Kill It with Fire

To have air cover was to have confidence that the organization would help your team survive such inevitable breakages. It was to have someone who trusted and understood the value of change and could protect the team. As a team lead, my job was to secure that air cover. When I moved back to the private sector, I applied the same principles as a manager—networking, relationship building, recruiting, doing favors—so I could give my team members the safety and security necessary to do the hard jobs for which I had hired them.