What can be more important ?

"Mike,

Thanks for your continuing engagement on the vital issue of leadership -- at the end of the day, what can be more important to our Navy and our nation?"

Admiral James Stavridis

Trust

"Men will not trust leaders who feel themselves beyond accountability for what they do."

Admiral Kinnaird R. McKee

Director, Navy Nuclear Propulsion (1982-1989)

OPNAV AO - you think you're busy now, just wait!!!

The Vice Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Mark Ferguson said last week the Navy will continue to reduce its number of staff positions. After 10 years of war, the office of the chief of naval operations grew to 2,300 people. With the war ending, Ferguson said Nov. 19 during an Association of the United States Navy luncheon in Arlington, VA, the OPNAV staff will be reduced to 1,500 personnel. The service also reduced 35 flag officer positions and will announce seven more reductions in January, he added.

Writing

Writing is a skill that is improved through practice, so officers should seek every opportunity to write and therefore to improve their technical ability to write. Imagination and the desire for self-improvement play a large part in the effectiveness of an individual's writing.

Some people know the mechanics of how to write, but they are not very good writers because they don't have the imagination to add the appropriate descriptive phrase, adverb, adjective, whatever it is that makes this thing live A little, makes it more readable, more appealing. I don't think you necessarily can teach just anyone to be a professional writer, but you can help them improve, I would encourage young officers not to draw away from the normal approach to writing tasks but to accept them as a challenge to create, just as any other artist does.

Rarely is rewriting unnecessary. Write it, read it, and, as a consequence of reading it, write it again and work it and rework it and get suggestions and get it critiqued.

General Barrow, NAVAL LEADERSHIP - VOICES OF EXPERIENCE

Command Excellence - Admiral Chester Nimitz

Fleet Admiral (FADM) Chester Nimitz created command excellence in every command he was a part of. He did not broadcast his expectations, but conveyed them subtly to his officers. He demanded excellence not for his sake, but for the sake of the men themselves and their own pride and self-fulfillment. Nimitz believed that sound strategy is based on knowledge, information and technical experience. He gave an order and relied on his men to do what they thought best under a given situation. He once said "horses pull harder when the reins lie loose." Nimitz kept his door open to his men. He believed the best ideas did not come from the top, but often from the men. 

From: AN ASSESSMENT OF STRATEGIC NAVAL LEADER COMPETENCIES
Commander Michael A. Strano

"I'm still learning every day. I still try to do my best and refuse to worry about things over which I have no control." 

- Fleet Admiral Chester Nimitz

Example of virtue, honor, patriotism and subordination

All commanding officers and others in authority in the naval service are required to show in themselves a good example of virtue, honor, patriotism, and subordination; to be vigilant in inspecting the conduct of all persons who are placed under their command; to guard against and suppress all dissolute and immoral practices, and to correct according to the laws and regulations of the Navy, all persons who are guilty of them; and to take all necessary and proper measures, under the laws, regulations, and customs of the naval service, to promote and safe guard the morale, the physical well-being, and the general welfare of the officers and enlisted persons under their command or charge.

U.S. Navy Regulations, Article 702A (original)

The CHARGE OF COMMAND Reminder HERE.  Ignored by many.

CNO on Electronic Warfare

So establishing a better awareness (of the electronic environment), is number one. 

Two, we have got to be more agile, and I kind of mentioned that. We’ve got to be agile in our systems, but we’ve got to be agile in our own operations, in our ability to move around this and understand it. That gets to, that’s strike packages, that’s using our radars, that’s building the radars that can use different frequencies and get out of frequencies when we should and invest in them right off the bat. 

It’s really putting cyber teams together that can be more agile. (VADM) Mike Rogers has done a fantastic job up at 10th Fleet/Fleet CyberCom, doing that. In fact he is leading the way in the overall CyberCom arena in that regard. And we’ve got to evolve this paradigm that I just kind of mentioned to you, how we are going to approach things in the future. If they say hey, so and so just developed a new missile. A lot of times the question is can we shoot it down? The real question I think should be can we jam it, spoof it, avoid it? Can we detect it? And then similarly, whenever we’re designing a new missile, a lot of people want to say bigger warhead, bigger boost. I would say what’s the [seeker] like? What can it do in a turn? How can it avoid things? It’s an entire change to that kill chain approach. 

You can read his extemporaneous talk with the Association of Old Crows HERE.

Submariners are not typically the Navy's experts in EW so give the CNO some latitude here.

Overheard in the passageway

"Humility doesn't get any respect in this wardroom."

And my response to that is a quote from Tony Schwartz at Life@Work.

"Humility is a way of acknowledging that none of us stand at the center of the universe. No matter what role we occupy, or how much we know, we don’t have a lock on the answers. A position of authority over others scarcely guarantees that you have real authority.

When leaders openly accept the whole of who they are – for better and for worse – they no longer have to defend their value so vigilantly."

Are you being too defensive?

In the battle of ideas

One of my Shipmates shared this philosophy that his boss has on his desk.

Small Idea = Small Problem
Big Idea = Big Problem
No Idea = No Problem

I think the gist of it is that he wasn't interested in anyone's ideas. 

We've all been assigned to that great command and marveled at how much fun it was to be a part of its success.

And then you hear from your Shipmates who are there now, that the once great command is no more. How does that happen?  It's actually easy to understand.  Sailors make a command great and it is a rare time indeed when you get just the right Sailors in the right command at the right time with the right leadership.  With Sailors transferring in and out on a continuous stream of PCS orders, it doesn't necessarily have to be this way.  The great command can remain great and the suffering commands can get better.

Patrick Lencioni suggests that commands not wait for "right Sailors, right leaders, right time" moment but rather build an organizational health which can sustain excellence over a long period of time.  To paraphrase him for the Navy model:

Organizational health is about making a command function effectively by building a cohesive leadership team, establishing real clarity among those Navy leaders, communicating that clarity to all the Sailors, Chiefs, civilians and contractors within the command and putting in place just enough structure to reinforce that clarity going forward.

