Mea Vita: Carpe Diem

A patriot is a citizen who demonstrates love and respect for America by upholding the rule of law. It is fundamentally un-American to violate these principles and values as established by the Constitution (not religion).

You cannot be a patriot unless you respect the Constitution while following the law. Supporting someone who doesn’t follow these principles would be unpatriotic. Our Constitution is what makes America, America.

You can love America yet still not respect America by being a selfish scofflaw. Knowingly parking your car in a handicap spot and paying the fine shows a lack of respect for the law compared to simply parking legally. It’s not ok to break the law, even if you’re willing to pay the price.

A man can love his wife yet still not respect her.

A man can be a seemingly great parent, citizen, worker, etc. But if he constantly cheats on his wife, then there is neither respect nor commitment to the marriage. Infidelity violates the fundamental principles of marriage.

Let’s break down the difference between principles and values.

The Supreme Law Of The Land

The Constitution embodies America’s principles. It is the supreme law of the land.

Laws implement the Constitution’s principles as America’s values.

Think of principles as the lay of the land. They are virtually unmovable.

Think of values as implementing principles. Laws codify principles as values.

If you think of terrain features on the surface of the Earth as principles, then a map represents values. There are different kinds of maps.

Some maps highlight roads and highways for automobile drivers; certain maps focus on terrain, with contour lines for hikers or mountain climbers; some show water depth and hazards for sailors and divers; while other maps point out towers, radio beacons, and buildings for pilots.

All of these maps depict the same geographic area (principles) but they highlight different features (values).

Having a map for the wrong area is not helpful no matter how much you want it to work in your favor. A map of New York City does you no good in Los Angeles. The values a drill instructor instills in recruits during boot camp differ from those a parent imparts to a toddler, yet both align with the principles of the Constitution.

If a law conflicts with the Constitution, then the law either needs to be struck down or else the Constitution needs to be amended. Maintaining a law that conflicts with the Constitution is toxic and dysfunctional.

Oliver North: A Personal Journey in Ethics

Shortly after I enlisted in the Marines, news of the Iran–Contra Affair broke in the fall of 1986. The following year, Congress held hearings to get to the bottom of the matter. It was concluded that Lieutenant Colonel Oliver North – a highly decorated Marine officer who attended the Naval Academy – illegally sold arms to Iran and funneled that money to support the Contras. The Contras were Nicaraguan rebels fighting against the Sandinistas who were the political group in control of Nicaragua. The Sandinistas had policies aligned with the Soviet Union and were considered a Cold War threat to the United States. Contras good. Sandinistas bad.

During the Iran-Contra Hearings in Congress, LtCol Oliver North, as the key witness, was hailed as a celebrity for standing up to Congress, looking them in the eye, and taking full responsibility for the affair.

This seemingly brave and bold sense of patriotism and accountability would have a big impact on me, personally, when I attended the Naval Academy a few years later.

In the 1980s, I, too, hailed Oliver North as a hero, until I learned the fundamental flaws in his unethical and illegal practices.

This doesn’t mean that North didn’t accomplish truly patriotic acts that contributed to the nation’s well-being before or after the Iran-Contra Affair. But it does mean that his actions that led to this affair were misguided – a vigilante patriotism devoid of checks and balances.

During the hearings, Oliver North was asked if he received any ethics training while at the Naval Academy. After answering in the negative, a mandatory semester course was required for all Naval Academy Midshipmen (students). This ethics course was the most impactful class I took at the Academy. Second only to the Naval Academy’s course, Law for the Junior Officer.

Taking this ethics course gave me a clear understanding of North’s legal and ethical violations. Not only did he break the law, but he also lied to Congress about it. It is important to keep in mind that North’s power and authority as a military officer was bestowed upon him by Congress – the very institution he intentionally deceived.

This is the equivalent of a child being given permission by their parents to go outside to play until a curfew time. But, while out and about, the child commits vandalism and returns home late. Then, when questioned by their parents, they lie about coming home after curfew and also deny the vandalism.

The People empower the government and the government empowers certain people with authority to act on behalf of the government. In my Naval Academy ethics course, I learned how to follow a clear line of power, authority, and justice. This line originates with the Constitution and flows through the three branches of government by way of laws, codes, policies, regulations, and ethics, ultimately defining the actions allowed or restricted for both citizens and the government.

At the Naval Academy, many things we learned could be effectively summarized in soundbites.

