A quarterly newsletter for graduates of the Senior Enlisted Academy |
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Military Leadership Series: "Character"
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From
the PresidentMilitary Leadership Series, "Character"Military Leadership is a multifaceted, all encompassing subject that many leaders over the years have tried to sum up in a few words. Despite the changing world, international problems and conflicts and new technology, the basic fundamentals of leadership have not significantly changed over the years. In books and articles one can still see quotes from great military leaders of the past, that are as true today as they were then. I think all would agree that one of the key substances to leadership is that the person must possess and develop "Character". Character is developed in three steps, Learn, Comply and Believe. The Learn step is accomplished primarily through education with the personnel values and attributes of the individuals forming an intricate part. The Comply step is accomplished through constant reinforcement and training. The third is to totally Believe in themselves, their superiors and subordinates and the organization to which they belong and their commitment to make the climate of the organization better. In a speech, General Edward C. Meyer, Former Army Chief of Staff, believed that the framework of leadership requires three ingredients. Just as the diamond requires three properties for its formation-carbon, heat and pressure—successful leaders require the interaction of three properties—character, knowledge and application. Like carbon to the diamond, character is the basic quality of the leader. But as carbon alone does not create a diamond, neither can character alone create a leader. The diamond needs heat. Man needs knowledge, study and preparation. The third property, pressure—acting in conjunction with carbon and heat-—forms the diamond. Similarly, one's character, attended by knowledge, blooms through application to produce a leader. Peter H.M. Todd,SEAAA, President
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Military Leadership Series: "Character" From DIRSEA
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From the DirectorGreetings Alumni ! It is indeed a pleasure for me to serve as the tenth Director of the Senior Enlisted Academy. My first order of business is to thank my predecessor, AFCM(AW) John Hayes for the OUTSTANDING job he did. The leadership and guidance John provided the staff, the course he set for the Academy and the knowledge he passed on to the senior enlisted leaders is a legacy that is difficult to follow. At the Change of Office I pledged my support and energy to the staff, CNET, MCPON, the customers of the Academy—the fleet, but especially to the CPO community from the ranks of which I get my students. Following the course set by John and through teamwork with the personnel I just mentioned, we continue to provide the best leadership education possible. I would like to update you on a few recent developments. First, the expansion of the S E A that John mentioned in the last newsletter is still an ongoing project. However, the timeline for such a project shifted to the right and will not occur as soon as originally thought. We will continue to develop the plan to increase the student throughput so more master and senior chiefs will have the opportunity to attend. I do need to dispel the rumor that the Academy will move with this expansion. THIS IS ABSOLUTELY FALSE ! The Academy will remain here in Newport even after the expansion project. Secondly, the Academy is still in need of top-notch professionals to join the staff. We recently said "Good Bye to MMCM(SS) Buck Bailey who is on his way to a CMC tour onboard PCD HOWARD (DDG 83). We wish Buck all the best for an enjoyable and successful tour. We also received two new staff members. EMCM(SW) Phil Quayle returns after completing a CMC tour aboard USS DECATUR (DDG 73). SMSgt Bill Mounsey comes to us after serving nearly five years at the USAF SNCO Academy. These two bring a wealth of knowledge and experience, and I look forward to working with them. But even with these new facilitators, vacant billets still exist. It is a challenging and very rewarding tour. I am no longer restricted to having Post-tour CMCs' as staff members although they are ideal for this duty. If any of you are interested in our staff positions please contact the Academy. I recently received a copy of the revised E-7 Leadership Continuum course curriculum. Once this revised course goes through the pilot and approval process, we will begin to look at and update the S E A curriculum. Many topics are discussed at both courses but the idea is to build on the previous courses. This is always an ongoing initiative. Recent changes to the PRT Program, Uniforms, policies and procedures dictate that we continuously review our material. "Leadership, Excellence and Success through Knowledge" is only valuable when the knowledge is kept current and valid. The staff and I are committed to providing the BEST training possible. Once again, I am honored to be at the helm of the Academy, and I welcome your comments and concerns. Director, SEA
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Military Leadership Series: "Character" SEA Installs Tenth Director |
SEA Installs Tenth DirectorOn April 27, 2000, AVCM(AW) John A Hayes was relieved by ETCM(SW) Gary W. Peters. MC Hayes was serving as the ninth director for SEA. MC Peters, a former graduate of SEA comes to this directorship with a broad level of experience. ETCM(SW) Gary Peters was born on 7 June 1958 in Lancaster, California. He enlisted in the Navy on 20 October 1976, and completed recruit training at Orlando, Fl. His duty assignments include: USS John King (DDG 3); USS SEMMES (DDG 18); Fleet Combat Training Center, Atlantic; USS Barnstable County (LST 1197); Amphibious Squadron Twelve; USS KIDD (DDG 993); Fleet Training Center, Norfolk; Command Master Chief, USS HAWES (FFG 53); Command Master Chief, Naval Station and Naval Base, Guantanamo Bay, Cuba; CNO-Directed Command Master Chief, Chief of Naval Air Training and Navy Region South Texas. He has deployed to the Mediterranean Sea, Indian Ocean, Persian Gulf, North Atlantic, West Africa, South America and the Black Sea. Master Chief Peters is a graduate of the Senior Enlisted Academy, Class 48, Gold Group and the USAF, Senior NCO Academy, Class 96 B. His awards include the Meritorious Service Medal, Navy Commendation Medal with two Gold Stars, Navy Achievement Medal with one Gold Star, Meritorious Unit Commendation, Navy Battle "E", Good Conduct Medal with four Bronze Stars, Navy Expeditionary Medal, National Defense Medal, Armed Forces Service Medal, Sea Service Deployment Ribbon with one Silver Star, and the Overseas Service Ribbon. He is also Master Training Specialist qualified.