The advantage of organizational health is undeniable and massive. Commands get more done in less time. They avoid losing their best Sailors, Chiefs, civilians and contractors. They identify problems earlier and solve them faster. They fill the gap for low performing commands which waste time, money and energy fighting among themselves, which ultimately drives away good Sailors, Chiefs, civilians and contractors.

You can read more about his ideas HERE.

Top 50 Thinker - Top 10 Leadership Thinker

How does one become a peer recognized leadership thinker?  It doesn't happen by accident, I can promise you that.  Several years ago I read Liz Wiseman's book MULTIPLIERS - How The Best Leaders Make Everyone Smarter and thought to myself "Liz Wiseman belongs on the Thinkers50 list."  Then, I told Liz that I thought she belonged on the list.  Together with Liz, we provided her excellent book to people in the IDC we thought were leading thinkers and doers - Commanding Officers.  A few of them actually read the book and took some of the lessons to heart and practiced them.  Some are still hard at it today but, only a few.

Quite honestly, most did not bother with the book or try to learn anything new.  Many in senior Navy leadership positions believe that, because the Navy has placed them in leadership positions, they have arrived and have nothing more to learn.  Admiral Vern Clark put it into my head in 2000 that I would have to devote myself to lifelong learning and so I have.  I make a point to learn every day.  And, I try to improve my learning by doing a little teaching as well.

Liz has taught around the world, including the Senior Leadership Seminar at the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, California. Teaching others is how Liz Wiseman became a Thinkers50 - Top 10 Leadership Thinker.  She shares her considerable experience and knowledge with others at every opportunity.  And, in that sharing, she has become known around the world for helping everyone around her become smarter.  She has truly brought out the genius in so many people.  Congratulations Liz!

2014 CALL FOR NOMINATIONS FOR THE CAPTAIN JOSEPH ROCHEFORT INFORMATION WARFARE OFFICER DISTINGUISHED LEADERSHIP AWARD

CAPTAIN JOSEPH ROCHEFORT

REPOSTED FROM "ON THE NET GANG"

It is time for us Information Warfare Officers to nominate our deserving peers, CWO2 to O5, for recognition of their "superior career achievement".

Nominations are due to FCCC10FNSAHAWARDS@NAVY.MIL NLT 07 February 2014.

There were 7 nominations for the 2013 award.  The 2013 winner was LCDR Lemuel "Seth" Lawrence, executive officer of Navy Information Operations Command Pensacola.

SUBJ/2014 CALL FOR NOMINATIONS FOR THE CAPTAIN JOSEPH ROCHEFORT INFORMATION WARFARE OFFICER DISTINGUISHED LEADERSHIP AWARD
MSGID/GENADMIN/COMTENTHFLT//
POC/JERRY BECKLEHIMER/CIV/COMUSFLTCYBERCOM FORT MEADE MD/TEL: 443-634-4676//
GENTEXT/REMARKS/PASS TO FLEET INFORMATION WARFARE AND CRYPTOLOGIC UNITS/SSES
1. THE PURPOSE OF THIS MESSAGE IS TO SOLICIT NOMINATIONS FOR THE CAPTAIN JOSEPH ROCHEFORT INFORMATION WARFARE (IW) OFFICER DISTINGUISHED LEADERSHIP AWARD.
2. CAPTAIN JOSEPH JOHN ROCHEFORT WAS A MAJOR FIGURE IN THE U.S. NAVYS CRYPTOLOGIC AND INTELLIGENCE DEVELOPMENT FROM 1925 TO 1947. HE HEADED THE NAVYS FLEDGLING CRYPTANALYTIC ORGANIZATION IN THE 1920 S AND PROVIDED SINGULARLY SUPERB CRYPTOLOGIC SUPPORT TO THE FLEET DURING WORLD WAR II, LEADING TO VICTORY IN THE WAR IN THE PACIFIC. AT THE END OF
HIS CAREER (1942-1946), ROCHEFORT SUCCESSFULLY HEADED THE PACIFIC STRATEGIC INTELLIGENCE GROUP IN WASHINGTON. ROCHEFORT DIED IN 1976. IN 1986, HE POSTHUMOUSLY RECEIVED THE PRESIDENTS NATIONAL DEFENSE SERVICE MEDAL, THE HIGHEST MILITARY AWARD DURING PEACETIME, FOR HIS CONTRIBUTIONS DURING THE BATTLE OF MIDWAY.
3. THE INTENT OF THE CAPTAIN ROCHEFORT IW OFFICER DISTINGUISHED LEADERSHIP AWARD IS TO ANNUALLY RECOGNIZE THE SUPERIOR CAREER ACHIEVEMENT OF ONE IW OFFICER. IN THE SPIRIT OF CAPTAIN ROCHEFORT, SPECIFIC CONSIDERATION WILL BE GIVEN TO LEADERSHIP, TEAMWORK, OPERATIONAL CONTRIBUTIONS AND ADHERENCE TO THE PRINCIPLE BY WHICH HE SERVED, WE CAN ACCOMPLISH ANYTHING PROVIDED NO ONE CARES WHO GETS THE CREDIT."
4. IW OFFICERS (181X, 644X AND 744X) RANGING FROM CWO2 TO COMMANDER ARE ELIGIBLE FOR THE AWARD WITH CONSIDERATION GIVEN TO CONTRIBUTIONS WHILE SERVING AS BOTH IW OFFICERS AND CRYPTOLOGIC TECHNICIANS.
5. NOMINATION PROCEDURES:
A. PEER NOMINATIONS WILL BE THE ONLY SOURCE OF NOMINATIONS.  ONLY COMMISSIONED OFFICERS WHO ARE THEMSELVES ELIGIBLE TO BE SELECTED IN THE SELECTION YEAR MAY NOMINATE ONE PEER. THE NOMINATION WILL BE MADE ON A TWO PAGE, SIGNED LETTER CONTAINING THE FULL NAME AND UNIT OF THE PEER NOMINATED WITH TYPED JUSTIFICATION (WHICH WILL BE HELD IN CONFIDENCE) BASED ON THE CRITERIA. THE NOMINATION LETTER WILL BE FORWARDED DIRECTLY TO COMFLTCYBERCOM AWARDS VIA EMAIL AT: FCCC10FNSAHAWARDS(AT)NAVY.MIL NLT 7 FEB 2014.
B. NOMINATIONS WILL BE REVIEWED BY A SELECTION BOARD OF CAPTAINS DESIGNATED BY COMFLTCYBERCOM. FINAL SELECTION WILL BE MADE BY THE COMMANDER.
6. AWARD SELECTION WILL BE ANNOUNCED VIA NAVAL MESSAGE. PRESENTATION VENUE OF THE AWARD WILL BE ACCOMPLISHED AT THE U.S. NAVAL CRYPTOLOGIC VETERANS ASSOCIATION ANNUAL CONVENTION TO BE HELD IN MID MAY 2014 (IF FUNDING IS AVAILABLE BY THE COMMAND ATTACHED.) THE AWARDEE WILL RECEIVE A PLAQUE COMMEMORATING SELECTION AND A DISPLAY IN THE FLTCYBERCOM HERITAGE ROOM WILL HONOR ALL AWARDEES.//

