been through tough times before, and we can move through these as well. I think it is these kinds of situations that ultimately bring out the issues that need to be thoroughly and thoughtfully addressed. They make us all stronger in the end. Knowing that there is a way forward and knowing that that path can be traversed with listening, love, and lifting each other up – that is how I have lived my life. The issues we work through and the way we work together are important, and we're going to find each other on the other side, a stronger nation, a stronger military, a stronger team here in the Air Force, and especially right here in PACAF.