If you can’t express what you think in writing, how will you express yourself?
Think about it
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Musings, leadership tidbits and quotes posted by a retired Navy Captain (really just a high performing 2nd Class Petty Officer) who hung up his uniform a bit too early. He still wears his Navy service on his sleeve. He needs to get over that. "ADVANCE WARNING – NO ORIGINAL THOUGHT!" A "self-appointed" lead EVANGELIST for the "cryptologic community". Keeping CRYPTOLOGY alive-one day and Sailor at a time. 2019 is 84th Anniversary of the Naval Security Group.
I Like The Cut of His Jib 
I appreciate this post although I do not fully agree with the premise of evaluating an individual as either a multiplier or diminisher. This type of approach is black and white whereas I believe that we exist in a \”shades of gray\” world.Instead of an \”either/or\” characterization, we should be aware of our current mindset at any given instant, and then honestly assess whether or not we are helping (multiplying) or hindering (diminishing) our organization in that moment. This is where a self-assessment as to where we fall on the \”diminisher to multiplier\” spectrum can certainly be valuable in providing us with perspective as to our immediate need to adapt our behavior or interaction with others.As an example, many people lionize Steve Jobs for his contributions to our modern life; and yet, he would have been evaluated as a \”diminisher\” (in my opinion) using the criteria listed in the online evaluation tool you referenced. I believe he tailored his behavior to the momentary need while tending towards more diminishing traits than multiplicative under the stated criteria. In fact, I strongly disagree with anyone who does not believe that Steve Jobs served as an ultra-multiplier in spite of his tyrannical tendencies.Bottom line for me: \”Value-added\” leadership should be viewed as knowing when to \”take charge\” by laying out a vision and potentially dominating the conversation – or when to \”lay slack\” and encourage our shipmates to lead and contribute their strategies for the unit, ship, command, etc… to succeed.
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I appreciate this post although I do not fully agree with the premise of evaluating an individual as either a multiplier or diminisher. This type of approach is black and white whereas I believe that we exist in a \”shades of gray\” world.Instead of an \”either/or\” characterization, we should be aware of our current mindset at any given instant, and then honestly assess whether or not we are helping (multiplying) or hindering (diminishing) our organization in that moment. This is where a self-assessment as to where we fall on the \”diminisher to multiplier\” spectrum can certainly be valuable in providing us with perspective as to our immediate need to adapt our behavior or interaction with others.As an example, many people lionize Steve Jobs for his contributions to our modern life; and yet, he would have been evaluated as a \”diminisher\” (in my opinion) using the criteria listed in the online evaluation tool you referenced. I believe he tailored his behavior to the momentary need while tending towards more diminishing traits than multiplicative under the stated criteria. In fact, I strongly disagree with anyone who does not believe that Steve Jobs served as an ultra-multiplier in spite of his tyrannical tendencies.Bottom line for me: \”Value-added\” leadership should be viewed as knowing when to \”take charge\” by laying out a vision and potentially dominating the conversation – or when to \”lay slack\” and encourage our shipmates to lead and contribute their strategies for the unit, ship, command, etc… to succeed.
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What I got out of this article was to be cautious about being a diminisher, by accident. There's some quote out there that says we have three characters: the one we have, the one we think we have, and then the one others think we have. This article is telling us that even though we may think we are a multiplier, we in reality might just be a diminisher.Jack Napier argues that we need a balance between diminishing leadership and multiplying leadership, given the grayness in the situations most face in whatever they are leading. I guess how one views this needs to consider the time frame involved and how aggressively one is pursuing growth. Some of our best leaders over history though provided consistent guidance to their teams.
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Amen.
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No kidding?Did you never work with the devices mechanical?The devices electrical?The devices eloctronic?The generators?The sudden loss of power?Nobody scheduled to be onboard was killed in a car accident on the way to work.Yeah, I knew where you were going with your post but it lost touch with my 30 year reality working in the navy.One of our Petty Officers had it as a decal in the back window of his pickup parked in the Admiral Kidd Parking Lot everyday as we went to sea and returned, whenever. It said, \”SHIT HAPPENS\” The high class folks at the Naval Training Center and Admiral Kidd Club objected loudly but we were somewhat deafened by the engines and gunfire they never heard.You don't rule out mistakes and shit happens, you plan for it. You mitigate it. You expect it and you deal with it.
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Good comment.
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I was nearly fired the last time I told someone the truth (which the individual did not want to hear). I now keep my mouth shut and silently color and stay inside the lines.
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