Consider the example you set

Two Legitimate Questions

Two legitimate questions to ask in any command are: "What does the Chiefs' Mess assure in this ship? And, what do they provide that requires little or no officer involvement?"

 

The captain should be able to ask the Chiefs' Mess to take care of something important, and in an idealized world, that would be the end of it. Actually, the captain shouldn't even have to ask.

 

The chiefs would know what needed to be done, without signal, simply through their collective breadth of knowledge and experience. This is not what happens.

 

The sum is no longer greater than its parts, and that collective engine of expertise and experience is faltering. Indeed, to guarantee success it has become necessary to find some new engine to bind and drive forward motion. Short of that synergistic Chiefs' Mess, the disconnected nodes and fragments and individuals of a ship are now, we hope, driven in the right direction by a few individuals who vary ship to ship or unit to unit.

 

Certainly, some of these driving individuals may be chiefs, but the idea of the Mess being the engine that organizes and informs all activity is not generally the case.

 

From

Reviving the Chiefs' Mess HERE

Captain Kevin S. Eyer

He commanded the USS Thomas S. Gates (CG-51), USS Shiloh (CG-67), and USS Chancellorsville (CG-62). 

 

MY NOTE:

The issue of: "What is the Chiefs' Mess responsible for?" came up during my discussion with one of the senior officers in our community.  He said, "Your thoughts on this are really appreciated.  We have it pretty easy at our command. We just do things the Navy way."  Then, he pointed me to the NAVY NEWS article about some excellent training required for CPO, SCPO and MCPO.  

 

IS YOUR COMMAND MASTER CHIEF RUNNING THIS TRAINING FOR YOUR CPO MESS?  

Or is this just more training that you don't have time to do?

 

Some excerpts are below:

 

New Chief's Mess Training Course Released

---

Story Number: NNS130528-09Release Date: 5/28/2013 1:23:00 PM

By Susan Henson, Center for Personal and Professional Development Public Affairs

 

VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. (NNS) -- The Center for Personal and Professional Development (CPPD) has released the revised Chief's Mess Training (CMT) course, CPPD leadership said May 28.

The CMT course is year-round training with lessons that provide additional leadership topics for the Chief Petty Officer (CPO) mess. The course took six months to revise and was piloted in the Hampton Roads area in December.

CMT provides CPOs with the tools to lead with courage, respect and trust, as well as the tools to mentor our junior Sailors to become the next generation of strong Navy leaders.

The new CMT is a library of 22 current, relevant topics that include scenarios designed to facilitate deep discussion. Each session can be taught at any time and in any sequence throughout the year, according to Hazley. "The previous CMT consisted of 10 topics designed to be delivered every month from October to July each year," he said. "The new course provides flexibility to CPO messes to cover topics in a sequence that best fits a command's schedule."

CMT is designed to provide leadership sustainment training for chief petty officers through communication, teamwork and mentoring.

(CMT) is intended to enable the mess as a whole to learn from each other's experiences and develop the problem-solving skills chiefs must have to succeed. Topics include command unity, ethics, operational stress control, maintaining standards, mentoring, conflict resolution, character and integrity, professionalism, suicide awareness, bystander intervention, and prevention of sexual assault, sexual harassment and hazing. 

Chief of Naval Operations Instruction (OPNAVINST) 5351.2A governs CMT, which is required for all active duty and reserve chiefs, senior chiefs and master chiefs. The revised CMT course will be documentable in Fleet Training Management and Planning System (FLTMPS).

Commands can access the new course material by logging on to Navy Knowledge Online, selecting the Leadership tab, selecting Chief Petty Officer Selectee Leadership Course (CPOSLC) /CMT and following the instructions on the screen. Commands experiencing problems accessing the material should contact the course manager at CPPD for assistance.

 

The supreme quality is missing in a few of our senior officers

The supreme quality for leadership is unquestionably integrity. Without it, no real success is possible.

DWIGHT DAVID EISENHOWER

A man after my own heart - U.S. Army Captain Joseph Byerly

CPT Joseph Byerly is an instructor with Cavalry Leaders Course, 3-16 Cavalry Regiment, Fort Benning, GA. His past duty assignments include plans officer, 2nd Armored Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division, Fort Stewart, GA; commander, Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 1-64th Armored Regiment; commander, C Troop, 3-7 Cavalry Regiment; squadron plans officer, 3-7 Cavalry Regiment; and platoon leader, Troop A, 2-1 Cavalry Regiment, Fort Lewis, WA. 

