What I told my CO. Ensigns don't try this at your command. My boss and I were the same paygrade.

This is a summary of my 360 degree feedback to a former commanding officer. Skipper, there's no doubt you're going to be a leader in the community; these things may help you.

• You are a great speaker. Be careful not to lose the feeling behind the words. Words have meaning; actions have con­sequences. Ensure your actions match your words. Some Sailors actually listen to every word. They can sense any hint of insincerity. 
• Your command philosophy should be written down and distributed widely in the command. This is a huge reason for the CNO's success in the Navy. We all know where he's going and we talk about it. The command wants to follow you. Tell us where you want to go. 
• Respect our time. Typically, ten or more people are always awaiting your late arrival at some function (staff meeting, wardroom meetings, dinners, graduations, etc). If people believe that you are willing to consistently waste their time, they will stop feeling guilty about wasting yours. 
• Be consistent with your administration of military justice. It's easy to punish junior members in the command for trivial violations. Applying the same standards across the board does not always work. In fact, the more senior the individual is, the more accountable they should be held for their action or inaction. Everyone is watching and judging. 
• When senior officers visit the command, maximize their exposure to the junior Sailors of the command. They will benefit the most. 
• Take your junior officers, Chiefs, and Sailors to lunch or simply go have lunch with them in their mess. Everyone will learn a lot, especially you. 
• Invite your key command leaders to your home for a social event so they can see how it's done. Juniors need to see how their seniors do this. It's part of the learning process. 
• Share information with your department heads. It is astounding how much information a commanding officer is exposed to and that is not shared with the department heads. Distributed information is enormously powerful. Your department heads can keep a secret if there is a requirement for secrecy. Trust them. 
• Don't play favorites with members of the wardroom. It hurts the wardroom and it hurts you. 
• Focus your calendar on the command 's mission. Ceremonial events and public relations are important, but your time should be spent on those areas the commanding officer can directly influence for the greatest benefit to the command's mission. 

From my January 2007 PROCEEDINGS magazine article "360-Degree Feedback: Can We Handle the Truth?"  You can subscribe to PROCEEDINGS (the professional journal of the U.S. Navy) HERE.

You can read the latest article about this in Navy Times HERE.

Stay tuned to this blog for the 360-degree feedback I received from everyone following my command tour. It's a very interesting and eye opening experience.

You can count on your Sailors to do the impossible

I have never found Sailors to be at a loss. Tell them to do anything  and you can depend on them to get it done. Their manner of life creates in them a complete self-reliance which you seldom find in other men.

The Duke of Wellington

Congratulations to these new Information Warfare Captains (Navy Reserve) and the Reserve IW Flag selectee

Victor Alan White
Ingrid M. Rader
Mark Thomas Smith
Glenn Earl Murray


CAPT Dan MacDonnell, Commanding Officer of Navy Reserve, Commander TENTH Fleet was recently selected as the next IW Reserve Flag (pins on on the USS Constitution in Oct - he's from Boston!).

Hat tip to Captain Greg Rowe, Commanding Officer, Navy Reserve Navy Information Operations Command Maryland, 87176

Correct language

Navigating A New Course To Command Excellence - Antithesis to the status quo

In the Model for Command Excellence, between the inputs and results, were factors the model termed intermediate outputs. The intermediate outputs of superior commands also distinguished them. Sailors in the command had a sense of mission. They were motivated and committed to the command. Morale, pride, and teamwork were evident throughout the command. Attitudes and values of Sailors on board reflected this. These intermediate outputs directly affected the final outputs.

What accounts for the differences between them in superior and average commands?

Three areas make a difference between the results of superior and average commands:

• the Sailors in the command,
• the relationships between them
• the activities they perform

"Sailors" refers to the different people in the command. This includes the Commanding Officer (CO), the Executive Officer (XO), the Wardroom, the Chiefs Quarters (Mess), and the Crew.

"Relationships" refers to the relationships between different groups of Sailors and the ways these groups of people interact with each other. "Activities" include those things that people do that make the biggest differences between average and top commands.

Five activities were identified:

• Planning
• Maintaining Standards
• Communicating
• Building Esprit de Corps
• Training and Development

The book is available HERE. Check the document properties; this is a 2005 update of our original version from 1997.  There are two companion summaries: Command Excellence and the Wardroom and Charting the course to Command Excellence.

XO Blast - Answer your mail !!

