Author: captain1610

Sailors are our most important asset

Sir, when your words and actions don’t align, you have fallen into the credibility gap. When you have a credibility gap at your command, it is damaging to your reputation and to your career. And since you’re in a significant leadership role, your credibility gap is hurting our Navy and our Sailors.

Navy Regulations 1990

The Commanding Officer and his or her subordinates shall exercise leadership through personal example, moral responsibility, and judicious attention to the welfare of persons under their control or supervision. Such leadership shall be exercised in order to achieve a positive, dominant influence on the performance of persons in the Department of the Navy.

Time

Time is a non-recoverable asset.  You can’t save it up and use it later.  You have to make the most of every minute as it is happening.  Despite any plan you may have, time marches on.  While those minutes tick away, there is something you can do.  You can manage your processes and improve your efficiency.  If you find yourself playing catch-up constantly, you know you have room for improvement.

Learn to balance your time invested with the expected tangible results in mind and you will make better use of the limited time you have.  How do some people manage to get hundreds of things done while you can only manage a dozen?  More than likely, it is a matter of prioritization.  Take a look at yours and see where you stand.  I find that the busier I am, the more efficient I become.  Your results may vary.

Be the change you want to see in the Navy !!

Even in our great Navy, bureaucracy is like the icy surface that glazes over a frigid ocean. Even the smallest of  cracks in the ice can provide enough space for a ship to pass – certainly enough room for a Staff Action Officer to get through. When you sit still, you risk getting stuck. But if you gradually break up the ice as you go, you can keep moving forward. Rather than surrender to bureaucracy, take it upon yourself to break it.

In subzero waters, icebreaker ships rely on a specially designed steel hull to plow forward. In the climate-controlled spaces of our staff offices, we can rely on a different weapon: The persistent question.  Ask it!

Try breaking up the ice with questions like:

  • “Why does it feel like we are having the same meeting and discussion, over and over again?”
  • “Why don’t we just try it and see what happens?”
  • “Specifically what (or who) is getting in the way of us making a decision?”
  • “When exactly will we have a final answer on this?”

You don’t have to be the Admiral to ask these questions. On the contrary, they are best asked by the staff action officers tasked with operations and execution.

 
Rather than surrender to bureaucracy, take it upon yourself to break it.
 
Breaking up the ice is a painful responsibility, but the Sailor who does it is the person who enables the ship to pass, the action officer who moves the entire project forward.

For the sake of empowering the Navy to make great ideas happen, I make this plea:

  • Be the person who asks the annoying questions.
  • Don’t try to get everyone to agree. Instead, put people on the spot to share their objections.
  • When there is ambiguity about the next step, call it out!  Your boss will be glad you did.  Your peers will admire you.  Your wife will beam in your presence.  Your dog will get you the paper.  Life will be good.

STOLEN IN ITS ENTIRETY FROM 
THE GREAT PEOPLE AT BEHANCE
(Scott Belsky, in particular).

You can find them HERE.

A must read for the IDC

 
The professional journal of the Navy has devoted an entire issue to the Information Dominance Corps.  It’s your professional responsibility to maintain an acute awareness of what’s going on in your community.  May sure you make the time to read the July issue of PROCEEDINGS magazine.

Click HERE to read it.

You may even want to consider a subscription.

Through writing we create vision

My point is that if you don’t learn to write well — if you can’t get your point across in a clear, concise and organized way — you have no choice but to spray and pray. Writing well is part of leading well. Through writing we educate and motivate. Through writing we create vision. Through writing we instruct and get things done.

Timothy R. Clark, Ph.D
He is an author, international management consultant, former two-time CEO, Fulbright Scholar at Oxford University and Academic all-American football player at BYU. His latest two books are “The Leadership Test” and “Epic Change.”