"The Chief" has slipped the surly bonds of earth

Joseph Charles Anthony Lambert, 84, retired USAF Chief Master Sergeant, slipped the surly bonds of earth eternally on 26 December 2016. The son of the late Myrtle and Camille Lambert, he was born in Baton Rouge, Louisiana on 25 June 1932.  At 19, he joined the USAF and enjoyed a 29-year career as a Communications Systems Maintenance Engineer, Manager, and Superintendent.  His career took him from Louisiana to Texas, to Germany (several times) France, South Carolina, Oklahoma (several times), Illinois, Missouri, Turkey, Newfoundland and many other locations.  He served over 16 years in foreign countries and earned numerous awards – most notably the Meritorious Service Medal and AF Commendation Medal. During his time overseas, he played tenor saxophone and was a vocalist in an AF jazz band.  He was also a great basketball player on several AF base basketball teams.  His most memorable tour was at Laon Air Base, France where he served as Chief of Maintenance for the base commander’s squadron and two radio-relay stations, providing all communications between the Laon Air Base and the rest of the world.  He ended his AF service the same place it started at Tinker Air Force Base where he served as Maintenance Superintendent for the 3^rd Combat Communications Group.  Following his lengthy active duty Air Force career, he served as a technical writer, a USAF civil service employee, and as Crest Food Stores greeter.  Joe was an avid reader all of his life.  The family would like to thank all of Joe’s great neighbors and friends in the Stone Meadows neighborhood who looked out for Joe in his later years – always providing refuge from the storm.

His wife Irmgard Anne Lambert, his daughter Patricia Lee Lambert of Baton Rouge, Louisiana and his older sister Lois Karamozous of New York, New York preceded him in death.  His younger sister, Dianne Auzenne, resides in Baton Rouge, not far from their childhood home.

Joe and his wife Anne raised five children – Annette R. Pate (George Wayne – USAF), Leane L. DeFrancis (Anthony – US Army), Joseph R. Lambert (US Army), Reiner “Mike” W. Lambert  - USN (Lynn M. - USAF), and Patricia L. Lambert.  They have three grandchildren – Trisha R. Pate, Michael G-J. Lambert, and Bond L. Cavazos (Aaron Joseph).  Anne and Joe have one great-granddaughter Colette Marie Cavazos.

Initiative and responsibility

Initiative and responsibility. They are yours for the taking.  No limits.  You are free to take as much of either or both of these as you like.  Go ahead.  Try it.  Some of you will really like it.

Merry Christmas

I am very happy to be blessed with a wonderful family.
Life does not get much better than this.

Here's wishing you and yours a Merry Christmas.

Inordinately fortunate

I was inordinately fortunate during my early professional career.  I worked for some truly awful leaders. And some remarkable ones also.

Thus during the subsequent free time that life sometimes provides, I always had a full wagonload of professional grist waiting to grind.  The important questions were always the same.  Why had my bosses acted without apparent thought?  Why didn't my supervisors understand the effects their actions had on people?

Why had our team always done everything the hard way? For the answers to these and other penetrating leadership questions, read Rear Admiral Dave Oliver, Jr.'s book, LEAD ON! A Practical Approach to Leadership  

You can get a preview HERE.

My signed copy is available for loan.  Shoot me an e-mail.

Admiral Ernest J. King advocated for more communication and sound leadership

When Sailors are aware and understand where their command is going, and WHY; when they understand their role, and WHY (he got there long before Simon Sinek in understanding the WHY) their contribution is vitally important; when they have the assets, resources, training and direction they need; when they are truly empowered, then they will do the right things for the right reasons at the right times. And, you can follow your people to achieve your vision.

The challenge for leadership is to see where the command needs to go, and WHY. Leadership needs to communicate that vision to the Sailors with sound and rational reasoning, and communicate it so that the Sailors will ardently want to move the command, transform it if need be, from where it is today to what it needs to be to serve the Navy and the Nation best. Then, we won’t need to tell Sailors what to do. They’ll know. They’ll believe it. And, they’ll do it without being pushed because they believe and know it’s the right thing to do.

Can you do that much for our Sailors?  If not, step aside Shipmate.  Other leaders are ready to fulfill that responsibility with gusto.

unWritten Rule 14 - Strive for brevity and clarity

It takes longer to write cleanly and crisply.  It shows respect for the time of others when you do (write cleanly).

