Chapel streams Global Leadership Summit Published Aug. 12, 2015 By Rebecca Amber Staff writer EDWARDS AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. -- Airman Ernest Vang, 412th Communications Squadron, Cyber Operations, wants to be a good leader. The 2015 Global Leadership Summit, held Aug. 6-7, gave him an opportunity to learn how to do just that. The conference is broadcasted live from Willow Creek Church's campus near Chicago to over 375 premier host sites in North America. At Edwards, the conference was streamed in the Chapel 2 Annex. During the conference there were eight sessions with a wide array of speakers. There were pastors, business men and women, and collegiate professors. The chapel covered the cost of attendance for any person with base access who wished to attend. Lunch was also provided. Mike Berard, Hypersonics Combined Test Force program manager, volunteered to be the master of ceremonies for the event. According to Berard, the conference was seen by two million people and will be seen by another 26 million worldwide over the next six months. Berard said the conference is all about personal leadership and conviction and the answered the question, "What is it that is this nebulous idea called leadership?" To Berard, a big part of leadership is vision. "The vision of a leader is bigger than himself. And probably will last beyond his lifetime," he said. "Somebody had a vision sometime about an Air Force. Somebody had vision sometime about a place that wasn't under the tyranny of the king and they called it the new colonies and that idea, that vision, has grown over the last 200 years. And we are a part of that group, that vision to serve the nation." Vang attended to learn how leaders think, speak and interact. During the conference he learned the value of having clearly defined words for the character traits he wants to embody. Naming those traits makes them more tangible. "The Air Force uses the word resilience a lot and I think resilience is important, but I think even more impactful is grit, for me grit works," said Vang. Vang defines Grit as pushing yourself to succeed even in the darkest times. "Learning that having a little bit of grit to who you are, to your backbone is really important. To persevere even when you're flat on your back," he said. Vang hopes to see even more young Airmen attend the summit next year. The Edwards Chapel hosed the Global Leadership Summit as part of the Spiritual Pillar of Comprehensive Airmen Fitness. Comprehensive Airman Fitness is comprised of a multitude of targeted programs and activities as well as resiliency skills taught to enable Airmen to make sound choices. The program's goal is to build and sustain a thriving and resilient Air Force community that fosters mental, physical, social and spiritual fitness. Next year's Global Leadership Summit will be held Aug. 16-17, 2016. For more information about the Global Leadership Summit visit www.willowcreek.com/summit. For more information about attending on base call Mike Berard at 661-275-9111.