Air Force Secretary Sheila Widnall awarded Air National Guard Director Maj. Gen. Donald E. Shepperd the Euguene M. Zuckert Management Award in a Pentagon ceremony last week.
The award, which recognizes outstanding management achievements within the Air Force, is given annually to a command official who has made significant management contributions to the U.S. Air Force. The award is named for former Air Force secretary Eugene Zuckert.
Widnall described Shepperd as an "inspired leader who has charted a course using a simple, results-oriented approach to develop personal and organizational leadership."
Shepperd calls his award-winning management philosophy, C2EM (see-to-em). The acronym stands for customer orientation, continuous improvement, empowerment and measurement. Widnall called the plan "visionary" because it creates an "environment of employee empowerment."
Shepperd said he was honored to accept the award. "I have always believed that the job of leaders is to provide the vision and create the environment in which empowered people can flourish and be enthusiastic about coming to work," he said. "Hopefully, this award is a reflection that we have accomplished some of that in this organization."
The Air National Guard consists of 110,000 people, 89 flying units and over 150 installations nationwide.
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