What’s the most important leadership trait? Set the example.

When asked in an engineering class at the Academy, "Why is something a certain way?"—like, "Why are there two turbines instead of one in a ship’s steam cycle?"—the answer was simple: Because it’s more efficient.

Unethical behavior can also be succinctly summarized as a sound bite: Committing or soliciting an illegal act or the intention to deceive or not let the whole truth be known (with a few, clearly defined exceptions).

Leadership and The People

In leadership, I learned that followers look to a leader to provide stability and make them feel as safe as possible, while setting an ethical example. This applies to all levels of leadership, regardless if it’s a parent showing up on time to safely drive their kid home from school, or a military officer leading troops into combat, or a political leader announcing new policies.

We look to our leaders for safety, but before someone can lead, they must first learn to follow. A great leader cannot be a poor follower.

Noon meal formation at the US Naval Academy.

Plebe Summer, at the Naval Academy, is about sacrifice. It's about learning how to deal with failure as a team. Even though I knew it was a training environment, it didn't make it any less stressful. We were constantly tested on more knowledge than anyone could learn. That was the point – learning how to deal with failure while being part of a team. Sometimes... many times... that meant sacrificing your comfort, enjoyment, or pleasure in order to help someone else suffering worse than you. As Plebes, we were all in it together.

We learned what it meant to have honor. We learned to never sacrifice others for our own well being, even when we thought we'd never get caught. This isn't something you do sometimes or most of the time, it's something you do all the time. It only takes one dishonorable act to forever taint your honor. We were taught a lot, at the Academy, even when it's okay to lie.

Squash Practice

Today's USNA '18 Graduation: Those covers (hats) fly high.

Advice to USNA Class of 2015
Advice to USNA Class of 2016
Advice to USNA Class of 2017

The Basic School (TBS), in Quantico, VA, is where second lieutenant Marines are trained to be "Officers of Marines." The key principles I was taught there were leadership and decisiveness. Leadership in the military is, in many ways, similar to leadership in the corporate world in that your authority comes from your job position. Obviously, rank, in the military, also reinforces a person's standing.

Decisiveness is the ability to make timely choices and take action. The challenge with decisiveness, especially in the military, is learning how to make decisions with incomplete information. At TBS, we were taught that a good decision, made now, is better than waiting for ideal information, that may never come, in order to make a perfect decision, later. This tenet taught me how to prioritize tasks by repeatedly focusing on my choices before and after, it until it became second nature.

When to make a decision?

I believe it's important to make a decision as late as you can, if the delay has no penalties. It's OK to decide not to make a choice, now, if a decision isn't necessary. Sometimes, I would explicitly state why I was putting off a decision. As an oversimplified example, "Tonight, I don't need to decide what I'm going to have for lunch, tomorrow, because we won't order lunch for another 15 hours."

But, in the military... especially in combat... we were taught to make the best possible decision, right now. All too frequently, when we were faced with an important tactical decision, our senior officers (captains), who were training us, would yell at the leader, who was taking too long, "Make a decision, lieutenant. Right now. Make a decision."

When I was the lieutenant in charge and I heard this, it put a tremendous amount of pressure one me as I was forced to make an immediate decision in front of those I was leading. My solution to avoid this in the future was by staying one step ahead of the situationat hand. (An important skill that was reinforced when I was training to become a pilot.) More and more training that's as realistic as possible (rehearsals) helps, tremendously. But that's not always possible. My backup was to instantly recognize what choice I could make, now, that would further our mission while maintaining a responsibility to the long term.

A colonel once told me he kept his decision skills sharp by always planning for many possible scenarios. For example, he said that, when he's driving, he always made sure he had a way out. Specifically, the colonel told me that would not pull up too close to the car in front of him, at a traffic light. If the car in front of him stalled at the traffic light, he still had enough room to turn out of his lane while continuing to move forward. (Why retreat when that's not the direction you want to go?)

Getting into a good habit is called self-discipline. Discipline is to the Marines what innovation is to Apple, except, in the Marines, discipline will literally save your life, both in combat and training.

When to change a decision, without being indecisive?

Indecisiveness is a pet peeve of mine. Indecisiveness is changing one's mind when no new information has presented itself.