As you grow in position and assume roles of increasing responsibility and complexity, you truly appreciate those who communicate with brevity and clarity.  Their e-mails, notes and reports will get read!  Conversely, and sadly, good ideas in hard-to-open packages wrapped with complicated bows may be overlooked.

William H. Swanson

18th Anniversary of my failure to screen for command - while in command!

As a Lieutenant Commander, I assumed command of Naval Security Group Activity Yokosuka, Japan (a Commander command) in January 1997 from LCDR Eric Newhouse (the interim CO). The CO previous to Eric had been relieved 6 months earlier, after failing two successive Inspector General inspections - leaving behind demoralized Sailors and a fractured command.

The "Failure to Screen for Command" letter arrived after I had been in command for 23 months and a few days before I put on Commander. Twelve years later, it still leaves a bitter taste in my mouth - as you can tell.

I was not completely surprised by the letter because a Lieutenant from BUPERS had called two weeks earlier to inform me that I had "FAILED TO SCREEN FOR COMMAND". What did surprise me was the fact that I had failed to screen for command - a job that I had held for two years, already.

Thankfully, I didn't lose my day job. I post this letter for those who have had to deal with the pain of "Failure of Selection" - whether it be for promotion, command or some other program you desperately want. It's a very painful and emotional thing. One which we try very hard to comprehend. No one ever explained how I failed to screen for a job I already had and was ranked #1 at. A year later, I "successfully screened" for the assignment that I had been doing for 35 months. 

Advice from Steve Jobs

Today, I salute all of my Shipmates who work tirelessly every day to make a difference in the lives of their Sailors. Maybe we can't change everything but can't we change just one thing?  That one thing may lead to another and then another.  So, perhaps we can change everything.  Keep working on your 'dent' in the universe - even if that universe is just your division at your command.

More fun stuff from Hugh MacLeod HERE.

The Importance Of Letter Writing - Captain Laurance Safford: Father of Naval Cryptology

Navy Captain Laurance Safford is often referred to as the “father of U.S. naval cryptology”. His contributions during WW II were numerous and significant.Much of what we know about Captain Safford's contributions to naval cryptology come from his own writing. 

A number of his personal letters provide insight into events surrounding the congressional investigation into the attack on Pearl Harbor. One letter refers specifically to the “Winds Message” reportedly intercepted by the U.S. days before the 7 December surprise attack. This infamous message reportedly gave clear indications of the planned Japanese surprise attack.

Unfortunately the actual intercept mysteriously disappeared shortly after the surprise attack and the "Winds Message's" very existence is only supported by the testimony of Safford and perhaps one or two others who reportedly also were aware of the intercept.

His personal papers also included a four page letter to Vice Admiral C.E. Rosendahl responding to two pages of questions from Rosendahl about the number, distribution, disposition and construction of PURPLE machines prior to the attack on Pearl Harbor. Other documents included a petition to the Congress and supporting testimony to award Capt. Safford remuneration for his many secret cryptologic inventions, some of which were cited as among the most important and secure communication systems used by the U.S. during WW II. 

As Admiral Stavridis is so fond of saying: "Think, read, write and publish." If you don't tell your story - who will know it?

Conduct as officers

"Unless and until officers conduct themselves at all times as officers, it is useless to demand and hopeless to expect any improvement in the enlisted ranks.

Matters of correct attitude, personal conduct, and awareness of moral obligations do not lend themselves to control by a set of rules or to scientific analysis...Many methods of instruction and different approaches to teaching them will present themselves. Each naval officer must consider himself an instructor in these matters and the future tone of the naval service will depend on the sincerity which he brings to this task."

Admiral T. C. Kinkaid
United States Navy
1947

Sailors

Certain Aspects of Our Profession Are Fundamental - They Should Never Change

Rear Admiral James S. McFarland and I carried on a regular correspondence for almost 20 years. He was a great mentor and a conscientious note/letter writer. This last response was just before his death in February 2003. We had been exchanging ideas about the future of cryptology in our Naval profession. He was committed to the idea that some aspects of our profession were fundamental and should never change.

