The Big Four - Education

Greetings, again. The final of the "Big Four" in the Personnel Manual's chapter on personnel boards is Education. Education is a little different from the other three: performance, professionalism and leadership. First off, you won't really find a dimension on education in the OER. You may sneak a reference to some college courses you are taking in the initiative block, but there is no section where you can be graded on going to school. Second, the term education makes you automatically think only being in school will satisfy this dimension. The Commandant, in his Guidance to Boards and Panels, calls the term "life-long learning". What he and Boards are looking for is innovation, smarter better ways of doing things and accomplishing the mission, and officers who will continue to improve themselves, to help improve the Coast Guard.

For all the junior officers out there, the fourth dimension is applied differently for you than it is at more senior boards. Before the junior boards, the Coast Guard expects you to establish yourself as an expert in some officer specialty, preferrably an operational specialty. You should put the majority of your effort into learning your craft, whatever that is. There is nothing wrong with getting some additional college under your belt as an O-1 or O-2, but don't sacrifice learning your specialty for getting more college just for the sake of it. The ideal scenario is where you can align the needs of the Service with your own personal goals and desires. Taking a course on database management and using your skills to better track progress at your unit is a great example of this. You get to do something you are passionate about, and it benefits the Service.

At more senior boards, you could sum it up as "can this old dog learn and use new tricks"? Where most of the candidates have extremely strong performance, professionalism and leadership, education can be the tie breaker that puts them over the top. A prevalent question from officers before they go before O-4 and O-5 boards seems to be, if I don't have a masters degree, am I doomed to be non-selected? It doesn't work that way...again getting back to my mental model of managing weakness, if you are an extremely strong performer, the paragon of professionalism and a skilled leader, your lack of an advanced degree will not necessarily doom you. But say your OERs have been more to the center, you have had brushes with the weight program and you have stayed in the same geographic area for 3 full tours, AND you don't have an advanced degree. You can see how this second hypothetical board candidate is at greater risk before a board. For the first one who is hitting all her marks, I say enroll in a masters program, or get some technical certification, or acquire a new technical skill - 2-3 years BEFORE you come into zone. Remember - you aren't doing this to maximize your OER - you are doing it to improve yourself and thus improve the Coast Guard. Is it more work? You bet. But boards consistently reward hard work. Hard work demonstrates a commitment, and when combined with productive results, that shows a readiness to perform at the next higher paygrade. But if you are going to do it, you might as well get it in your OER, AND on your CG-4082. So start early enough to show results before the board. For the second officer, identify the source of weakness and correct it ASAP. Get alignment with your supervisor...ask for pointed feedback, and take decisive action. If you do get non-selected, don't assume it was your lack of an advanced degree that doomed you. Look at yourself holistically, be ruthlessly objective and determine to make improvements.

A quick plug for Direct-Access. Education has been one of the most difficult things for Boards to decipher. Does this candidate have any education, what was this masters degree for, what school? Do me and your boards a huge favor...get your transcript in your record, and ensure your SPO enters your degree or coursework in Direct-Access. To see if your degree info is up to date, log into D-A and go to Self-Service > Employee > View > Member Info Additional and click on the text that says View All. If you don't see all your degree info, bring your transcript or diploma to your SPO or Admin Support and ask them to get it up to date. If that doesn't work, call your detailer, Career Counselor or me and send a copy of the transcript or diploma - we'd prefer for your SPO to do it - it is their job, but the important thing is that it gets done!

As always - let me know if you have any questions and keep chargin! ~ jea

The Big Four - Leadership

The next stop on our tour through Chapter 14 of the Personnel Manual is Leadership. The below excerpt is straight from the Manual.