His military schooling includes Armor Officer Basic Course and Scout Leaders Course. CPT Byerly holds a bachelor’s of science degree from North Georgia College and State University in criminal justice. 

In addition to the Purple Heart, he is the recipient of the Fiscal Year 2011 General Douglas MacArthur Leadership Award, Bronze Star (one oak-leaf cluster) and the Meritorious Service Medal. 

He has the beginnings of a superb blog HERE. I highly recommend it.

As a lover of letters, I had to grab this from CDR Salamander

The letter in its entirety is HERE.

The part I liked the most:

Start being a leader as soon as you put on your civilian clothes. If you see intolerance and hate, speak out against them. Make your individual voices heard, not for selfish things, but for honor and decency among men, for the rights of all people.

Remember too, that No American can afford to be disinterested in any part of his government, whether it is county, city, state or nation.

Choose your leaders wisely- that is the way to keep ours the country for which you fought. Make sure that those leaders are determined to maintain peace throughout the world. You know what war is. You know that we must not have another. As individuals you can prevent it if you give to the task which lies ahead the same spirit which you displayed in uniform.

... I know the people of America are counting on you. 

 General J M WAINWRIGHT 

You can follow AN ENLIGHTENED SOLDIER'S blog HERE.

Message Precedence Refresher - This is FLASH OVERRIDE !!!

The Combined Communications Electronics Board (CCEB), a five-nation joint military communications-electronics organization (consisting of Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, and the United States), uses the following message precedence designators, in descending order of importance:

FLASH (Z)
This precedence is reserved for initial enemy contact messages or operational combat messages of extreme urgency. Brevity is mandatory. FLASH messages are to be handled as fast as humanly possible, ahead of all other messages, with in-station handling time not to exceed 10 minutes. Messages of lower precedence are interrupted on all circuits involved until the handling of FLASH messages is completed.
IMMEDIATE (O)
This precedence is reserved for messages relating to situations gravely affecting the security of the nation. It requires immediate delivery. Examples include reports of widespread civil disturbance, reports or warning of grave natural disaster, and requests for or directions concerning search and rescue operations. IMMEDIATE messages are processed, transmitted, and delivered in the order received and ahead of all messages of lower precedence. They are to be handled as quickly as possible, with in-station handling time not to exceed 30 minutes. Messages of lower precedence should be interrupted on all circuits involved until the handling of the IMMEDIATE message is completed. The use of the letter "O" comes from the original name for this level, "operational immediate".
PRIORITY (P)
This precedence is reserved for traffic requiring expeditious action by the addressee or for conducting operations in progress when ROUTINE precedence will not suffice. PRIORITY precedence messages are processed, transmitted, and delivered in the order received and ahead of all messages of ROUTINE precedence. Examples include requests for supplies or equipment during the conduct of an operation, time-critical items requiring quick response, and situation reports. They are to be handled as quickly as possible, with in-station handling time not to exceed 3 hours.
ROUTINE (R)
This precedence is used for all types of message traffic justifying transmission by rapid means, but not of sufficient urgency to require higher precedence. ROUTINE precedence messages are delivered in the order received and after all messages of higher precedence. Examples include any message that requires the documentation of its transmission or delivery; messages concerning normal operations, programs, or projects; and periodic or consolidated reports. They should be handled as soon as traffic flow allows, but no later than the beginning of the next duty day.
FLASH OVERRIDE (Y)
The National Command Authority (usually the President of the United States) has access to a FLASH OVERRIDE (FO) capability. FO is not a precedence, but instead represents the authority and means to override all other traffic, including FLASH precedence messages. In written message traffic, the proword 'Y' is used to indicate a message having the authority to override all other traffic and is usually assigned to Emergency Action Messages (EAM).

Does this reflect the reality of how your team handles message traffic?  Or has everything become PRIORITY.

This horrible news from Navy Times

Two flag officers have been added to the growing list of Navy officials allegedly connected to a large-scale bribery scheme in Asia.

The Navy announced late Friday that Vice Adm. Ted “Twig” Branch, director of Naval Intelligence, and Rear Adm. Bruce Loveless, director of Intelligence Operations, are under investigation for “inappropriate conduct” stemming from their relationships with Singapore-based Glenn Defense Marine Asia Ltd. and its CEO Leonard Francis, a larger-than-life character well known in Navy circles and nicknamed “Fat Leonard.”

These are the highest-ranking officials to have been linked in the ongoing investigation. More fallout is expected.

“The allegations against Admirals Branch and Loveless involve inappropriate conduct prior to their current assignments and flag officer rank,” said Rear Adm. John Kirby, the Navy’s chief of information, in an emailed statement. “There is no indication, nor do the allegations suggest, that in either case there was any breach of classified information.”

From the archives

 

I was pleased to find the program for Navy Information Operations Detachment Kaneohe Bay, Hawaii's  Change of Charge in my mailbox a couple of days ago.  It's a great reminder of how quickly time passes and how things change.  It's also a reminder of how some things remain the same.  I was happy to see that the detachment logo that the Secretary of the Navy approved for us in the mid 1980s lives on today.  It was also fun to refresh my memory of the Officers in Charge that have gone into the history books:

NSGD Barber's Point

LT Mike Zanski         

LT Mike Lambert      

LT Chuck Kasinger   

LT Larry Gloss          

LT Bob Mosely 

LT Tim Zinck (moved the det to Kaneohe)        

NSGD Kaneohe Bay

LT Tim Zinck

LT Dominic Lovello

LT Joel Yates

NIOD Kaneohe Bay

LT Joel Yates

LTjg Darren Schiermeyer

LT Michael Schmidt

and, the guy who is helping the Sailors of NIOD Kaneohe Bay write their own history today - 

LT David T. Spalding (the current Officer in Charge). 