 

I've been a strong advocate for the Command Excellence program for quite some time.  I've sent out several thousands of dollars worth of printed and bound materials to our community's Commanding Officers/Executive Officers and Officers in Charge over the past decade.  It's money well spent.  I attended the first Command Excellence Seminar in the mid-1980s.  It made quite an impression!

The principles are timeless and well-founded.  The materials the Navy used back in the mid-1980s were poorly prepared and xeroxed.  My XO (LT Bob Duncan) and I recreated & updated the materials in their entirety and provided them to the Command Leadership Course in Rhode Island in 1997. These materials are still in use there today. These materials are part of the student desk loads for all Perspective Commanding Officers and Executive Officers.  Even the MCPON has adopted the principles in his ZEROING IN ON EXCELLENCE program.  There is lots of value in this.

My note above is an expression of frustration with one of our Navy Information Operations Command Executive Officers who has not learned how to "answer the mail".  My own U.S. NSGA Misawa Executive Officer in days past (some may remember "MAD DOG MURPHY" who redefined what being an XO was all about) taught me that "If a Naval officer can't be bothered to answer the mail, you have to wonder what he can be bothered 'to do'.  Probably, not too much.

My plea - "Answer your mail".

Communication is number ONE!

 

As a leader, there is one single thing you can do that will make, or break, command morale. The key is communication.

And while that's true in "normal" times, it's become even more important when a command is in transition.

Regular communication with Sailors is always integral to a command's success, especially during periods of uncertainty, Lack of communication with Sailors is the number one cause of low morale.

As the Navy is undergoing change during all the budget uncertainty, the best thing to do is communicate with your Sailors even if you yourself aren't sure exactly what's about to happen. It's foremost just to bring Sailors together. And continue to talk to them one on one also. You've got to manage the scuttlebutt. You need to address these things so that Sailors are not preoccupied with worrying about rumors that may not be true.

More Valuable Than Money

It would seem that most Navy leaders already know this answer. Navy leaders were asked, "In your opinion, what is the best remedy for low morale?" Their responses:

Communication 48%
Recognition programs 19%
Monetary awards for exceptional performance 13%
Unexpected rewards 11%
Team-building events or meetings 5%
Additional days off 3%

Bottom line: Tell your Sailors what happened, what is happening and what will be happening.

Everything is not of equal importance

"If everything is so critical it requires your personal intervention as a leader, you are destined to failure. First, you lose your followers. No one can maintain a pace of everything being of equal importance. Things simply are not. "

"Leadership is often about just standing back. Standing back and deliberately moving your branches aside so some sunlight get down to the saplings. Giving your subordinates the time and nourishment necessary for growth."

Leadership guru - Rear Admiral Dave R. Oliver Jr. - in "LEAD ON - A Practical Approach to Leadership"

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

Congratulations to these new IW Captains

Bill Lintz
Sean Heritage
Mike Douglas
Bill Ekblad
Doug Schelb
Joe Johnson

A few words about those not selected to IWO Captain by this year's promotion board

This is a repost of my April 2010 note.

We have gone through another very challenging selection board cycle for promotion to Information Warfare Officer Captain and selection means a great deal of joy and satisfaction to an absolutely outstanding group of selectees, their families, friends and Shipmates. It also means that there is a group of sadly disappointed non-selects and those who are close to them, as well. The joy for the selectees is as normal as the grave disappointment is to the non-selects. This is an extremely painful time for a few of the non-selects who were “selects” on everyone’s list but the actual selection board’s. There are two or three (not usually more than that) superb candidates for selection who are somehow set aside in the crunch and “seemingly” lessor candidates make it on the “select” list. This is all understandable and usually unavoidable. Our selection board members are faced with a nearly impossible job and they do a masterful job in selecting the right individuals capable of providing the senior leadership our community needs to lead us in the future.

Our most senior leadership has the very painful and absolutely unpleasant job of letting the non-selects know what their status is, at least 48 hours (Note: the 48 hr notification is no longer required. In the information age, the word gets out too fast and most candidates learn of their selection or non-selection from some unofficial source) before the official message list is released. This requires some extraordinary planning by the Flag staffs and has to be well coordinated. These non-selects are as important to the future of our community and have contributed to the “past success” of the community as much as the “selects” have, some perhaps even more so.

These people deserve SIGNIFICANT senior officer attention, but rarely get it. It's tough! Speaking the absolute truth about an individual's true potential for selection to Captain is a difficult discussion to have. But, that discussion has to fit into that 25% of the time that Admiral Stavridis says should be devoted to taking care of people. (His paper about how he spends his time is HERE.)

