The worst two chains of command (or leadership interactions if you will) I
have had were AFTER my command tour. In both cases there was enough
blame to go around - on my end on theirs - but I ended up in the "senior
has the personality" realm because I was junior.
The basic takeaways as I look back are these:
1. Don't assume your senior sees everything you are doing.
2. Don't assume your junior knows your rule set or boundaries.
3. Early, early, early and non-confrontational discussions can solve most problems before they are a real problem.
4. If a senior lets something slide once, the junior should not expect all is forgiven and forgotten.
Anyway, DHs need to give guidance
early, and positively if they way to have an impact. NEVER assume that a
DivO knows what the rules are, what to do, or how to do it. Don't
assume they are idiots either. Find the middle ground, that's your job
as a leader. If you can't hit the right note with that DivO, talk to
his peers and see if they can help. Either by helping you understand,
or by translating to that DivO.
DivOs need to look, listen, read,
and learn. And ask questions. Lots of questions. And know what the
books say. And not be afraid to say to their DH "but..." even when the
DH tries to crap all over them.
DivOs, if your DH is one of
those "crap down and forget" types, go find another DH as a mentor that
you can talk to. NOT another division officer, no matter how salty that
LDO may seem. Another DH.
1 comment:
Awesome advice! Sadly, the SWO and SUB communities have a tendency for DHs to simply crap all over their JOs, which leads to the JOPA and an "us vs them" mentality, when the reality is that it's a team effort. My current DH is a great mentor, and takes the time to ensure I know what he's thinking and why. It pays off, because I can act on his behalf like he would have wanted, saving him time in the long run.
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