Sunday, February 3, 2013

Wisdom of the Irish


Maguire’s Magnanimous Maxims
  1. “Leadership by walking around” is a good thing. Do lots of it. The Sailors love it.
  2. Remember when reviewing reports, messages, etc.,there are many ways to say the same thing.
  3. Don’t do things yourself. If there is a problem with something the DHs, DIVOFFs, XO give you, push it back down. Don’t do it yourself.
  4. Maintain your commanding officer’s detachment. Let your DHs, Chiefs, etc. be passionate in defense or condemnation of their Sailors. The CO needs to be rigorously dispassionate in dealing with an issue to do what’s best for the Command and the Navy.
  5. Be decisive. Sailors respect decisiveness even if the actions are initially viewed as harsh. They then know what to expect.
  6. Don’t take action or make pronouncements/policy decisions before you have all the facts. If you make that mistake, be decisive anyway. Sailors immediately key on oscillation.
  7. In case you didn’t hear it the first time: be dispassionate. Every decision I have seen bite a CO had been made based on anger and emotion.
  8. Depend on the input from Medical and Legal, but remember they are just recommendations.
  9. Always listen to your XO. Make sure your XO knows on a gut level he can disagree with you as strongly as he feels the need to be. Let the XO be the only one to see your doubts and concerns.
  10. Be clear as a bell about the direction you want to go and your standards. Say what you mean and mean what you say.
  11. Let your Sailors/Khaki do their jobs to the best way they know how. And hold them accountable when they don’t meet your standards.
  12. Communications are everything.
  13. Feedback is everything.
  14. Never base decisions on that you may have “gotten away with” in the past or present. Sometimes hypocrisy is a necessary evil.
  15. Be consistent.
  16. No “smiley” or “frowny” faces.
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4 comments:

  1. Navy Grade 36 BureaucratFebruary 3, 2013 at 7:37 PM

    I'd add two:

    Understand the awards process, and use it. You'd be surprised how much liberty chits, FLOCs and spot NAMs mean to the average sailor, and how easy they are to get in most cases.

    Know your admin. It's not enough to assume the N1 is taking care of your sailors. The little bit of effort you put into making sure your sailors have good paper will help them get promoted later on in life.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Jim MurphyFebruary 4, 2013 at 12:43 PM

    One of the easiest awards to approve and one which is very respected - yet very seldom used - is the Meritorious Mast. I saw one in 21+ years of service (certainly not my own), and have not heard of one in 4+ years of retirement. The rarity of it makes it a very special form of recognition and something that stands out in a Sailor's record.

    Like liberty chits and FLOCs mentioned by the Bureaucrat, not every award has to hang from a uniform to be appreciated, respected, and career enhacing (when deserved).

    ReplyDelete
  3. Robert MaguireFebruary 4, 2013 at 7:47 PM

    Something else that the Sailors in my command really liked were command coins. If one of them did a bang up job on something, I would go to their workspace and hand them one of the command's coins as a memento of a CO's thank you for a job well done. Best investment I ever made.

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  4. LCDRLDO/6440February 9, 2013 at 11:13 AM

    IMHO this should be Nr. 1 on the list. "Be decisive. Sailors respect decisiveness even if the actions are initially viewed as harsh. They then know what to expect."

    Nr. 2 on the list should be make your Sailors/Officers hold themselves accountable.

    The other items will fall in place as they will.

    ReplyDelete