He was deeply proud of the 10,000 or so Sailors that comprised the Cryptologic Community. He, more than most, understood the value of those Sailors to the Navy and its mission. He believed in taking care of those Sailors and the Sailors knew it.

Your True North

Boxing the Compass - Finding our True North and staying true to it

Most of us have come to understand that leadership is about character, not characteristics.  We know what our values are and sometimes struggle to stay true to those values when we see that our seniors continue to progress while not demonstrating that same strict adherence to our Navy core values.  

Some in our community have found strength in maintaining their 'true North' by creating something they have called their personal "Board of Directors" (BoD).  Entrepreneur Bill George has a decent book out called TRUE NORTH GROUPS.  He knows that, with the challenges we face these days, we require additional help to stay on track.  We cannot rely on just ourselves or our commands to help us stay on track.  We need Shipmates in 'our circle of trust'  with whom we can have in-depth discussions and share intimately about the most cherished things in our lives and careers while we serve our country around the world.  

Whatever you choose to call it, you need to have Shipmates you can count on in the toughest of times - the people who will follow-through on things 'because they said they would.'

Handwritten letter

A good handwritten letter is a creative act, and not just because it is a visual and tactile pleasure. It is a deliberate act of exposure, a form of vulnerability, because handwriting opens a window on the soul in a way that cyber communication can never do. You savor their arrival and later take care to place them in a box for safe keeping.

Catherine Field - The New York Times

Right and True

"If it is not right, do not do it; if it is not true, do not say it."

Marcus Aurelius

So much to be thankful for

MAD DOG MATTIS on being "too busy" to read - same applies to being too busy to write

"… The problem with being too busy to read is that you learn by experience (or by your men’s experience), i.e. the hard way. By reading, you learn through others’ experiences, generally a better way to do business, especially in our line of work where the consequences of incompetence are so final for young men.

Thanks to my reading, I have never been caught flat-footed by any situation, never at a loss for how any problem has been addressed (successfully or unsuccessfully) before. It doesn’t give me all the answers, but it lights what is often a dark path ahead.

With TF 58, I had w/ me Slim’s book, books about the Russian and British experiences in AFG, and a couple others. Going into Iraq, “The Siege” (about the Brits’ defeat at Al Kut in WW I) was req’d reading for field grade officers. I also had Slim’s book; reviewed T.E. Lawrence’s “Seven Pillars of Wisdom”; a good book about the life of Gertrude Bell (the Brit archaeologist who virtually founded the modern Iraq state in the aftermath of WW I and the fall of the Ottoman empire); and “From Beirut to Jerusalem”. I also went deeply into Liddell Hart’s book on Sherman, and Fuller’s book on Alexander the Great got a lot of my attention (although I never imagined that my HQ would end up only 500 meters from where he lay in state in Babylon).

Ultimately, a real understanding of history means that we face NOTHING new under the sun. For all the “4th Generation of War” intellectuals running around today saying that the nature of war has fundamentally changed, the tactics are wholly new, etc, I must respectfully say… “Not really”: Alex the Great would not be in the least bit perplexed by the enemy that we face right now in Iraq, and our leaders going into this fight do their troops a disservice by not studying (studying, vice just reading) the men who have gone before us.

We have been fighting on this planet for 5000 years and we should take advantage of their experience. “Winging it” and filling body bags as we sort out what works reminds us of the moral dictates and the cost of incompetence in our profession. As commanders and staff officers, we are coaches and sentries for our units: how can we coach anything if we don’t know a hell of a lot more than just the TTPs? What happens when you’re on a dynamic battlefield and things are changing faster than higher HQ can stay abreast? Do you not adapt because you cannot conceptualize faster than the enemy’s adaptation? (Darwin has a pretty good theory about the outcome for those who cannot adapt to changing circumstance — in the information age things can change rather abruptly and at warp speed, especially the moral high ground which our regimented thinkers cede far too quickly in our recent fights.) And how can you be a sentinel and not have your unit caught flat-footed if you don’t know what the warning signs are — that your unit’s preps are not sufficient for the specifics of a tasking that you have not anticipated?

Perhaps if you are in support functions waiting on the warfighters to spell out the specifics of what you are to do, you can avoid the consequences of not reading. Those who must adapt to overcoming an independent enemy’s will are not allowed that luxury.

