Navy leaders are all on a search - a search to bring more meaning to our lives and the lives of our Sailors.Through choosing to enrich other Sailors' lives and careers, you add meaning to both their lives and your own.
Some simple steps to follow:
1. Commit: Commit to lifetime relationships that span events, commands, campaigns and geographic boundaries.
2. Care: Care for the concerns of other Sailors and their families as if they were your own.
3. Connect: Aim to connect with Sailors who will benefit and enrich other's lives in equal measure.
4. Communicate: Communicate candidly. Tell Sailors what they should hear rather than what they want to hear.
5. Expand Capacity: Aim to expand Sailor's capacity to help them give and get more from their lives.
The Litmus Test: If you are truly enriching Sailors' lives, they will typically miss you in their past. They will know that their lives and their careers would have been improved had they met you earlier.
Adapted from Rajesh Setty.
1 comment:
Captain Lambert,
There is no doubt in my mind that this man has never been to war. I have considered his points and responded to those points with my own possibly inadequate attitudes and wording.
1. Commit: Commit to lifetime relationships that span events, commands, campaigns and geographic boundaries.
I have many friends who are Shipmates and have been for 50 years, but these days they are leaving us too quickly. These Shipmates added greatly to my life’s valuable experiences and they appreciate what I contributed to them.
2. Care: Care for the concerns of other Sailors and their families as if they were your own.
It was my observation that too many times the average Sailor would hear about special provisions for “My wife she, or my kid he or my dog it” and that never added to the cohesion of the crews concerned. It did bear close observation and consideration though.
3. Connect: Aim to connect with Sailors who will benefit and enrich other's lives in equal measure.
Bear a hand is the way it should be described. Sailors should be treated just as they deserve to be treated. If they want to be loyal to the Navy, their Shipmates and their Ship, they deserve to be treated well, and if they lack the proper attitude they needed more discipline and instruction. I never found it to be very complex in treating Sailors as they deserved to be treated.
4. Communicate: Communicate candidly. Tell Sailors what they should hear rather than what they want to hear.
In my later years in the Navy I always told subordinates that I was two different people, I was either easy Ed or horse s—t Hughes, the choice was up to them. I never had to explain my philosophy to any Navyman other than that.
5. Expand Capacity: Aim to expand Sailor's capacity to help them give and get more from their lives.
I was always concerned about every Sailors life that I served with, but I stressed to them that the mission of the Navy and their ship was a big part of their life. Here is an example of how one Sailor responded to the needs of the Navy and his country. The ship was notified that this Sailors Father had died while we were on a deterrent patrol, it was explained to this Petty Officer that the Sub would have to abort patrol to allow him to leave the ship and attend his Fathers funeral. The decision was his and he was well aware of the importance of maintaining patrol status and choice to continue patrol rather than aborting the patrol to attend his Fathers funeral. This was a tough decision for any Sailor and I am proud that I had Navymen that chose to make those tough decisions.
All the things mentioned in the piece by Rajesh Setty are important from the aspect of how one should try to interact with Sailors, but he never mentioned the first word about how the Sailor should and better prepared to combat the enemy, whoever that may be. He/she should be considerate of all Shipmates because they are warriors and their job is first to destroy the enemy, and then to see to any special requests that they may have submitted.
A minor point is the fact that many Sailors during WWII left this United States for parts unknown and never returned until four years later. What do you believe the major concern of these Sailors was, coddle everyone and see to their needs, or concentrate on helping to win the war?
Very Respectfully,
Navyman834
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