Simple decisions can be made and reversed if there's no cost or penalty, "I know that I wanted to have a tuna salad sandwich for lunch, earlier, but I've decided to place my order for the chicken club." There's nothing wrong with that since I hadn't yet placed my order. But, I wouldn't call back, after ordering my lunch, to change my decision once I've finalized it. That would be indecisive. I would rather live with my decision to eat something I didn't fully enjoy rather than flip-flop. That's how I live with my decisions.

Putting off a decision, as long as possible, keeps your options open. But, in a life and death situation, that delay to consider your options might only be seconds.

Decision-Making Principles

My key principles in figuring out when to change a decision are:

1. Has new information come to light that wasn't available, before; and, if I don't change my decision, will my mission fail or will my earlier decision violate a key principle, policy, or law?
To maintain integrity, I take this one step further. New information doesn't mean information that was available six months ago, but I was too lazy to research; new information means there's no way I could have/should have known about it before making my decision. A person's judgement is only as good as the information it's based on.

2. Will changing my decision significantly simplify the task at hand, while still accomplishing my mission; and can the change be promulgated to all parties in a very timely manner?

Good decisions, based on principles, make for strong leaders.

Today's USNA '17 Graduation: Those covers (hats) fly high.

Advice to USNA Class of 2015
Advice to USNA Class of 2016

Today, the US Naval Academy Class of 2017 graduated. What would I tell these eager second lieutenants and ensigns? So many things. I learned some key leadership tricks while at the Academy. Some were hard to do in real-life, like Damn XO. Others were simple like the advice that General Krulak told us: when checking into a new unit, get the record books of all of those in your charge and read through them. They'll be impressed when you talk to them, for the first time, about their past, civilian or military. This would simply be a gimmick, though, if you don't stay on top of what's going on in the lives of your Marines. Take the time to know your Marines, even if you need to take notes to remind yourself of their details.

Management vs Leadership

As a new 2nd Lt or ENS, you will be face new and unfamiliar leadership challenges as you move from being an individual contributor to a leader. As an officer, you're more than a manager. In some cases, there are similarities between managers and leaders and in other cases these roles are completely different. An example of where a manager, in a civilian corporation, isn't a leader is an account manager which might be the job title for a sales person with no direct reports.

So, what about the similarities? What's the difference between a leader and a manager of people? The key thing to remember is that leadership transcends levels of an organization. When I worked at Apple, my manager's name was Tony. Since Steve Jobs was four levels above me, he was not my manager, but he was most certainly my leader.

As a new leader, you'll have to learn to take recommendations from your Marines and then decide what to do. Sometimes your subordinates will give you great advice and sometimes they'll give you some not-so-great advice. You'll learn; many times, you'll learn from your mistakes. Just don't repeat them.

My last piece of advice is don't take yourself too seriously. One way to do this is by subordinating your ego which is harder than you think. Here's one way to do it: when telling others about your personnel, refer to the Marines under you by saying "us" or "we" instead of "my Marines." In other words, don't say, "My Marines inventoried the warehouse," rather, say, "We inventoried the warehouse." It's a minor issue, but unless you're the CO then you're part of a the team, not the commander, and your Marines will follow your example.

Those hats fly high at graduation.

Today, the US Naval Academy Class of 2016 graduated. A year ago, I gave my tidbit of advice to the Class of 2015. In keeping with that tradition, I am offering a piece of advice to the Class of 2016 on leadership that comes from experience. This advice touches on a pet peeve of mine I call Puppy Leadership.

Puppy Leadership is where we all start when we first have direct reports in our charge. When we were new people managers we were overly excited like a young puppy. The key is to learn quickly from your leadership mistakes. Since leaving the military, I've taken for granted the experiences I had. Unfortunately, in Corporate America, I'm too frequently reminded that not everyone has had the same opportunities I had in my 20s to lead many dozens of direct reports. Specifically, I'm referring to being a calm, thoughtful, and, most importantly, an outwardly focused leader.

Several times, I have been a manager's first direct report. This has been especially painful for me when my new manager has spent more than a decade as a career individual contributor. Individual contributors are the people in the trenches. They're the ones doing the real work such as software engineers, copywriters, graphic artists, sales account managers, etc. Individual contributors are knowledge workers who need quiet working conditions to create and get things done. Individual contributors need to focus inward, on their work, which is great for what they do. However, in my experience, it becomes a problem when a long time individual contributor moves up into people management without proper training. Proper training starts with the dos and don'ts of good leadership practices. Leaders set the example, more so by their actions than their words. My list of dos and don'ts focuses more on the don'ts, as in don't do this or don't do that. Over the years, I've complied this list of bad leadership practices I've experienced and I've made some of these mistakes, myself. There are many more traits of a bad leader that you can add to this list, in the comments section. In the mean time, read and learn quickly, young grasshopper. Do not make the same mistake twice.