Leadership. Officers selected demonstrate those leadership traits and values that allow them to serve in a series of assignments with increasing responsibility in the grade to which promoted. Officers must exemplify our core values of honor, respect and devotion to duty in the highest degree.

a. A leader influences people to accomplish a purpose. Coast Guard leaders concentrate on “doing right things right,” integrating a leader’s focus on effectiveness with a manager’s focus on efficiency.

b. A successful leader inspires others by:
(1) Convincing them they have the solution and acting decisively and confidently;
(2) Sharing a vision of service, excellence and achievement;
(3) Demonstrating a commitment to innovation and quality team work; and,
(4) Modeling strength of character in word and action.

I'd first like to comment on what is in the manual, and then provide you with some thoughts that extend beyond the manual and can help you in molding your own leadership style. The first paragraph seems to tie back to professionalism, by stating that officers must "be" a particular way - embody Core Values, etc. Since we discussed professionalism thoroughly already, and since everyone already knows we need to be strong of character, let's focus instead on what this section of policy tells us to "do."

Influencing People and Accomplishing a Purpose: pretty much wherever you go as an officer in the Coast Guard, you are going to need to influence people to execute or support a mission. Many of these leadership circumstances are unique: it may be different for a LTjg co-pilot as it is for a LTjg Marine Inspector trainee as it is for a LTjg Deck Watch Officer. But in all circumstances, you will need to convey a sense of purpose to your crew or subordinates, and you will need to direct or guide them to perform some duty. How are your interpersonal skills? What do your peers or subordinates think of your ability to lead? You should at least be a bit curious about the answers to those questions. Unless you are constantly assessing your own performance, you will be unable to improve your performance. It is not about accomplishing the mission at any cost - the motto, "you have to go out, you don't have to come back" is no longer applicable to the way we operate. Nowadays, we have to plan ahead to be ready to accomplish today's mission, but be thinking about how we're going to respond to the next call coming in. No one, not even the Commandant, can do that alone. Get your people on board, oriented and moving in the same/right direction. Tell your crew what to do - don't tell them how to do it. If you have trouble inspiring your folks to achieve, you may see that in page 2 of your OER. If you tell your folks in exhaustive detail how to accomplish every task, and leave them no room for creativity, inspiration or flexibility, how fun is that? The technical term is "micro-management" - and it keeps you and your crew from blossoming into your full potential. You will find there are occasions where you need to be exceedingly directive. But I hope that doesn't encompass every interpersonal transaction.

Leader vs. Manager - Note that this criterion, though named "leadership," actually requires you to be both a good leader and an effective manager. What is the difference? Here is the way I think about it: a be the type of leader you would like to follow, be the type of manager you'd like to have working for you. A leader needs to be optimistic, engaging and energetic. A leader is a person who calms the fears, calmly guides the unit and makes change palatable and achievable. A leader "does the right thing right." In contrast, a manager does the staff work, figures out how to make the "trains run on time". She looks for the risk and gets ahead of it. There is a lot of yin and yang here, you can be a great leader and a miserable manager. You can be a detail-oriented manager, and lousy with people. To be really successful in the Service, you have to be ambidextrous when it comes to the leader vs. manager balance. Having trouble establishing a good balance? Often the best officers will recognize a weakness in their own make-up - not good with technology, challenged at managing conflict, etc. Where those senior officers successfully compensate is by finding a deputy who covers their blind spot. If you know you have a weakness, try to develop competency in that area - but in the interim, you may consider joining forces with a deputy and agree on roles. You may find your rating chain might credit your overall results, not necessarily the individual skills you bring to the table - so the "deputy compensation" can give you a boost in those areas of your record where you may not necessarily be the strongest.

Think like the Service. One of the biggest differences between successful officers and less-successful ones is the sense of mission or commitment. When I was a lieutenant, I had doubts about doing a career in the Coast Guard. I was holding myself back from committing. I didn't realize it then, but that hesitantcy was adversely impacting my effectivenss as a leader. How could I inspire, convince, share a vision, or serve as a model, when I wasn't committed to what I was doing? Most of my work-thoughts were hedged by a low commitment level, I was thinking about "me versus the Service." To fix it, I began imagine myself as the Service - I realized I needed to make it more than a job, and stop being so transactional about the whole thing. Once I committed, to say that I was going to have to live with the results of my leadership efforts in the Coast Guard, my passion went up, and my results went up, and it continued to spiral upward. It is a big step - but if you can convince yourself that doing your best for the Service will actually pay the biggest personal dividends of effectivenss and satisfaction - you won't regret it.