This is not new to the USMC approach to warfighting — Going into Kuwait 12 years ago, I read (and reread) Rommel’s Papers (remember “Kampstaffel”?), Montgomery’s book (“Eyes Officers”…), “Grant Takes Command” (need for commanders to get along, “commanders’ relationships” being more important than “command relationships”), and some others. As a result, the enemy has paid when I had the opportunity to go against them, and I believe that many of my young guys lived because I didn’t waste their lives because I didn’t have the vision in my mind of how to destroy the enemy at least cost to our guys and to the innocents on the battlefields.

Hope this answers your question…. I will cc my ADC in the event he can add to this. He is the only officer I know who has read more than I.

Semper Fi, Mattis"

Captain Clyde Lopez celebrates his 79th Birthday Today

Captain Clyde Lopez

Captain Clyde Lopex, Athens, 1989

Captain Clyde C. Lopez, United States Navy - retired, celebrates his 79th birthday today.  This great American enlisted in the Navy in October 1955 and served for 40 years, retiring in 1995. 

His illustrious Navy career would fill volumes.  It is sufficient to say that he was a Sailor worthy of being called a Shipmate by all who know him.


He was born on this day in 1937 in Santa Rosa, New Mexico.

Sir, Happy Birthday SHIPMATE !! 

I salute you !!

The power of ideas in the Information Warfare Community

TED (owned by The Sapling Foundation) fosters the spread of great ideas. It aims to provide a platform for the world's smartest thinkers, greatest visionaries and most-inspiring teachers, so that millions of people can gain a better understanding of the biggest issues faced by the world, and a desire to help create a better future. Core to this goal is a belief that there is no greater force for changing the world than a powerful idea. Consider:

• An idea can be created out of nothing except an inspired imagination. 
• An idea weighs nothing.
• It can be transferred across the world at the speed of light for virtually zero cost.
• And yet an idea, when received by a prepared mind, can have extraordinary impact.
• It can reshape that mind's view of the world.
• It can dramatically alter the behavior of the mind's owner.
• It can cause the mind to pass on the idea to others. 

 OUR COLLABORATION ACROSS THE  INFORMATION DOMINANCE CORPS IS CAPABLE OF CHANGING THE MANNER IN WHICH THE NAVY CONDUCTS  COMBAT AT SEA AND PREVENTS WAR. 

OPNAV N2/N6 is actively seeking your ideas.  SHARE THEM. Create a better future for our Navy. It's where you'll spend the rest of your career.

Creating a wake

Here are a couple of ideas about creating a wake.

https://soentrepreneurial.com/2016/01/13/creating-your-own-wake/  Nick Hughes

http://www.doncio.navy.mil/CHIPS/ArticleDetails.aspx?ID=8444  Sean Heritage

Motivating the crew - worth repeating

This is a letter from former Commander, Naval Security Group Command - RDML (at the time) James S. McFarland while I was Officer in Charge of Naval Security Group Barbers Point, Hawaii. I received this note almost a year into my tour (to the day). He sent a note of thanks to all the places he visited and to many of the hot running young Sailors he met along the way. RDML McFarland had just visited our small detachment on a worldwide tour that took him to over a dozen Naval Security Group sites in the Far East and through SouthWestAsia. His hand was blistered and calloused from all the hands he shook of the Sailors he met. When he visited my detachment, he already knew all my Sailors by name. I'm not sure if it was good staff work or simply a great memory.

He corresponded regularly with his Commanding Officers and Officers in Charge. He sent a quarterly letter to the entire Naval Security Group claimancy once a quarter to keep everyone on the same page. On these trips he usually brought a couple of the reps from the CNSG HQ to listen to issues and provide 'on the spot' assistance where they could. On this trip, he brought a recent lateral transfer to the cryptologic community by the name of Andrew M. Singer. You could tell instantaneously that this guy had it all in one seabag. The NSG team had a great visit with my crew. The crew went on to win two Meritorious Unit Citations, one Navy Unit Citation, the National Security Agency's TOP TEN Signals Award and honorable mention for our Sailor retention program. Not to mention - the three RADM G. Patrick March Awards for language proficiency - all presented by RADM March himself.