A poor leader will frequently...

0. Not supervise, which is the most important leadership step.

1. Tell a direct report to do something urgent, and then interrupt with either other tasks or asking for unnecessary status updates that impede progress.

2. Micromange, meaning they will tell a direct report how to do their job. Save the how for training sessions and don't confuse supervision with micromanagement.

3. Not inspect subordinate's work before passing it along and then blame the subordinate when their work is rejected. A leader must inspect what they expect.

4. Send an e-mail on a non-pressing issue and then immediately followup with an interruptive text or phone call asking, "Did you receive my e-mail?" Equally annoying is sending multiple messages as a stream of consciousness instead of taking a minute or two to think things through.

5. Fail to keep track of both their own tasks and of the tasks they've delegated. Since they're not tracking delegated tasks, they can't effectively supervise to ensure that tasks are completed.

6. Dump tasks on subordinates, instead of delegating. The poor leader will task subordinates when items pop into their head, regardless if it's in the hallway, lunch room, or at the bar over a beer. Set your subordinates up for success by delegating to them when they're best poised to receive and write down your tasks.
7. Fail to clearly define and prioritize tasks they've delegated with deadlines. It's best to get confirmation from a subordinate that a deadline is reasonable.

8. Make busy work when stressed and mistaken activity for progress.

9. Go first when leading a staff meeting. When a leader runs a staff meeting, they should hear from all of their subordinates before delegating tasks since the work of a staff member may already address an issue.

10. Show up first to eat free food at a corporate event and do very little to contribute to the event.

11. Think a subordinate's on-call, day and night, to be tasked at any moment, regardless of a task's urgency. A poor leader does this because they're afraid of forgetting the task and they want to get it off their plate.

12. Explain the same thing repeatedly, over and over again, frequently, time and time again; both in e-mail and when speaking. It's redundant and wastes people's time, needlessly. (Yes, there is an intentional redundant pun in this item.)

13. Make a plan. Tell it to you. Then change the plan for a non-obvious, trivia reason and not relay the changes.

14. Interrupts productivity by calling for meetings at the last minute, with little notice and no agenda.

15. Delegate tasks while borrowing a senior manager’s authority (Damn XO), then they fail to see why their own tasks aren’t carried out by direct reports.

16. Speak negatively about others, behind their back, rather than addressing the problem with a real solution.

17. Increase assignments without adjusting timelines. Something's "gotta give," either the deadline or the work quality. You can have it good, fast, or cheap. Pick only two.

18. Be overly concerned with using their subordinates to make themselves look good, especially by taking credit for their subordinate's accomplishments while dodging responsibility for their shortcomings.
The bottom line for all leaders is: Do you inspire people to go out of their way for you? If you don't then adjust your leadership style before assuming it's due to poor subordinate performance. You're the leader, so lead. At the end of the day, you're responsible for everything your team does and fails to do. Don't be that overly excited puppy, bouncing off the walls and yelping at everyone.

As a military officer, I received frequent training to make me a more effective leader. We started off as second lieutenants (or ensigns, in the Navy) and we were young and green. As twenty-something year-olds, we're assigned dozens of direct reports and we quickly learn how to motivate those in our charge. The training is important, but it's not until we face the actual experience that we learn how to deal with different situations.

I learned how to recognize the signs of problems outside of the workplace. How do you deal with domestic violence, depression, suicide, and death? Death was obviously the most serious, so we did everything possible to avoid it with safety briefs before long weekends and getting help to those who needed it.

One area that's always tricky is depression, which can lead to suicide. This has become more common over the last dozen years due to PTSD. Distinguishing between a suicidal gesture and a suicidal act is semantic hair splitting since both require immediate attention.

One Simple Question

But, when people are depressed, it's hard to know how bad they truly feel. How do you find out if someone's suicidal? Simple... ask them, "Are you thinking of hurting yourself?" Phrase your question exactly like this and then wait for their answer. Don't fill in the awkward silence with anything but quietness until they answer your question. You'll want the answer to be, "No," but don't lead them there if that's not where they're headed. They won't lie if they have suicidal thoughts – they want to feel better. If the answer is, "Yes," you'll need to consult with a mental health professional. Don't leave them alone, thinking that you somehow talked them out of it. Suicide watch is the immediate next step.