As you progress in your career, ask your detailer or career counselor what jobs would assist in showing progress in leadership. As you are factoring in future assignment options, what jobs stretch you, give you new skills, exposure to new ideas and opportunities, fill in a gap in your development? If you have done a deputy (manager) job and succeeded, your next job should be a principal (leader) job. If you have done a series of CO or leader jobs, you may not want to take the deputy job, but chances are, it is the best opportunity for you to develop and grow.

My next entry will be on Education. I really appreciate all the positive feedback on the blog. Keep spreading the word and let's keep the dialogue up. For those of you doing the math at home, Education is the last of the Big 4. I would love to hear from you and guide this blog to provide you with the answers you need, as we wrap up the Big 4 and start expanding out from there. Thanks again, shipmates!! ~jea

The Big Four - Professionalism

Welcome back, shipmates...sorry this one took so long to get posted - I was hamstrung by some technological challenges and a bit of travel.  The second of the Big Four in the PERSMAN is professionalism. Professionalism is a tough one - I don't know if there is a way to max out on professionalism, but there are certainly countless ways to "inject weakness" into your record in this regard. Many boards lately are looking at professionalism, or more often its antithesis, unprofessionalism, as a "trapdoor" where selection and appointment are concerned. The most common for junior officers involve sex, alcohol, weight, and a general phrase coined in Chapter 12 of the PERSMAN, which is "inability to adapt to military life." Can you recover from a brush with unprofessionalism? Clearly the answer is "yes," but it takes an enormous amount of focus, humility, effort and talent. And it often is not going to happen on your first board after the incident. Maybe not the second either. By far, the better strategy is to not have that brush with unprofessionalism in the first place.

So I'd like to pass on a few recommendations here:
1) maximize your professionalism, by working hard to "adapt to military life,"
2) don't fall into one of the professionalism trap doors,
3) perform each day as if your career depended on it.

Virtually, every transgression in the professionalism bin is avoidable. We lose more good, talented officers to professionalism gaffes than anything. It is an incredible waste. So what can be done about it? First off, look out for each other and keep each other from stepping onto the trap door in the first place. One of the Gold-Badge Master Chiefs, Master Chief Isherwood, has a quote at the bottom of his emails that goes something like, "a sailor can only fail alone if left alone." Trust me when I say, you aren't being nosy or intrusive when you tell your shipmate that he or she has been drinking too much, or is not getting enough exercise, or appears to be spending more time and emotional energy with one of the crew than appears proper. Carried to the extreme, you would be better to step in and take control early, than let the scenario play itself out to an unfortunate extreme later. This can be a tough problem to solve, particularly for officers who commissioned up through the hawsepipe, or from a permanent enlisted grade. That O-1E may feel more at home and more comfortable in the crew's lounge than in the wardroom. But if she was going to stay in her comfort zone, she should not have gone to Officer Candidate School. The Coast Guard Regulations may be old, and they may seem old-fashioned to some of the younger generation, but they are time tested over hundreds of years - and establish the separation between officer and enlisted deliberately. It is important to state, before anyone argues that I'm trying to be elitist, that officers are not better than enlisted, or the other way around. We each are important to the smooth running of the Service. However, we ARE different, and that difference is important and must be respected. When officers disregard that separation, bad things happen. Professionals at every level (enlisted, junior officer, and senior officer) need to be aware of their surroundings, and address even appearances of unprofessional behavior objectively, non-judgmentally and immediately. Most times, the person you pull aside will thank you for taking action.