The guest book for the change of charge ceremony at which LT Chuck Kasinger assumed charge of NSGD Barber's Point from me on 14 April 1989.

Greg McKeown has a new book you may really need to read

Have you ever found yourself stretched too thin?

Do you sometimes feel overworked and underutilized?

Do you feel motion sickness instead of momentum?

Does your day sometimes get hijacked by someone else’s agenda?

Have you ever said “yes” simply to please and then resented it?

If you answered yes to any of these, the way out is the Way of the Essentialist.

The Way of the Essentialist involves doing less, but better, so you can make the highest possible contribution.

The Way of the Essentialist isn’t about getting more done in less time. It’s not about getting less done. It’s about getting only the right things done. It’s about challenging the core assumption of ‘we can have it all’ and ‘I have to do everything’ and replacing it with the pursuit of ‘the right thing, in the right way, at the right time’. It’s about regaining control of our own choices about where to spend our time and energies instead of giving others implicit permission to choose for us.

In Essentialism, Greg McKeown draws on experience and insight from working with the leaders of the most innovative companies in the world to show how to achieve the disciplined pursuit of less.

By applying a more selective criteria for what is essential, the pursuit of less allows us to regain control of our own choices so we can channel our time, energy and effort into making the highest possible contribution toward the goals and activities that matter.

Essentialism isn’t one more thing; it is a different way of doing everything. It is a discipline you apply constantly, effortlessly. Essentialism is a mindset; a way of life. It is an idea whose time has come.

Greg McKeown was co-author of MULTIPLIERS - How the best leaders make everyone smarter.  I was privileged to write a new Chapter 1 intro for this book for re-publication and use in the Middle East.

You can pre-order his book HERE.

Another Commanding Officer fired...

The Commanding Officer of USS DEXTROUS, a mine countermeasures ship, was fired for "numerous on the job failures" on 6 November 2013.

Captain Richard Hayes, Commander Task Force FIFTY TWO, fired Lieutenant Commander Nathan Wemett after an investigation identified "deficiencies in operational preparedness, situational awareness and tactical proficiency. 

“The responsibility of officers in command for their units, their sailors and their mission is absolute; the standards for their operational performance are very high. This relief was not due to personal misconduct.”

Lieutenant Commander Chavius Lewis, former CO of the USS DEVASTATOR, will temporary lead USS DEXTROUS until a permanent Commanding Officer is identified.

Moving away from reliance on the "GREAT MAN" model of leadership

"In summary, we suggest that the current working environment, with its emphasis on connectivity and knowledge, demands that we move away from a reliance on the ‘great man’ model of leadership and towards new models that see leadership as a shared activity based on generating shared organisational knowledge and learning. If organisations only develop a small cadre of senior leaders they may find it difficult to generate the necessary knowledge, energy and momentum as employees continue to look upwards for answers and authority. 

Developing the sort of leadership which encourages a shared sense of purpose and personal responsibility has to start by acknowledging that no one person can hold all of the answers and with a belief that we can only find them by working together. How to build a spirit of inquiry in which all voices are heard then becomes a key leadership task."

Questioning leadership
Moira Nangle
Christina Schwabenland
Nigel Springett

Food for thought

The traditional approach to leadership can encourage a submissive, dependency mentality in ‘followers’, while simultaneously setting up senior people to fail. As time passes, it becomes clear that ‘leaders’ are not the all-knowing heroes we hoped for, but are human and fallible. Then disappointment sets in. Organisations often respond by changing the people at the top in the hope that someone else may be tougher, wiser, more experienced and can do it better. They rarely do. And the organisation fails to reap the benefits they might have gained from encouraging more collective forms of leadership that could harness the experience and knowledge of all employees. We have to do better than this. 

We need to make better use of the knowledge, skills and experiences of all the people who are involved in the organisation and have a stake in its future. 

We suggest that anyone at any level can take a leadership action. (CDR Sean Heritage talks to this point on his blog HERE.) Therefore we suggest that we move away from this view of leadership as being about the people at the top. We need to find ways of tapping into the collective purpose and understanding of the organisation through creating a sense of community and shared ownership.  (I have been preaching this to a small but appreciative choir for 10 years.)

 

Questioning leadership
Moira Nangle and Christina Schwabenland 
University of Bedfordshire

Rear Admiral Jan E Tighe (JET) assumes duty as Deputy Commander, U.S. Fleet Cyber Command/U.S. TENTH Fleet

Navy Flag Officer Biography
REAR ADMIRAL JAN TIGHE
DEPUTY COMMANDER, U.S. FLEET CYBER COMMAND/
DEPUTY COMMANDER, U.S. 10TH FLEET
Rear Admiral Jan Tighe

Rear Adm. Tighe was born in Bowling Green, Ky., and raised in Plantation, Fla. She was commissioned from the U.S. Naval Academy as an ensign (special duty cryptology) in 1984 after earning a Bachelor of Science in Mathematics.  In November 2013, she assumed duties as the Deputy Commander, U.S. Fleet Cyber Command/Deputy Commander, U.S. 10th Fleet.

Tighe’s cryptologic operational tours include duty with Naval Security Group Activities in Florida, Virginia, Atsugi/Misawa Japan and on the Pacific Fleet staff.

In 1989, Tighe studied Russian at the Defense Language Institute in Monterey, Calif. She was subsequently assigned to the Naval Security Group Detachment Atsugi, Japan, where she earned Naval Aviation Observer wings while deployed as an airborne special evaluator aboard VQ-1 EP-3E aircraft in the Persian Gulf during Operation Desert Shield/Storm. During her tour, Tighe served as operations officer and assistant officer in charge, in addition to accumulating over 1,200 operational flight hours in the EP-3E aircraft.