This is a simple, yet direct question, to ask if suicide or self-harm is suspected. In all the times I've asked it, I've never offended anyone. The Semicolon Project, which has been around since 2013, is a great resource to turn to if you, a coworker, or loved one needs help. Why a semicolon? Because a semicolon is used when an author could’ve ended a sentence but chose not to. You are the author and the sentence is your life.

Your story; it isn't over yet.

Direct reports should never be blindsided by their performance evaluations, good or bad.

Most companies hire employees "at-will," meaning either the employee or employer may terminate the employment relationship at anytime. However, when an employee isn't carrying his or her weight, the direct manager should try to correct the employee's behavior rather than ignore it.

The best way to fix an employee's behavior is through formal counseling sessions. During these sessions, the shortfalls and expected behavior is explicitly noted. But, these counseling sessions must be constructive and set the employee up for success. You shouldn't only document bad performance, but also good performance, as it happens, for reference during his or hers annual performance review.

Nevertheless, it's not easy to look a person in the eye and tell them they're not cutting it. I first encountered this situation when I was a second lieutenant in the Marines.

The Few. The Proud.

As a new supply officer for an infantry battalion, I worked with a staff sergeant who didn't provide the expected level of customer service. He was my direct report, with other Marines under him, and over the course of a year I counseled him numerous times following each incident of unacceptable behavior. The core of the problem was that he was focused inward, on taking care of our Marines, which is commendable; but he did it at the expense of our mission, which isn't acceptable. I frequently received reports from other staff NCOs and officers telling me what I already knew: he was immature, abrasive, and argumentative. The staff sergeant had an "us against them" attitude. He believed that others in our battalion were abusing our supply section. However, the real issue was a lack of understanding by others, outside of our supply section, about our policies and procedures. Unfortunately, rather than trying to educate others on how the system worked, he would simply reject their requests in a confrontational manner.

Fast forward to a year later. I've been promoted to first lieutenant and he's been promoted to gunnery sergeant and it was time for his annual performance review. Until the late 1990s, written performance reviews, known as fitreps, were grossly inflated to the point that nearly all Marines were rated outstanding or, at the very least, excellent. Anyone who didn't do a good job was usually rated average because it was easier to "damn with faint praise" than rank a Marine below average. A below average performance review officially made the fitrep adverse which required additional paperwork that most Marine officers wanted to avoid. It's human nature to not want to spend a lot of time on people who provide little value.

I discussed this issue with my peer officers when it came time for me to write up my annual review on the gunnery sergeant. We agreed that this Marine deserved an adverse report, but we felt it wasn't worth the extra paperwork. However, I couldn't bring myself to file the report as average. So, I filed it as an unsatisfactory fitrep, known as a "double signer" since it had to be signed twice. One signature for acknowledging the overall report, and the other signature to explicitly acknowledge that it was an adverse report. It wasn't that we hadn't discussed this possibility in the past, rather, he simply didn't think I would go through with it.

During this annual performance review I showed him my documentation of the issues I had discussed with him, during the previous year. The documentation included a mock fitrep I had drafted up on him a few months earlier during a checkpoint counseling session. During that checkpoint session, I presented the below average mock fitrep to the gunnery sergeant and said, "If I had to file a fitrep on you, today, this is how it would be." We talked about it in detail, but, in the end, he didn't heed my guidance and he disposed of my notional fitrep.

The other officers in the battalion deeply respected my decision to issue an adverse fitrep, including my commanding officer who was the reviewing officer – my CO fully agreed with my assessment.

The outcome to this process was complicated, as I knew it would be, since we were deployed to the Persian Gulf. "Firing" him meant he would have to continue to work under me, since finding a replacement wasn't practical. Needless to say, it was awkward and uncomfortable to continue working together. And, since we never saw eye to eye on customer service, not much changed. It's one thing to fire someone and have them be gone; it's another thing to have to continue to work together on a daily basis.

Something I liked about the Marine Corps, that is lacking in the corporate world, are candid evaluations when someone's not performing well. I've seen civilian managers, who had a problem with a direct report, complain about it to most everyone else in the office other than the employee with the issue. This behavior, on the manager's part is, at best, complaining and at worst, it's disingenuous leadership.