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Military Leadership Series: "Character" Commentary: Electronic Mail |
Electronic Mail,The Medium of Choice Can Have Its DrawbacksAs senior leaders in both the military and civilian sector, we have all witnessed the introduction and acceptance of e-mail as the medium of choice for our routine correspondence. I have recently completed a tour in the fleet as a command master chief and can bear witness that the same is true out in the fleet. The fact that Sailor can communicate with family and friends on a daily basis, even during an extended deployment, has definitely taken some of the sting out of the family separation. With any communication device, especially one with broad appeal with no regard to rank or station,e-mail has become one of the essential tools that we must have to live and function as managers. It can dominate our productive time in the same manner that a beeper or cell phone can play havoc with our leisure time. We have all been taught to use the proper tool for the proper job. There are many barriers inherent to e-mail, one of the biggest barriers is that it is faceless and devoid of emotion. Some messages especially those that can trigger emotional responses should be made in person. One of the most memorable scenes in the movie Saving Private Ryan is the official military black sedan arriving at the Ryan’s farm to inform Mrs.Ryan that all of her sons had been killed—except one. Unfortunately he was missing in action. During my tour as the senior enlisted advisor,e-mail crimes affected the following areas: security and confidentiality, family issues, and the open door policy of the Commanding Officer. The issue involving security and confidentiality did not involve the inappropriate posting of the ship’s schedule or an upcoming operation which is usually the problem. Our scenario was a medical evacuation of one of our Sailors suffering from extreme headaches. This resulted in limited duty status for the Sailor and transfer to a medical facility in Japan. Before the hospital could complete a thorough diagnosis and the command could notify the immediate family with some definitive status on the Sailor, one of his crew members e-mailed the wife with the news that her husband had suffered a brain aneurysm. Fortunately the Sailor was suffering only from too much protein supplements in his diet and a workout routine that Atlas could not keep up with. Unfortunately, the erroneous e-mail spurred a late night call to the command’s Ombudsman by the distraught wife and an extremely expensive satellite telephone call back to the ship. In the same light, a Sailor can receive the bad news that the marriage is over by e-mail. As leaders, we all know how bad news from home can affect the work environment and the work ethic of our employees. Incoming e-mails can have the same effect to that particular Sailor as an incoming missile has to our ship and our combat readiness. The e-mail is sent with the same aim for destruction without any regard for long term effects. In a previous paragraph, I noted that e-mail has no regard to rank or station. One of the basic rules of communication is that the sender of the message has overall responsibility for the content of the message and its destination. It was truly amazing how many Sailors and personnel outside of the command stretched the open door policy of the Commanding Officer to suit their personal gain or grievance.The rule of using the chain of command applies in any business as it does in the military environment and must be utilized for that business/command to remain effective. In summary, e-mail has become the medium of choice. But as we have learned and continue to facilitate at the Senior Enlisted Academy, every channel has filters or barriers that impede the communication process. In one of our references that we use at the Academy, "Communicating for Results", it states that the success of an organization depends on the communication skills of all its employees. In fact, the book refers to a recent survey done by a research group. 84 personnel officers from different organizations were asked, "In assessing an individual's chance of success in your company, how important do you think communication skills are, relative to other kinds of abilities?" Communication skills were rated extremely important by 85% of the respondents, and communication skills were considered 95% of the time when they interviewed potential employees. We devote 32 hours of curriculum time to various forms of communication skills and four of them are dedicated to our lesson on "Person-to-Person Communication." We are always looking for your thoughts on this topic. Send the SEAAA an e-mail on some of the policies and training tips that you have employed to tame the e-mail monster. Our e-mail address is www.seaaa.org then click on the postmaster’s box. EMCM(SW) PHILLIP L. QUAYLE,
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Military Leadership Series: "Character" Class 91 Graduates |
Senior Enlisted Academy Graduates Fifty-nineFifty-nine senior enlisted leaders from the Navy and Air Force, graduated May 16 2000, from the U.S. Navy Senior Enlisted Academy (SEA). The SEA helps to prepare selected senior enlisted leaders in paygrades E8 and E9 to better ful fill their leadership and management responsibilities. The 59 students started their nine-week course on March 16, 2000 submerging themselves in topics such as, leadership, management, and facilitation techniques. One student, who is headed to the USS INCHON (MCS 12), Information Technician Senior Chief (Surface Warfare) Calvin Crawford, says "I’ve enjoyed my nine weeks here. It gave me the opportunity to learn from my fellow chiefs; especially our Class President [ETCM(SS) Phillip Moore] who has over 28 years in the Navy. As one of the younger senior chiefs in the class, I was able to improve my leadership techniques through my interactions and experiences with other students." He went on to say that while he was here, he believed everybody learned something new. The SEA instructs senior enlisted leaders in communication skills, leadership and management, national security affairs, Navy programs, and health and physical fitness. Class 91 held their graduation dinner Wednesday evening, May 17th in the Ballroom-by-the Bay where Vice Admiral Henry C. Giffin, USN, Commander, U.S. Naval Surface Force Atlantic Fleet served as the guest speaker and handed out diplomas to all 59 students. For more information on the SEA, go to wwwnt.cnet.navy.mil/sea. YNCM(SW/AW) Art Rivers, Class 91 Graduates:
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