I'd like to blog a little about weight and how it factors into your professionalism. I heard a claim a few years ago that "weight will be the new alcohol" in terms of getting officers in trouble. The problem with weight is that it naturally creates a subliminal bias against you, but the good news is that it is something that is completely within your ability to control. If you are battling a weight problem, enlist the help and support of your shipmates, and take control. Every year, a handful of officers fail probation for weight, and we commence the special board process. In every case, the officer had the ability to rebound - but you have got to take it seriously. The most successful recoveries are those where the officer has a strong web of support. So my best advice here is to treat yourself better and start dropping the pounds. And if your shipmate or office mate is the one in the fight, lend a helping hand and hit the trail together.

Okay, it is time to take on alcohol. The Coast Guard's relationship with alcohol is long-standing and complex. I think for many years, we reveled in the image of the hard drivin', hard drinkin' sailor. "Work hard, play hard" was a phrase I frequently heard in the black hull community when I was a JO. I am going to tell you - our relationship with alcohol these days is not as complex anymore - if you get in trouble, or embarass the Nation, Service, your command or yourself, and alcohol is involved, it is a virtual certainty that you will get an alcohol incident out of it. Once it is in your record, it is going to be a weight you have to pull along with you. And it will inevitably slow you down. Again, the best strategy is to be smart about it. If you are going out in a group, identify a "designated thinker," someone who will be going along on the outing, but whose judgment will not be clouded by alcohol. The best strategy is to not get the alcohol incident in the first place. You need to have your antenna up and at full power if you are going to "have fun" and alcohol is involved. A classic tripping hazard is the mid-patrol break, where everyone in the crew decides to cut loose. If you don't conduct a risk assessment before this evolution, shame on you. As a strong leader, your plan should be to have fun, and facilitate fun for the crew, but to get everyone back home safely, securely, professionally and in one piece. If that means everyone else is having more fun, such is the burden of command.

Another aspect of professionalism requiring comment is 8-H, or interpersonal relationships. I guarantee that every ensign, PCO, PXO, department head, Chief and LAMS graduate knows that engaging in inappropriate or prohibited relationships are bad. If that is true, how can it happen? How can we have highly regarded senior officers falling into these pitfalls? My thought are: it happens slowly, gradually, and in increments. These hardly ever are the one-time incidents that you might think abound. For one reason or another, often because we're hard-wired toward seeking others out, we take a gradual step over the line, and then another, and then another...until one day, we're way over the line. Defense #1: be ever vigilant for this relationship-creep, and take steps to ensure your relationships always stay above board and beyond reproach. Defense #2: beware of the judgment-deadening effects of alcohol where relationships are concerned. Defense #3: have someone looking out for you, and look out for others. It goes back to the shipmate/Guardian thing. I am certain that every one of the most recent high profile 8-H cases could have ended better than they did, if the perpetrators had adhered to the above 3 defenses. As Admiral Brown has said over and over again: "Do the right thing." If that means forcing a peer or friend to see a relationship for the danger it represents - you have to do the right thing.

One final word here - when I say look out for your shipmates, I think it is important to mention the importance of a sense of "guardianship". If you are in a wardroom with folks from different accession sources and backgrounds, those with a strong knowledge base, either through education or prior experience, we're pretty much counting on you to step forward and help those less fortunate. Commit yourself to dedicating your skills to improving the abilities of the entire command, division or staff. If your shipmate is not good at the six-minute rule, step up and help out. If you have spreadsheet skills and your shipmate is struggling with the morale account, leverage your skills to help everyone (yourself included) by tossing a life ring to your compadre. Rating chains consistently reward those who think "bigger than themselves" and expend effort to help those less fortunate or who are further back on the learning curve. Be a Guardian...and place your sense of self behind your sense of Service.  By putting others ahead of yourself, you will ultimately achieve the kind of recognition and advancement you deserve.  Conversely, if you consistently put yourself ahead of others or try to make others look bad so that you can look good, you also will eventually get the kind of recognition you deserve.

So, keep charging and take care of your people.  I'll get cracking on Leadership next.  I'll work to get that on by midweek, to get back on DR.  Keep sending the questions and keep mentoring your folks. ~jea