As Sailors, we’ve all had experience with two dramatically different types of leaders – whether on the deckplates, in the Goatlocker or in the Wardroom. The first type of leader drains intelligence, energy, and capability from the Sailor around them and always needs to be the smartest person in the room. These are the idea killers, the energy sappers, the diminishers of talent and commitment. 

On the other side of the spectrum are those Navy leaders who use their intelligence to amplify the smarts and capabilities of the Sailors around them. When these Navy leaders walk into a room, light bulbs go off over Sailors’s heads; ideas flow and problems get solved. These are the Navy leaders who inspire Sailors to stretch themselves to deliver results that surpass expectations. 

These are the Multipliers. And the Navy needs more of them, especially now when leaders are expected to do more with less. 

In Liz Wiseman’s book, multiplers – HOW THE BEST LEADERS MAKE EVERYONE SMARTER, she and Greg McKeown studied intelligence and how Multipliers can have a resoundingly positive and profitable effect on organizations—getting more done with fewer resources, developing and attracting talent, and cultivating new ideas and energy to drive organizational change and innovation.

The program manager for the Navy’s Littoral Combat Ship program was fired Thursday due to allegations of inappropriate behavior, according to Naval Sea Systems Command.

Captain Jeffrey Riedel was reassigned by LCS Program Executive Officer Rear Admiral James Murdoch, pending an investigation into the allegations.  Captain Riedel is presumed innocent of the allegations.  There has been no timeline published as to how long the investigation is expected to take.

“He will not be reporting back to this command,” NAVSEA spokesman Chris Johnson said Friday.

Captain Riedel is a native of Plymouth, MA. He attended Maine Maritime Academy, graduating in 1986 with a Bachelor of Science in Marine Engineering and a U.S.C.G. 3rd Assistant Engineer license. He graduated from the Naval Engineering Program at the Naval Postgraduate School (NPS) in 1993, earning a Master’s Degree in Mechanical Engineering, and the advanced degree of Mechanical Engineer. He was a member of the first group of students to complete the Total Ship System Engineering (TSSE) Curriculum. In 1996, he returned to NPS to participate in the Navy Doctoral Studies Program. He obtained his Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering with a specialty in Autonomous Underwater Vehicle control in 1999.

Captain Riedel served at sea in USS WAINWRIGHT (CG 28) as Auxiliaries Officer, Main Machinery Officer and Damage Control Assistant where he qualified as a Surface Warfare Officer and Engineering Officer of the Watch. As an Engineering Duty Option he transferred to the ED Community upon detachment from WAINWRIGHT.

As an Engineering Duty Officer, Captain Riedel served as a student at the Naval Postgraduate School, as Assistant Production Officer at SUPSHIP Bath, as DDG 51 Class Chief Engineer in PEO TSC, as DDG 51 Class Post Delivery Manager, as the LPD 17 Class Production/Test/Technical Director and as the Amphibious Warfare Programs Manager in PEO SHIPS. He presently serves as Major Program Manager, Littoral Combat Ship (PMS 501).

Captain Riedel is a member of the Acquisition Professional Community and is certified in Program Management, Production, Quality and Manufacturing, and Systems Planning, Research, Development, and Engineering He has been awarded the Meritorious Service Medal, the Navy/Marine Corps Commendation Medal, the Navy/Marine Corps Achievement Medal, the National Defense Service Medal, the Combat Action Ribbon and various service ribbons.

If you are trying to decide among a few people to fill a position, hire the best writer. It doesn’t matter if that person is a marketer, salesperson, designer, programmer or whatever; their writing skills will pay off.

That’s because being a good writer is about more than writing. Clear writing is a sign of clear thinking. Great writers know how to communicate. They make things easy to understand. They can put themselves in someone else’s shoes. They know what to omit. And those are qualities you want in any candidate.

Writing is making a comeback all over our society. Look at how much people e-mail and text-message now rather than talk on the phone. Look at how much communication happens via instant messaging and blogging.

Writing is today’s currency for good ideas.

From REWORK by Jason Fried

John Hancock’s birthday was yesterday.  In honor of that day, the Writing Instrument Manufacturers Association (WIMA) sponsors National Handwriting Day.

The lost art of handwriting is one of the few ways we can uniquely express ourselves. There’s something poetic about grasping a writing instrument and feeling it hit the paper as your thoughts flow through your fingers and pour into words. So, the Writing Instrument Manufacturers Association (WIMA) suggests you take advantage of National Handwriting Day on January 23 and use a pen or a pencil to rekindle that creative feeling through a handwritten note, poem, letter or journal entry.

Handwriting allows us to be artists and individuals during a time when we often use computers, faxes and e-mail to communicate. Fonts are the same no matter what computer you use or how you use it. Fonts lack a personal touch. Handwriting can add intimacy to a letter and reveal details about the writer’s personality. Throughout history, handwritten documents have sparked love affairs, started wars, established peace, freed slaves, created movements and declared independence.

David H. Baker

WIMA Executive Director.

The Navy culture celebrates the idea of the workaholic. We hear about people burning the midnight oil. They pull all-nighters and sleep at the office. It’s considered a badge of honor to kill yourself over a project. No amount of work is too much work.

Not only is this workaholism unnecessary, it’s stupid. Working more doesn’t mean you care more or get more done. It just means you work more.

Workaholics wind up creating more problems than they solve. First off, working like that just isn’t sustainable over time. When the burnout crash comes–and it will–it’ll hit that much harder.  Workaholics miss the point, too. They try to fix problems by throwing sheer hours at them. They try to make up for intellectual laziness with brute force. This results in inelegant solutions. They even create crises. They don’t look for ways to be more efficient because they actually like working overtime. They enjoy feeling like heroes. They create problems (often unwittingly) just so they can get off on working more.

Workaholics make the people who don’t stay late feel inadequate for “merely” working reasonable hours. That leads to guilt and poor morale all around. Plus, it leads to an ass-in-seat mentality–people stay late out of obligation, even if they aren’t really being productive.

If all you do is work, you’re unlikely to have sound judgments. Your values and decision making wind up skewed. You stop being able to decide what’s worth extra effort and what’s not. And you wind up just plain tired. No one makes sharp decisions when tired.

In the end, workaholics don’t actually accomplish more than non workaholics. They may claim to be perfectionists, but that just means they’re wasting time fixating on inconsequential details instead of moving on to the next task.

Workaholics aren’t heroes. They don’t save the day, they just use it up. The real hero is already home because she figured out a faster way to get things done.

From Jason Fried’s excellent e-book REWORK.

I acknowledge my own guilt here.  If you see yourself in this post, there is still time to change.  Someone you love is waiting for you at home.  Leave now.

Who is responsible for what?

Who is accountable to whom?

Who owns it?

Who is the single, accountable Flag Officer?

My experience, over my career is that if you put one person in charge, give that person the appropriate authority, make that person accountable for the results and that is what you get — RESULTS.

You can watch Admiral Harvey’s SNA presentation HERE.  It is worth your time.

This is genuine leadership training and should be watched by every wardroom in the Navy.

William A. Ward