RDML McFarland's letters served as great motivation for me and my crew. I had nominated one of my linguists (Tim Kalvoda) for a Flag Letter of Commendation for achieving the SILVER level in the Samuel F.B. Morse Award program. RDML McFarland had his awards secretary (Mary Jo Crisp) call me to say, "If you don't mind, RDML McFarland would like to upgrade his award to a Navy Achievement Medal." RDML McFarland was just that kind of man. All of our linguists were dual-qualified (and mostly self-taught) as Manual Morse operators and Tim Kalvoda had achieved a level of expertise that some Cryptologic Technician Collection (CTRs) were not even capable of reaching.

What a great crew ! What an awesome experience! What a great Admiral ! What a great man ! And, I heard that Andrew M. Singer guy turned out to be a pretty good cryptologist - even if he had been a SWO first.

Think you're too busy? You probably aren't !

This great news from our Shipmates at Station Hypo

Congratulations to our incoming Commanding Officers, who will be taking command over the next year.

Major Command

CAPT Count will relieve CAPT Vernazza as CO, NIOC Georgia
CAPT Franklin will relieve CAPT Houff as CO, NIOC Texas
CAPT C. Slattery will relieve CAPT Finn as CO, NIOC Norfolk
CAPT J. Slattery will relieve CAPT Heritage as CO, NCDOC
CAPT Johnson will relieve CAPT Scheidt as CO, NIOC Maryland

CAPT Noles, CAPT Mole and CAPT Braswell will remain in the command bank for future slating.

Commander Command

CDR Smith will relieve CDR Eng as CO, IWTC Corry Station
CDR Herlands will relieve CDR Alexander as CO, NIOC Colorado
CDR Yates will relieve CDR Damsky as CO, NIOC Yokosuka
CDR Cadena will relieve CDR Zimmerman as CO, NIOC San Diego
CDR Barnes will relieve CAPT Corey as CO, Joint Targets Squadron
CDR Finke (1830) will stand up Cryptologic Warfare Activity 61
CDR Yusko will stand up Cyber Strike Activity 63
CDR Cegelske (1820) will stand up Cyber Defense Activity 64

CDR Harding, CDR Salazar and CDR Lawrence will remain in the command bank for future slating.

Congratulations!

v/r

The Team at Station HYPO  https://stationhypo.com

Organized Bravery

I am an unabashed fan of the Information Dominance Corps Warfare Community leadership and here's why.

Much of the Navy's time is spent on Risk Management of all types (i.e., Liberty Risk, Operational Risk Management, Health Risk, Safety Risk, and the list goes on nearly without end.)

As Seth Godin has stated: "The purpose of the modern organization is to make it easy and natural and expected for people to take risks. To lean out of the boat. To be human."

In many Navy commands, the opposite is happening.  Risk is avoided at all costs.  Much time is spent avoiding that "one mistake" that takes you out of the promotion cycle.  Godin calls this "institutionalized cowardice"  Too many Sailors have the opportunity to say "that’s not my job.”  Don't be one of them.

What we are seeing more and more of in the IDC is that senior leadership is providing a platform for bravery instead. It's been awhile since the messenger has been shot. VADM Jan Tighe takes the message to the CNO personally for the community.  The IDC is embracing new ideas every day and the best chance you have of getting your idea adopted is to share it.  Put it down on paper and send it up the chain - VFR direct, if you have that much courage.  I check with N2N6 and FCC/C10F regularly and I can tell you - the messengers are ALIVE and WELL and so are the thinkers and doers. 

Go ahead, your leadership has made it natural and easy - BE BRAVE - share those ideas.  Lean out of the boat.

What Do General Officers Do When You Tell Them Their Social Media Presence Needs Work ?

They apologize and seek to improve.  Some time ago I was watching the McChrystal YouTube channel and studying his leadership videos.  In my opinion, they needed some work and some updating.  I wrote General McChrystal and made a few suggestions.  This was his response.  How one accepts constructive criticism says a great deal about that person's character (in my opinion).

Rumsfeldisms - some favorites of mine

"I tend to be impatient, so there’s no question but that from time to time I help people understand the difference between good work and poor work."

"The idea that because you can't do everything you shouldn't try to do anything is really not a very persuasive argument, it seems to me."