For me, this was a learn-as-you-go process and there's no better teacher than experience. More importantly, this experience has paid dividends, many years later, by teaching me to empathetically deal with problem people head on in order to maintain a responsibility to the long term.

The medium is the message. Sometimes that medium is specific, like an advertisement or newspaper, and other times it's general such as a person or environment.

Leaders who pride themselves on not being politically correct are entertainers since they've forgone the actual issue to choose form over substance. We have an expectation that respected politicians, who are to be taken seriously, will be politically correct; hence the plain English description: politically correct. While this phrase is usually used as a pejorative, it can also connote tact. And tact, coupled with good intentions, are the lubricants of human relationships.

Instead of creating problems, we need more leaders who can solve problems. And, sometimes, we need leaders who know how to follow – in other words, we need leaders who are team players, not dictators.

USNA 1993 classmates lost in the line of duty.

I enjoy being the president of the USNA class of 1993. Reunions, networking events, and trips back to Annapolis, MD make it all worth it. But there's a sad side I deal with every few years when a classmate or spouse passes away.

In the past I've made some mistakes in my haste to get the news out to my classmates. The key lesson I've learned is to respect the family's wishes. The only way I can know their wishes is for me to reach out to the family and ask. This is not an easy task for me to do, but it pales in comparison to what the grieving friends and family are going through.

On the Inside

What's worse than being on the outside, looking in, is to be on the inside experiencing it. Emotions are high and fragile. Seemingly minor things can set people off. Most of us have seen or experienced this as some level. Fortunately, there's a simple lesson to help us deal with this known, by several different names, as the Circle of Grief, The Ring Theory of Kvetching, or How Not To Say The Wrong Thing In A Crisis.

Comfort In, Dump Out.

The Circle of Grief starts at the center with the person in crisis. Everyone in that person’s life is placed in concentric circles starting at the center with the people who are closest to the crisis (i.e. spouse, parent), moving out to the people in our lives who more distant.

The person in the center ring can say anything they want to anyone, anywhere. They can kvetch and complain and whine and moan and curse the heavens and say, “Life is unfair” and “Why me?” That’s the one payoff for being in the center ring.

Everyone else can say those things too, but only to people in outer rings.

When you are talking to a person in an inner ring – someone closer to the crisis – the goal is to help them out on their terms.

Comfort In, Dump Out.

At some point, we'll get our turn at being in the center of the ring.

Leadership isn't something you only read about in a book. You have to live it.

I see newly minted managers focusing on the oddities of great leaders and lose site of the basics such as setting the example, taking care of your people, planning, and managing expectations.

Steve Jobs may have berated and told people their ideas sucked, but that's not what he did on a daily basis. These are just the stories that stand out. The basics are more important for your day-to-day business life as a manager.

Lead to get people where they need to be – don't try to be someone else. Lead, follow, or get out of the way.

Author: Joe Moreno

When I was at the Naval Academy we were taught a lesson called Damn XO (Section 2.9 on page 11 of this PDF).

In a nutshell, orders and directives should be stated as if they are your own and not as originating from someone else (and particularly from someone senior).


From the Damn XO leadership guide:

There is a natural tendency, when faced with implementing directions that may encounter “push back” (objection or disagreement) from subordinates or peers, to phrase them as coming from someone else and thereby mitigate the situation for oneself. Responsibility for the directive is deflected to the originator rather than taking personal ownership. Sometimes characterized as “lazy orders” or “Damn Exec” syndrome (i.e., “Damn XO says ___________”). Giving orders to subordinates and attaching the originator’s name to them does not support the chain of command and has long term adverse effects on attitude, performance and unit integrity.

Issues with the “Damn Exec” approach:

– Demonstrates lack of ownership and “buy-in” to organizational goals.

– Subordinates may see you as only a puppet or mouthpiece of higher authority, lacking personal authority and responsibility.

– Subordinates may question decisions you make/ orders you originate.

Personal ownership of orders/directives is a fundamental responsibility at each level in the chain of command. “Damning the Exec” may be subverting your leadership role through loss of respect and support of your crew.

I learned a lot at Officer Candidate School (OCS) in Quantico, VA.