Those selected for promotion will get plenty of attention. Accolades will come in from around the world. The selects deserve your congratulations, but the non-selects deserve your significant attention, counsel, and understanding. These fine men and women are confronted by feelings of failure and betrayal by the system (Navy) to which they have devoted 20+ of the best years of their lives. It does not mean they are failures or that they have been betrayed. But that doesn’t matter, that is what they feel. We need to reach out and talk to each and every one of these people before the message hits the street. Perhaps some of them had no possible chance of being selected. That doesn’t matter on the day the list comes out. There are juniors and seniors who honestly thought that “their” O5 was worthy of selection to O6 (Captain).

Ten Simple Rules for Social Acceptability

1. Get an etiquette book and read it. Do it now.
2. Be quiet and listen. Not everyone wants to hear what you have to say. Conversation among ladies and gentlemen is a multisided affair. Listening well is not only an official but also a social necessity.
3. Stand up. This elementary courtesy is the hallmark of a gentleman or lady when addressed by a senior (in rank or age).
4. Defer to others in social matters-in conversation, dining, and precedence. Make the effort to see that others are seated or served first, given the right-of-way, and so on.
5. Pay attention to what is going on around you. You might learn how to conduct yourself and learn what is required. Officers who are unaware are of no use to anyone and a source of embarrassment to their
shipmates.
6. Pay attention to your grooming. You should wear a well-turned-out uniform and civilian clothing and maintain hair, nails, and basic body cleanliness.
7. Treat your associates as ladies and gentlemen (even if they are not). Even one or two ladies or gentlemen in a group raise the tone of the gathering.
8. Do not draw attention to yourself-in dress, voice, or actions. Boisterous and exhibitionist behavior does not define the lady or gentleman.
9. Pay attention to your language. You should eliminate not only cursing and profanity but also the crudities in common usage: rough, trendy, "with it" slang. Listen to what you are saying. If you use two to three "you know" expressions a minute in your speech, you have said too much.
10. Do not complain or whine. If you cannot or will not change matters, do not comment on what is wrong with you or the world.

From: Career Compass: Navigating the Navy's Officer Promotion and Assignment System
James A. Winnefeld Sr.

Effective Cryptologic/Information Warfare community management is a shared responsibility

Vice Admiral Rogers and the rest of the IW/Cryptologic leadership team know that effective community management is a shared responsibility.  It is about creating and engaging the right workforce to meet Navy objectives and achieve sustainable competitive advantage against our adversaries (internal and external). They are all actively involved in the IDC cross detailing and IWO slating process to ensure that we are getting the right people in the right place at the right time to get the right things done.  When people are engaged, and are given clear direction and the right kind of support—everything from effective leadership to valuable training to rewards that drive the right behaviors and results—there is not anything that they cannot achieve.

Vice Admiral Rogers and the rest of the IW/Cryptologic leadership team are engaging the community, giving clear direction and providing the right kind of support. 

Here's the line-up for the Cryptologic/Information Warfare Community Flag Leadership:

VADM Mike Rogers - Commander, Fleet Cyber Command/TENTH Fleet

RADM Bill Leigher - Director of Warfare Integration for Information Dominance (OPNAV N2/N6F)

RDML Sean Filipowski - Director of Intelligence, U.S. Cyber Command

RDML Jan Tighe - Interim President, Naval Postgraduate School/Director, Decision Superiority (OPNAV N2/N6F4)

RDML Will Metts - Deputy Chief of Tailored Access Operations, National Security Agency

Captain Tim White - CO, NIOC Maryland

Balancing Truth and Fiction

"Truth is so hard to tell, it sometimes needs fiction to make it plausible."

Francis Bacon

Naval Postgraduate School (NPS) picks new Provost - Also RDML Tighe Video

The dean of Wichita State University's business school, Doug Hensler of Wichita, Kansas., will serve as NPS's 14th provost, the school said Friday.

Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus said, "I appreciate Admiral (Jan) Tighe's leadership during this time of transition and welcome Dr. Hensler as we begin the next chapter in this storied institution's history."

Mabus told the staff last week that Rear Admiral Tighe, interim president since November, was needed "in the fleet" and a president would only be selected after the provost.  There has been no word yet on which fleet assignment RDML Tighe would receive.

RDML Jan Tighe is featured HERE on The Pentagon Channel's "Inside NPS" segment.   Her portion of the video starts at the 10:30 mark.