Navy's 2016 Stockdale Award Recipients

WASHINGTON (NNS) -- Navy announced the two 2016 Vice Admiral James Bond Stockdale Leadership Award recipients Aug. 30 in NAVADMIN 194/16. Commander Gary G. Montalvo, commanding officer of USS North Carolina (SSN 777) is the Pacific Fleet recipient and Commander Ken J. Kleinschnittger, former commanding officer of Explosive Ordnance Disposal Mobile Unit (EODMU) 12 and currently working with Navy Expeditionary Combat Command forces, is the Fleet Forces recipient.

The two recipients were nominated by their peers, who were also eligible for the award, and chosen from among eight finalists to receive the award.

The Stockdale award was established in honor of Vice Admiral Stockdale whose distinguished naval career symbolized the highest standards of excellence in both personal conduct and leadership. It is presented annually to two commissioned officers on active duty in the grade of commander or below who are serving in command of a single ship, submarine, aviation squadron, Sea, Air, Land (SEAL) team, naval special warfare squadron, SEAL delivery vehicle team, special boat team, explosive ordnance disposal mobile unit, mobile diving and salvage unit, or Navy special clearance team and who serve as examples of excellence in leadership and conspicuous contribution to the improvement of leadership in the Navy.

Montalvo was nominated by the commanding officer of USS Buffalo (SSN 715), Commander Micah Maxwell, who wrote the nomination was "in recognition of his outstanding performance and unquestionable leadership acumen while in command of a heavily decorated, deployed submarine crew."

Three commanding officers nominated Kleinschnittger for the award. In his nomination letter, Commander Jeremy F. Thompson, commanding officer of EODMU 1, stated Kleinschnittger "is known throughout the EOD, SOF (Special Operation Forces) and joint communities for his strength of character, inspirational command presence, and humble approach to leading men and women."

Montalvo and Kleinschnittger are scheduled to receive their awards from Chief of Naval Operations Admiral John Richardson at a ceremony later this fall.

Vice Admiral James Bond Stockdale, for whom the Stockdale Award is named, articulated five roles for a leader -- moralist, jurist, teacher, steward and philosopher.

A Naval Academy graduate and pilot, Stockdale ejected from his A-4E Skyhawk over North Vietnam in September 1965 and was held prisoner and frequently tortured until February 1973. He received the Medal of Honor in 1976 and served as president of the Naval War College from October 1977 until August 1979.

He died in 2005 and is buried at the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland. He is survived by his three sons and eight grandchildren.

You can get my short KINDLE book about these amazing men and one woman HERE.   Rear Admiral Babette Bolivar's biography is HERE.

Tom Peters on Lord Horatio Nelson

The Full Nelson—Or: 13 Lessons on "Navigating" Excellence. 

Lord Horatio Nelson, an old Navy man and avid student of naval history, to me epitomizes Excellence. And, near the 200th anniversary of his singular victory at Trafalgar, I happened upon a new biography (I've probably ingested a dozen over the years), Andrew Lambert's Nelson: Britannia's God of War. From it, I extracted 13 lessons that I contend are mostly applicable to you and me:

1. Simple scheme. Nelson's orders of battle were paragons of simplicity and clarity—he was a damn good writer among other things. (Doable for you or me? Yes.)
2. Soaring/Bold/Noble Purpose! Nelson pursued total victory. Many of his peers were willing, essentially, to rate surviving as victory enough. (Doable for you or me? Yes.)
3. Engage others. Nelson made his captains full partners in the process as he devised plans— unheard of in those days. (Doable for you or me? Yes.)
4. Find great talent, at any age, let it soar! Nelson gave his best captains, young or old, far more leeway than his counterpart admirals—and he eschewed seniority as primary measure of assigned responsibility. (Doable for you or me? Yes.)
5. Lead by Love! The sailors, every biographer agrees, loved Nelson, and he them. (Last clause in the sentence is crucial.) His concern for their well-being, regardless of the rough nature of the sailor's life in those days, was legendary. (Doable for you or me? Yes.)
6. Seize the Moment! Nelson's sixth sense about enemy weakness was remarkable. He would skip to "Plan B" in a flash if merited by changing circumstances. (Doable for you or me? Yes. More or less—"good instincts" are the indirect product of insanely hard work.)
7. Vigor! His energy was palpable! (Doable for you or me? Yes. Mostly. Low energy folks aren't picks for leadership positions—or any other positions, for that matter.)
8. Master your craft. Nelson was the best damn sailor in the Navy—sailors and officers appreciated that beyond measure. (Doable for you or me? Yes. Damn it. We are not all created equal—but often "the best" is not the one who tops the charts on raw talent.)
9. Work harder-harder-harder than the next person. No explanation needed. (Doable for you or me? Yes.)
10. Show the way, walk the talk, exude confidence! Start a Passion Epidemic! Nelson led from the front—visible, in full dress uniform as the cannons roared. (Doable for you or me? Yes.)
11. Change the rules: Create your own game! Nelson always took the initiative—thus forcing rivals, from the beginning and throughout maneuvering at battle, to be in a full-time reactive mode. (Doable for you or me? Yes.)
12. Luck! Believe it! Always necessary! Not "desirable"—but necessary. (Doable for you or me? Anybody can get lucky—and preparedness ups the odds of getting lucky. But, truthfully, lucky is lucky.)
13. Be determined to come out on top, come hell or/and high water! Lambert:
"Other Admirals were more frightened of losing than anxious to win." This last is a big deal—it belongs as either #1 or #13. (Doable for you or me? Yes.) 

Courtesy

"Courtesies of a small and trivial character are the ones which strike deepest in the grateful and appreciating heart."

—Henry Clay, American Statesman (1777-1852)

With a new crop of CPOs ready to don their anchors - this note from the past. Officers train CPOs.

CNC's Wardroom Teaches 

Covenant Leadership to 

Newly Appointed CPOs

---

Story Number: NNS021209-02Release Date: 12/9/2002

By Chief Petty Officer Gregory T. Samuels, Center for Naval Cryptology

PENSACOLA, Fla. (NNS) -- Chief of Naval Operations (CNO) Adm. Vern Clark's
emphasis on "Covenant Leadership" led the officers of the Center for Naval
Cryptology (CNC) at Corry Station, Pensacola, Fla., to dedicate three-and-a-half
days recently to an off-site with their 22 new chief petty officers (CPOs).

The officers taught a course which they developed at the CNC called "CPO
Continuing Education - Charting The Professional Development Vector."

Created in July 2002 by Commanding Officer Capt. Edward H. Deets, Executive
Officer Capt. Lloyd B. Callis, Director of Training Cmdr. Mike Lambert, and members
of the CNC wardroom (many former CPOs themselves), the course covered 16
diverse topics including a summary of the CNO's required reading (books such as
"Leading Change," "Powerful Conversations," "The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership,
and The Power of Alignment," the CNO's 5 priorities, 14 Minutes with the Master
Chief Petty Officer of the Navy, administration, Operational Risk Management,
evaluations, personal career development, the Revolution in Navy Training, and
command excellence.

According to CDR Lambert, one of the purposes of the course was to put the CNO's
thoughts about positive self-talk and message alignment into the hearts and minds
of the new CPOs. "The Navy is in the midst of transforming and this course is intended
to put these new Chiefs at the forefront of the transformation, well-equipped to 'lead
the change,'" said Lambert.

"Our senior enlisted Sailors do an outstanding job of helping our first class petty
officers make the transition to "khaki" during the six-week CPO initiation period,"
said Deets, speaking to the new chiefs at the seminar. "What our officers are 
going to do is provide another significant piece in your continuing leadership 
education and discuss our expectations of you as Chiefs. As the CNO said - 
you've made promises to serve and you are all living up to your promises. 
This course is part of an effort to fulfill our covenant to develop and mentor 
you, as well as to better equip you to share these important messages with
our Sailors," concluded Deets.

Feedback from the new CPOs was unanimously positive. "I have a better understanding
of what the wardroom expects of us as new leaders," said Chief Petty Officer Demetria
Barksdale, a participant in the training. "This has given me a great foundation for my
new leadership role with the Navy."

Lambert said that CNC officials were so pleased with the results of the pilot project that
they plan to refine it for possible use in CPO indoctrination training throughout the Navy.

For related news, visit the Chief of Naval Education and Training Navy NewsStand page
at www.news.navy.mil/local/cnet.