Ears to Hear

Reflections on September 1976 and September 2026

It was early in the fall semester of 4/c year that we were gathered into our dayrooms to be told about the “adapts.” The adaptability reviews were to be completed by each of the classmates in our company as well as the cadre. We were to rank each other, best to worst, on such factors as getting along with others, flexibility, leadership, and honesty. I took this information in silence and walked back to my room, braced up and horrified.

One of my greatest fears was to find out what other people really thought about me. Ever felt that way?

A few weeks later, the corridors of Chase Hall were preternaturally dark as I marched, eyes in the boat, to hear the verdict on my character from our company officer. Surprisingly, my ratings were about average. Whew.

Have you ever heard of Carl Jung? He was developing models of the human psyche at the same time as Freud. They knew each other and collaborated early in their careers, then Freud dumped his colleague to promote himself. In my opinion, Jung’s models are more useful. In fact, I refer to them often.

Jung’s concept of the “persona” is one that has consistently helped me in leadership roles, including mentoring. The basic idea is that we protect ourselves from psychic harm by projecting an outward image of who we are. Do you have a social media avatar? Mine is pretty lame – it’s bald and too smiley. The way I picture the persona is as a translucent shell that surrounds and protects my true self. I project images on my shell in the same way that a slide show is projected onto a screen. Oh, right…you’ve probably never seen that. Sorry, I’m old.

Anyway, the persona includes representations of your true self as well as a large measure of wishful thinking about yourself. It’s okay to shade the truth in your persona. We couldn’t survive if we walked around with all of our weaknesses hanging out. Especially as a military officer.

A big part of your academy experience, although they’d never put it this way, is to work out a stable and credible persona to carry with you as you enter the fleet. An officer’s uniform represents authority, but it’s not enough.

Jung found a way to help people who failed in the persona department. Some people develop an overly rigid persona and defend it at all costs. Eventually, the mask cracks, and they fall apart with it. Jung helped people (like me) to integrate their persona with their true self, to own their weaknesses as well as strengths, and to craft a persona that is somehow true to it all, an image they can believe in. At least that’s how I understand it.

To be a good officer, you will need to project strength and confidence even when you don’t feel it. You will have to manage the distance you keep from others while maintaining an impression of authenticity. And you will have to understand and regulate your own emotions. At times, you will express strong emotion, including anger, but more for the sake of the mission than for protecting yourself. These are all functions of a healthy, integrated persona.

The same applies to a walk with Jesus. He knows and loves me as I truly am, but it’s better not to wear my sins on my sleeve. The safety of a healthy persona helps me to empathize and forgive. We’re all in need of His help.

What’s the trick to this? What I’ve learned is to value my gifting. I didn’t do anything to deserve my gifts, but I’m accountable for how I use them. So, if someone points out my weaknesses, that’s okay. Not my area of strength. I low key project my gifts in my persona. No need to brag because I don’t deserve any credit for having them. The things I do with my gifts speak for themselves. My weaknesses are on display, too, but in a soft light. I appreciate the One who helps me to deal with them.

Strengths assessments can be helpful. In your CGA curriculum, you’ll take MGT 211, Organizational Behavior and Leadership. In that course, you’ll get the Myers-Briggs assessment and the DISC (dominant, influencer, servant, and compliant) assessment. Personally, I found other assessments more helpful: Your Unique Design and CliftonStrengths. My Clifton Strengths are Positivity, Developer, Strategic, and Learner. No surprise that I’m a mentor.

Lean on your classmates as you work out your persona. They’ll be honest (brutally) about your strengths and weaknesses. Reflect with them on your failures, remembering that the academy experience is designed to test your limits.

And that’s one reason why CGA 80 is here, too. We have no skin in the game anymore – we’re safe. Yes, some of us held rank, but that’s ancient history now. The statute of limitations has expired on our academy mistakes. It would be our honor to help you with this difficult task of personal formation. And I promise we won’t do an adaptability rating on you.

Kind regards,

CAPT Weil