Tighe attended the Naval Postgraduate School, Monterey, Calif., and in 2001 was awarded a Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering and a M.S. in Applied Mathematics. She subsequently reported to the Naval Information Warfare Activity, where she served as chief staff officer and chief engineer. During her tour she earned a Level III DAWIA certification in Program Management.

Tighe reported as director, Sea Warrior at Naval Security Group (NSG) Headquarters in July 2004 where she oversaw the development of the Human Capital Strategy for NSG and the IW/Cryptologic community. She fleeted up to the chief of staff in August 2005 and prepared the staff for merger with Naval Network Warfare Command (NETWARCOM). She also served as deputy director of Information Operations within NETWARCOM.

From July 2006 through September 2009, Tighe commanded over 2,800 multi-service and multi-agency personnel at the National Security Agency/Central Security Service Hawaii in Kunia. Following command, she served for a year as the executive assistant to director, National Security Agency/chief, Central Security Service and commander, U.S. Cyber Command.

Tighe reported as the director, Decision Superiority on the OPNAV N2N6F4 staff in July 2011 after serving as the deputy director of Operations for U.S. Cyber Command. From November 2012 until October 2013, she additionally served as interim president of the Naval Postgraduate School.

Tighe has been awarded the Defense Superior Service Medal, Legion of Merit, Defense Meritorious Service Medal, Meritorious Service Medal (second award), the Strike/Flight Air Medal, the Navy and Marine Corps Commendation Medal (fourth award), and the Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medal.

UNDERSTANDING SYSTEMIC LEADERSHIP

What the systemic leader knows and understands A systemic leader is a senior manager who spends some of his/her time consciously in a leadership role. Listed below is what he or she recognises, knows and understands. You can use this to test where you stand.

• Leadership activity is not confined to top management, or tied to elites or authority. 
• There is a need to distribute leadership widely through and down the organization. 
• The manager’s role breaks down three ways: managing, leading, and supervising others who have a leadership role. 
• Those formally designated as leaders may spend only a little of their time leading. 
• The personal risk entailed in taking a leadership role, accepts the risk to the organisation in avoiding/neglecting this role; and knows that frailty can cause managers to default to the management role. 
• Leadership can be a vital part of anyone’s job, however fleeting. 
• An organisation’s leadership capability and capacity can be expanded and delivery enhanced by many means other than developing individual managers as leaders. 
• There is a symbiotic relationship between leadership and the organisation as a system, and the system affects leadership as much as leadership affects the system.
•  Leadership is needed to make change, while leadership itself needs to be changing. 
• Leadership is needed to improve the system, and that one of the ways the system needs to change is to make it more enabling of people’s leadership. 
• Relying on the human agency of individual leaders alone doesn’t work: systems can disable even the most capable leaders. 
• Individual leaders can be effective only if the system is actively supportive at the same time. 
• Systems have considerable negative power, with an in-built tendency favouring the status quo. 
• The system has to do a lot to enable change to happen, but very little to prevent change from happening. 
• Managers experience obstacles from the system (including colleagues) when they try to lead. 
• Change strategies that rely on a critical mass of colleagues are rarely sufficient or successful. 
• The organisation itself is the main player in improving leadership, not a mere client or grateful vessel waiting to have leadership poured into it. 
• Managers will not voluntarily take a lead if the organisation fails to provide them with a clear direction, a clearly accountable job, challenges and security.
• If you want to find leadership, don’t search for a leader; start by looking inside the organisation and see what is happening. 

From Dr. William Tate.
See more at: http://www.systemicleadershipinstitute.org/systemic-leadership/understanding-systemic-leadership/what-the-systemic-leader-knows-and-understands/#sthash.WGy4HICP.dpuf

Commander Sean Heritage's 2nd in the series of Commanding Cooperatively - LEADING UPON ARRIVAL

 

Welcome to the second book in the Commanding Cooperatively series.  The insights shared  throughout the series are not intended to tell a "worst to first" story, as the team with  whom I led was already excelling when I assumed command of Navy Information  Operations Command Pensacola, Florida.

Likewise, this is not necessarily a success story, as  success is too subjective to either claim or refute. The objective is merely to share my  experience as a Commanding Officer and provide some insight as to how I chose to spend  the most significant opportunity and best tour of my career Commanding Cooperatively.  

Leaders do not require a position to lead nor do we need to be present. We create  opportunities to lead by building relationships, by making personal connection a priority,  and by caring enough to lead our team prior to arrival and long after we depart. Book Two  in this series is a continuation of the story. It begins where Book One ends, the day after the  Change of Command Ceremony, and focuses on the process that was "Leading Upon  Arrival."

Neither the Department of the Navy nor any other component of the Department of Defense has approved, endorsed, or authorized this product.

Sean Heritage

Commander

United States Navy

LEADING UPON ARRIVAL is available HERE.

From the archives: A letter to my Junior Officers

In August of 1982, after OCS and SERE/DWEST school and some leave, I reported to Naval Security Group Detachment Atsugi, Japan to face my first division in the Navy and the Naval Security Group as a brand new Ensign. Damn, I was excited and nervous, eager and unsure. Looking back on those early days of my Navy life as a commissioned officer, I have asked myself, from my perspective as your outgoing Commanding Officer, what might be of interest to each of you – my first junior officers.

The word “purposeful” kept coming back to me, and it occurred to me that you, as naval officers (first, and cryptologists second) for the next generation, are more important now than perhaps at any other time in our brief Naval Security Group history. The United States Navy is the only true over-the-horizon worldwide deployable force in the world, and RADM Whiton has re-invented cryptology for a Navy-Marine Corps Team which has the most visible forward presence on the world stage and certainly here in Yokosuka, Japan - forward deployed with the Navy's SEVENTH Fleet.

