In Performance-Based Mentoring for Busy Leaders, I revealed how I selectively divided my time to avoid becoming bogged down by Anchors – non-performing members who display no desire to contribute to the command’s mission. But being busy meant I also needed to divide my time based on paygrade. I did it by viewing my subordinates across these categories: Direct Reports, The Junior Officers, The Chief’s Mess, The First Class Mess, and the Base.
The Base
When it came to the Base, my interaction was primarily daily walks to visit the work centers, getting a feel for the state of the command, and polling the Chief’s Mess. I wanted to find out what burdens we could take off their shoulders, make sure they understand our mission, and act as the head cheerleader for their work.
In my 170-person O5 command, I spent 10-15 minutes in three work centers each day. It can be argued that this isn’t much time on the deck, but realize that the CO being in the room has a tendency to interrupt everything, so a quick visit to listen to concerns, shake some hands, and talk fantasy football struck the right chord without impacting their shift.
The First Class Mess
The First Class Mess has the hardest job in a Navy unit, straddling the line between operator and supervisor. They’re being pulled down to demonstrate the best way to teach junior sailors while being pulled upward by Chief Petty Officers (CPO) to provide solid administrative support and on-the-scene leadership. Leading Petty Officers are continuously training for increased responsibility. With guidance from above, the CPO Mess mentors the First Class and the Base.
The Chief’s Mess
The Chief’s Mess is unique in that a good one polices and mentors itself. Unit leaders must maintain a close working relationship with the Command Master Chief (CMC) and the senior members of the Chief’s Mess to ensure assignments and collateral duties are going to the right Chiefs at the right time. It is not a bad idea to discuss the performance strata concept (discussed in Part I) with the CMC to make sure his limited time is correctly apportioned. Struggling chiefs are handled via team effort.
I would engage with 5-10% of the CPO mess on a daily basis (and more so for the CMC and Departmental Leading Chiefs), then personally conduct the required mid-term counseling with the XO and CMC present. And of course as part of his key position, the CMC is getting constant feedback and more formal counseling sessions in preparation for future leadership positions.
Junior Officers
Mentoring the officers in my command was perhaps the most important of all. This is where I spent the overwhelming majority of my time, partly because I was familiar with what they faced. Also, they get more fitness reports signed by the commanders that cycle through during their tour, so the interval to correct deficiencies and enhance strengths was smaller.
Like the CPOs, I would try to engage with 10% of my Junior Officers, of all designators, in informal counseling each day. This would create 20-30 minutes each week per officer, as well as my getting feedback from CPOs, Department Heads, the Training Officer, and XO. This equated to an hour of informal counseling a week, plus mid-term and FITREP debriefs and behind the scenes discussions with their Department Heads. This engagement provided me a solid roadmap for how the JOs were performing, which strengths to utilize, and which weaknesses to address.
The CPO mess is also valuable for mentoring your Junior Officers and Department Heads. Ask the Chiefs how the communication flows down, how their concerns flow up, and how their Division Officer and Department Head compare to those they’ve worked with in the past. This provides 360 degree evaluations on a regular basis.
Direct Reports
Of the officers, I spent the bulk of my mentoring time with the Department Heads (my direct reports). These O4s took my direction and channeled the command’s talent to support the mission. COs need to spend the most time here to ensure you’re all rowing together. The Service needs these officers to become commanding officers themselves, and their subordinates need the DHs to be effective leaders and mentors.
In addition to time spent delegating and providing direction to run the command, each day I would spend about 30-45 minutes with one Direct Report. We’d discuss career desires and dig into specific departmental issues and guide them to find leadership solutions on their own.
One of the easiest and most important ways to mentor the Direct Reports is by including them on decision making regarding personnel in their departments. This sounds obvious, but once privacy issues pop up (medical, mental health, family services) it can be easy for the CO and XO to retreat behind closed doors and work with the experts. This is a disservice to the Direct Report (as a potential future CO) because it masks critical thought processes. Like any proficient operator, the Direct Reports need repetitions in difficult situations to grow into confident decision makers. Time with current decision makers is the best way to mentor these officers.
Mentoring the XO
One focus of mentoring in command that I haven’t mentioned is the XO. In a Navy squadron, the XO is the next to command and will eventually take over for the CO. They must work together to ensure continuity. Even in units where the XO doesn’t eventually become the commander, it’s necessary to train the XO in case of leave or emergency. The XO deserves this level of interaction for the XO’s personal development, and the unit deserves the XO’s input to the CO to mitigate wild policy swings after change of command.
Effectiveness Depends on Appropriate Investment
The command tour is very busy, and while mission execution must come first, developing the next generation of leaders is vital to the future of your command and the Service. One of the best ways to develop your people is to optimize the time spent on grooming super stars, creating new ones, and raising the effectiveness of the majority of your team. Realize also that you will likely have a bigger impact on your direct reports as you prepare them to take your seat, and that empowering the mid-level managers to enhance your team pays dividends to all parties.
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