Leadership to Me
During my reflection last week I got to thinking about leadership and the best examples that I have seen during my working life. As a person who has worked in multiple industries both pre- and post military I have seen many different leadership styles; ones that failed and ones that worked in which I will focus on two of the best examples I can think of.
While aboard the U.S.S. Theodore Roosevelt, we had the first female Command Master Chief (CMC). The entire crew knew her well as she would always make a point to say hi to passing sailors on their way to their destination. What I came to realize over the years is she set standards of what quality leadership is about. She would come down to the mess decks and sit with sailors (some of which were fresh out of bootcamp) and ask questions to get to know us and it went much deeper than the surface. This has always stuck with me, even 10 years later.
I vividly remember one day she had asked me to stop by her office in which I did because let's face it, when the CMC asks you to stop by the office well, you better do it. She knew I was struggling with a lot of different issues as a young sailor especially during that particular time when I had lost my best friend, an Uncle and a Grandfather all within a year. I remember her offering words of encouragement, nurturement (not like the way a parent would), and an ear to listen if I ever needed anything. Her like many others I encountered while serving exemplified what is known has "Deck Plate Leadership."
While talking with a group of men in a leadership series I am a part of I recalled my CMC and what she did for all of us. I said something to the effect of "I'm not a leader in my organization but at least once a week I walk around the office and say hi to folks even if I don't directly work with them." One of my peers had reminded me that you don't have to be in a typical "Leadership" role to be a leader.
Not too long after I'd been home from the Navy I started working at a Concert Venue while attending community college. Our boss that we had was one of the most genuine people I had ever worked for. He took a vested interest in our interests and goals. He would often state how he wished he could pay us more than what we made because he did not want to lose us once we had completed our coursework. If there were ever any issues he would go out of his way to take care of us.
One such instance I remember we were working a back-to-back show and those of us in the Operations department typically worked the most with very little sleep. After the first night I left at around 3 or 4 in the morning and came back at 8:30. As we were preparing for that night's show he noticed how exhausted we were but we still had a lot to accomplish before 6:00 p.m. when the gates opened. It was shortly after 6 and I had just about all I could take at that point. My boss called me on the radio and asked me to meet him backstage. I thought I was going to be in trouble but he told me to clock out and go take a nap and I was not to be seen for 2 hours.
Of course in the professional world we cannot get away with taking a two hour nap but it is the caliber of his leadership I wanted to point out. Often times I think more of the ways I've failed at leadership in which I believe we all do at one point in time or another but it is what we learn from those failures which mold us into better leaders. As I have grown older and gained more experience I no longer turn my attention to the ways I've failed but rather I often think of the best examples I've seen in leaders in which I aspire to do within myself. At times when I am around younger people I will highlight on what I've learned from my failures as a leader which I believe is healthy but it is not something I do all the time.
We all have examples we can pull from in our professional lives as to how we define leadership and what it means to us. For me, the leaders who have inspired me were the ones who would challenge me in ways I sometimes didn't agree with or understand but in the long run I have not only become a better leader, but a better person overall.