My friend and former boss, CDR Jack "Fury" Dempsey used to keep a flight journal back in the 80’s while we were flying with Fleet Air Reconnaissance Squadron ONE (VQ-1) in which he started each page with a borrowed quote from Charles Dickens’ A TALE OF TWO CITIES. Each page started with - “These are the best of times, these are the worst of times…” Can we have it both ways? You are fortunate at the command to have some of the very best and brightest Sailors in the Naval Security Group. You have a chance to lead the entire claimancy in all areas of cryptology if you choose to do it. It won’t happen by accident. You have to make it happen. That’s your job. 

You guys (and gals – with LTjg Kim and ENS Sabedra here) will lead our Sailors at this turning point in our claimancy’s history. And so I want to you to know just how “purposeful” and important I believe you are, and second, what I believe each of you has got to do at a very personal level to seize what could be the best of times in our community’s history and then you can start your own journal with…”these are the best of times….” 
From day one, you are not only division officers and sometimes Department Heads, but you are ambassadors for the Navy’s Core Values, the CNO’s 4 Stars of Equal Magnitude and the cryptologic community’s Strategic Plan (Maritime Cryptologic Architecture, the Maritime Concept, etc). PASS THE WORD. I genuinely believe your involvement is critical to RADM Whiton’s and RADM Burns’ plans that will carry the community through most of your careers (if you choose to have one in the Navy). The Sailors and Chiefs you will help lead will be more “purposeful” - and far more challenged - than ever before. As a result, your genuine leadership will be more “purposeful” and more valuable than ever before. You are the ones who will have to deliver U.S. Naval Security Group Yokosuka’s promise of “Quality Cryptologic Integration For The Fleet” on a daily basis. 
If you do not think you are more “purposeful” and important than at any other time in our community’s history… think again. SECGRU’s vital leadership today is reflected by the leadership positions cryptologists hold throughout the Department of Defense – Captain Rich Wilhelm (a former 1610) served in the Vice President’s office as recently as 5 years ago, many are serving on the Staff of the Secretary of Defense and on the Joint Staff in key positions while others are serving the SECNAV directly. We live in a world of global communications, connected economies, and instantaneous video coverage of world and local events. The result often means that a decision made by you - while running a SSES on BLUE RIDGE, leading a team on JOHN S. MCCAIN or CURTIS WILBUR , or simply running your division here at the command - could have immediate and substantial impact on the Sailors under your charge and …perhaps…even world events. Your leadership must be “purposeful”, and you bear a tremendous responsibility. You have to CHOOSE to make a difference. It is a choice. It is your choice. Do something or do nothing – you decide. Don’t let things happen by accident – MAKE THINGS HAPPEN! 
A famous Admiral whose name escapes me at the moment said “there is… no career in the world that encompasses the daily physical and mental demands of that of one in a nation’s Navy.” I would argue further that only unrelenting loyalty, as demonstrated by many in the Navy provides the necessary foundation to lead effectively. There are some officers, Chiefs and Sailors that would have us believe the opposite… that loyalty is a dying characteristic in this Navy. I say that the loyalty we value so much is more “purposeful” than ever, as an asset for and example to the American public we are sworn to protect. 
As the value of your loyalty and leadership is being debated around you, I urge you to pay attention to and join in the debate. Retired CDR Mike Loescher wrote in a PROCEEDINGS magazine article many years ago that the Naval Security Group was broken. RADM Whiton responded that, “ NSG isn’t broken and that this an exciting time to be a cryptologist”. I share the Admiral’s view. I’m excited. Certainly, we all have to guard against mediocrity and against attacks on our time-tested core values and against other charges that diminish our effectiveness. I sought to bring positive changes for this command. You’ve all been helpful in that respect. I thank you for that. Our team effort earned the command recognition through the award of a meritorious unit commendation and many other accolades. That doesn’t happen every day. 
As I emphasize that your leadership is more “purposeful” than ever. Let me turn now to what I believe you must do, individually, to bring effectiveness to your leadership skills, as you chart a new course for the command with CDR Sean R. Filipowski in the new millennium and one of the few great turning points in our claimancy’s history. Because you will be so “purposeful” to our community’s future, I believe you must go beyond the bedrock fundamentals of leadership. 
Some of you have heard me drone on and on about Traits of Leadership which date back two thousand years… ((They are in every book on Naval Leadership – this is not new stuff.)) I’ve given each of you the basic library of Naval leadership books. Take the time to read them. There’s good stuff in there.A leader is trusted, a leader takes the initiative, a leader uses good judgment, a leader speaks with authority, a leader strengthens others, is optimistic and enthusiastic, never compromises absolutes, and leads by example. Lots of great Covey “Seven Habits” in there. We’ve covered all that before, haven’t we? You HAVE to take that stuff onboard and make it a part of your daily life. 
I believe you should adhere to these timeless traits of leadership. But today, I believe you must also apply something more… you must apply adapted traits of leadership… that is, techniques appropriate to your particular style and situation. You can achieve it only one way… by staying connected to the Sailors and Chiefs you are entrusted to lead.It is time for each of you to do a tactical and strategic level re-focus to adapt and apply your own leadership styles appropriate to the times. In short, you will have to build upon the bedrock fundamentals of leadership. You must have a solid foundation if you plan to put anything on top of it. I tried to give you the tools to establish a solid foundation.The best leaders in our Navy have always found ways to build upon the basic foundations of their leadership skills. Because each of you is so important to the future of our community, I also urge you to invest some time and effort in looking for answers within yourselves, to a question that is being asked more frequently today. “Are we losing the Navy spirit?” Some believe that because our Sailors so rarely actually go into harm’s way… that because technology is removing them from the actual battlefield, on a physical level we will lose the guts to fight effectively when the time comes. Some have suggested that we don’t have the strength of character we once had. I don’t believe that.The Navy spirit is not only physical courage at sea…courage that must be present in the face of physical danger. That is important, and that deserves our full attention. But the Navy spirit is also the ability to cope with the stresses involved with day-to-day leadership of our Sailors and Chiefs. 