I was one of the only prior enlisted Marines in my OCS platoon, so my sergeant instructors assigned me as the platoon commander. The candidate assigned under me, as my platoon sergeant, was a subpar performer. Pairing top performers with subpar performers was a common tactic at OCS. It’s a learning experience for both.

Two things stick out in my mind when I was the platoon commander.

Non sibi

First was the fact that I ate last. The Marine Corps is a big believer in taking care of your Marines’ needs before your own. My platoon would file into the chow hall before me and we’d all leave at the same time.

Stay in Your Lane

Second was the fact I had to supervise and lead without intervening or interfering. As the platoon commander, I didn’t march in formation with my platoon. The problem was my platoon sergeant kept making mistakes. He’d make mistakes marching the platoon, taking muster, organizing his reports, etc. When this initially happened, I jumped in and took over. The third time I did this my senior sergeant instructor pounced on me with a loud and resounding, “Let him fail, Moreno! You can’t do his job for him. He needs to learn for himself.”

In a flash I learned a valuable leadership lesson. It’s hard to sit back and watch someone learn from their mistakes at your expense even though it’ll pay off in the long run. Give your subordinates a little buffer and breathing room to try new things so they learn what works and what doesn’t. This is a key principle when transitioning from an individual contributor to a leader as it builds trust and confidence in the team.

Band of Brothers
You can see this leadership lesson in action at the 4:00 mark in this clip. Dick Winters is the battalion XO (although this scene portrays him as the battalion CO) and he tries to step in to lead a company that's pinned down due to poor leadership under fire. In the heat of battle Winters's commander stops him to remind him it's not the battalion commander's place to lead a company. That's a tough lesson to learn when people you know are being killed before your eyes and you can fix it.

At the top of the list of leadership traits is, "set the example." This was drilled into us at the Naval Academy and in the Marines. While no one is perfect, how often someone sets a proper example is a good indicator of their character. This applies to both good and bad examples.

Every person sets an example that others will follow. Think of it as a meme. It usually happens without us realizing it. This is one reason most of us speed on the highway, even when we're not in a rush. Since most everyone else is speeding, we just follow their example and hope we don't get caught.

Case in Point
One personal example of bad leadership I once set, which could have seriously injured or killed two kids, happened when I went for a run with a friend. We stopped at a red light in a crosswalk of a six lane road with a 55 MPH speed limit and a center divide. We looked to our left and noticed that no traffic was coming so we started to cross with the intention of waiting on the center divide until it was safe to go the rest of the way. Unbeknownst to us, there were two kids, about eight or ten years old, on bicycles, just behind us. As we started to run in the crosswalk against the red light, the two kids followed our lead not knowing that we intended to stop at the center divide. Since they were on bikes, they overtook us and continued beyond the center divide into traffic where a couple cars had to jam on their breaks to avoid hitting the kids. One of those vehicles was a police car. While the kids ended up not being struck, my friend and I received an appropriate tongue lashing from the police officer about setting a bad example which has stuck with me to this day.

Even though I was no longer on active duty in the Marines when crossing that six lane road, I still should have set a good example. Actions will always speak louder than words.

When I was a Midshipman at the Naval Academy I took a Law for the Junior Officer course. It covered the procedures, processes, and punishments of military law and the UCMJ.

Our instructor was a JAG Navy commander. He earned a Bronze Star during Desert Storm by monitoring radio networks and preventing a fratricide incident in the heat of battle.

He taught us a great lesson in creativity that he learned when he was a legal advisor to an aircraft carrier captain.

A Navy ship's captain, who is the commanding officer of the ship, can hold legal proceedings and dish out punishment. One punishment that's still on the books in the U.S. Navy is bread and water. To receive this punishment, a prisoner's first certified as healthy by the ship's doctor before confined to the brig.

My law professor told us that the bread and water punishment didn't work out as well as expected. The delinquents ended up bragging, after their incarceration, about how they survived the "old man's" most severe punishment allowed by law. Instead of a punishment, it became a point of pride.

What to do?

My professor had his ship's legal team take a closer look at the bread and water regulation:

(A) if imposed upon a person attached to or embarked in a vessel, confinement on bread and water or diminished rations for not more than three consecutive days;

A light bulb went off when they read, "diminished rations." Instead of serving bread and water, the prisoner was now fed baby food. Same caloric content, just a different medium.

Telling shipmates they survived three days on baby food ended the bravado.

Author: Joe Moreno