The term “deckplate leadership” gets thrown around a lot, even more so since the advent of CPO 365. There’s a big deal made out of being an enlisted leader, and for good reason. If you think it’s a bunch of crap, you haven’t worked for a bad chief. Knowing how to lead from the front is profoundly important, and developing those skills early on is absolutely paramount.
So how do you do it?
Not all of us are born leaders. Some of us have to work our butts off to try and appear as good leaders, and as always, “fake it ‘till you make it” is a pretty good rule to live by. There’s tons of excellent advice out there for being a good deckplate leader, and Navy Writer gives some pretty good examples of things that your eval can show to reflect your leadership qualities for your eval here. As far as your actual ability to lead men, to have sailors look up to you, that’s a different story. Here’s our tips for being a great leader, even if you don’t think you are:
- Suffer in the Trenches
Your guys are busting their humps trying to make a deadline, get a piece of gear online, or obtain a new qualification. What does that mean for you? You got your ESWS or your dolphins. You’ve done thousands of hours of field days.
Unfortunately, “I won’t ask you to do something I haven’t done myself” doesn’t cut it anymore. If your guys are showing initiative, trying to get their pin, sit down with them and a deck of flash cards and quiz them. Help them, even if it just frees up an hour for them later on to get some sleep.
- Run Interference
If you ask your sailors what the most important function of the LPO is, it’s to stop Chief from having to interact with them. Running interference is the most important single thing you can do to make your junior guys happy, and they’ll remember it. If it’s 1700 and your guys haven’t been working for two hours because they busted their butts getting their work done by 1500, you’re letting them down as a leader.
There might not be anything you can do about it sometimes. Sometimes Chief or Divo (or someone above them) is going to make your job hard, and you can’t please the angry throngs of seamen and junior petty officers all the time. But the times you can, they’ll remember. If they see you sitting with Chief at 1730 when they’re grabbing their stuff to go home, trust me, they’ll remember.
- Don’t Be a Pushover
On the other side of the coin, don’t let SN Schmuckatelli tell you how to do your job. If it’s 1100 and he’s done with his work and wants to go home, there’s almost always going to be something productive he can be doing. You’ll know that as soon as you propose to Chief that Schmuckatelli goes home early, even though he doesn’t have his pin and the rest of the division is still doing maintenance.
It sucks to be the bad guy sometimes, but you’re not there to make everyone happy all the time. You’re there to be a leader, and don’t make the mistake of thinking that getting your guys home in time for lunch equates to being a good LPO. Sometimes, the work gets done, there’s driveby tasking, and you’ve got to be the one to make sure it gets done amidst the moans and groans from the guys. Sucks, but that’s what we get paid for.
- Have a Mentor
Having a leader that you look up to as a mentor is invaluable to your development as a leader yourself. It doesn’t have to be somebody at your command. My own personal leadership mentor was one of my LCPOs at my first ship. Make sure it’s someone whose career and leadership style you want to emulate. This doesn’t mean somebody’s daily routine you want to emulate: don’t emulate the guy that leaves at 1030 every morning because he makes up an appointment he “has” to go to, or who spends three quarters of his day playing video games or taking naps out of sight. Don’t let your guys emulate that guy, either.
Being a leader is profoundly important, not just to yourself, but to the Navy. Show your motivation with one of Navy Crow’s excellent t-shirts, like the Leading from the Front shirt, also available in ladies’ size. All shirts are made in the USA from high-quality ringspun cotton, so you’re going to be comfortable all while you’re showing that you care about being a leader. Make sure your peers take notice of your dedication to deckplate leadership.
