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.
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.
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
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