Hardship, stress and fear…exist for a Sailor whose ship, while far at sea on seemingly calm waters, can face an incoming missile attack during a long-range engagement. Technology will not change that fact much. We must address how we can develop the Navy spirit within our people in all scenarios. 
When I worked for Admiral Whiton in the Comptroller’s office (he was a Captain then), he kept a placard on his wall with the mission of the Navy as defined in Navy Regulations, Chapter Two. It said simply: “The Navy… shall be organized, trained and equipped primarily for prompt and sustained combat incident to operations at sea.” Every one of us needs to understand the mission of the Navy in its most basic form. 
How can you instill the Navy spirit and genuine understanding of the Navy’s mission in the Sailors and Chiefs you are charged to lead? The Navy has invested a great deal of time and money preparing you. They will invest a great deal more. It is time to do your part, for it is how you return the Navy’s investment that will bring it value; that value is limitless, but it depends on you. GET BUSY! 
I challenge each of you to search within yourselves for ways now, to build upon the framework of leadership you are learning … and develop a strong support structure that will serve you and those you lead when you are asked to go do the Navy’s business – however mundane it might seem at any given moment. I am talking about a very personal structure of character that is most appropriately developed through experience. 25 years of experience takes nearly 25 years to get. Make the most of every experience you have. When character is involved – promise me this – you will always go the long way and never take shortcuts. There aren’t any. Trust me, I would have found them in my exhausting search for them over the past 25 years. Where character is concerned, I have always gone the long way. It’s a much better trip. Take my word for it. 
The real challenge for each of you, however, is that the Navy may not give you the luxury of time and experience to build your foundation. When you walk across your own ship’s brow PCS for the first time (Paul Lashmet on ESSEX; Andy Reeves on FIFE so far), you may be called upon to lead decisively that very day. Your skills as a Naval officer will be put to the test from the very start – your skills as a cryptologist on that ship may never be tested. BE A NAVAL OFFICER FIRST AND FOREMOST – that’s what you are! The cryptologic stuff is secondary and it will remain so. Remember Admiral Whiton’s brief – "we do cryptology because we have a Navy – not we have a Navy to do cryptology.” 
Truly great leaders in history did not sit idly by and wait for experience to find them. They aggressively sought to build their own personal foundations of character, on a daily basis. Colonel Teddy Roosevelt , General Colin Powell and LT John F. Kennedy knew that their chosen military and political lives would present them with immediate and unrelenting challenges – all certainly more daunting than anything we have yet faced. They knew their “crowded hour,” could arrive at any moment. That is one reason they all worked to build their physical abilities to match their intellectual capabilities. Somehow, I knew that the Navy’s PRT program had some relevance in here somewhere. Physical fitness is important also. But it’s only part of the overall picture of a Naval Officer.The leadership, the spirit and the strength of character displayed by Colonel Roosevelt, General Powell and President Kennedy were more products of their own pursuits, above and beyond the framework they had been given. As a result, they were “purposeful” to their time and are revered in history. Who can say today what your legacy will be? I will just tell you that you are working on it now. DON’T MESS IT UP. 
All of them led their Sailors and soldiers from the heart, and had something more, crafted from the environment around them… the character of a man like Admiral Arleigh Albert Burke… the strategic vision of Admiral Chester Nimitz in the heat of a tactical nightmare… the innovation of Admiral Elmo Zumwalt with his phenomenal understanding of race relations and Admiral Hyman Rickover’s creation of the submarine force… the dynamic leadership of great Marines like General Lejeune and more recently General Krulak and a personal hero of mine from USS Blue Ridge – Colonel Bill Wesley. What will you do, not just to be “purposeful”, but to be enthusiastically followed during the personal challenges that will surely come for each of you, in these, the best of times in the history of our claimancy?When I faced my first division at NSGD Atsugi in 1982 and in every assignment since including U.S. NSGA Yokosuka, I found, as you will, the Sailors and Chiefs returned the same level of loyalty and dedication to me that I devoted to them. More important, it is abundantly clear and readily apparent to the most casual observer that Sailors and Chiefs will quickly look past the veneer of your lineage (some of them went to better colleges than we all did and all of you went to a better college than I did) and the gold or silver (and blue) bars (and oak leafs) on your collar. Our Sailors and Chiefs have a unique ability to see past all that, and perceive the foundation you are building. They will know when you are on rocky ground. They will sense the weakness in you. They will perceive your character and all its inherent defects. Some great man once said, “The true character of a Naval officer cannot be hidden from his/her Sailors.”  

There is no place to hide. Lead, follow or GET THE HELL OUT OF THE WAY. Again – you get to decide.If they find your character to be strong and true, they will go the extra mile for you. If they find you to be weak, prepare for the worst – it is bound to come. We’ve all seen it in its ugliest forms. At this period in our claimancy’s history, when our Sailors and Chiefs are so essential to our mission, there is no greater test of your mettle as a Naval officer, than leading Sailors and Chiefs who can count on your loyalty and your character. Be true to them. They will be true to you.I am confident you will seize these days, whether or not they personally are for you …”the best of times or the worst of times”, to carry-on what we have started together at U.S. Naval Security Group Activity Yokosuka and develop your own personal foundations of character that will serve you well during the challenges each of you can surely expect in your own future. 
Thanks for helping me get the command to where it is today. You all played a big part in that. You have been part of something very important and special to our community. You built a command from the ground up. That’s something you can really be proud of. I certainly am.

I am pleased to know that two of my junior officers from my command tour at U.S. NSGA Yokosuka are currently serving as the Commanding Officer and the Executive Officer of U.S. Navy Information Operations Command Yokosuka -- Commander Michael C. Elliot and Lieutenant Commander Andrew T. Reeves.