The Pacific

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Effective Comms

I've said it before, I'll say it again - communication is your primary tool as a leader. Our maintainers have wrenches, screw drivers, hammers, etc. but we have our mouths, our written correspondence, and our non-verbal methods to ensure our jobs are done. This week has been crazy - it will only get busier with our upcoming operational schedule. So, my postings are likely to decrease. I did want to use this blog as a means to reflect/log my means of leading. This week I failed a couple times (that I am aware of) in the way I communicated. While walking my spaces with my Divo and his Chief I was asking the Divo about the basics of different pieces of equipment. There was a piece of machinery that he did not know, that I thought he should have. Instead of teaching I simply made a sarcasticlly suprised facial expression in the direction of the Chief and kept walking. Later, another officer told me that my Divo was talking to him about how stupid he felt and his desire to get smarter on his gear. The latter thought is good the initial is not. My simple expression communicated negatively resulting in all sorts of unintended consequences. Be careful what your face is communicating. Below is a good article from Re: on leadership and communication.

Effective Communication: The Leader’s Greatest Skill

Dave Kraft
Leadership Development Pastor at Mars Hill Church

Effective Communication series:

A Skill Worth Learning

Probably no skill is more helpful to acquire and develop than becoming an excellent communicator. I believe that communication is a skill that can be learned. A number of years ago I realized that my ability to communicate well needed major work, so I joined Toastmasters International in order to improve my private and public communication. It was by far the best investment in my leadership portfolio that I have ever made. I am still reaping the benefits of the eleven years I was a Toastmaster.

Author, speaker, and seminar leader Brian Tracy says,

Your ability to communicate effectively with people will contribute more to your success than any other skill that you can develop. I’ve studied success and achievement in America for more than 30 years. I’ve spoken to more than a million people, individually, and in groups, and I’ve taken extensive courses on speaking and the art of persuasion. I’ve read countless books and articles on how to influence, negotiate with, and persuade people. I’ve learned that fully 85% of what you accomplish in your career and in your personal life will be determined by how well you get your message across and by how capable you are in inspiring people to take action on your ideas.

Wow! Is learning to communicate essential or what?

Ethos, Logos, and Pathos

What is involved with saying what you mean and causing others to understand and respond positively? Let’s go way back to Aristotle, who lived, wrote, and taught three centuries before Christ. What he had to say still serves us well today. He believed that effective communication is comprised of the speaker, the message, and the audience, and to get your message across without misunderstanding is a combination of ethos (the credibility of the speaker), logos (the truth and relevancy of the message), and pathos (the emotional and appropriate response of the receivers). The ethos of the speaker sharing the logos of the message will elicit pathos in the audience. What Aristotle believed has been accepted, taught, and practiced for 23 centuries. Must be something to it!

Resetting Our Priorities

I thought I would post a few of my favorite sermons over the next couple of weeks for you to consider as you develop your own ideas/personal philosophy of leadership.

This sermon (link below) has much to say about how we should lead. It is given by a gifted pastor, Jack Howell, who preaches at Trinity Presbyterian in Norfolk, Virginia. You will want to load this one to the ipod or Blackberry to listen to while running or driving. Great Gospel leadership truth you will want to repeatedly consider.

Resetting Our Priorities

Re:Fatal Flaws of a Leader

Integrity: Fatal Flaws of a Leader

Dave Kraft Leadership Development Pastor at Mars Hill Church

Fatal Flaws of a Leader series: Click | View Series

Flaws Can Be Fatal

Someone once said, “Success is never final and failure is never fatal. It’s courage that counts.” Actually, there are many examples of seemingly successful leaders failing because of serious flaws (or sins) in their lives. President Richard Nixon comes to mind. Perhaps President Clinton is another that may well be remembered for his flaws as well as his successes.

Are there certain kinds of flaws Christian leaders may develop that could spell the end of their leadership effectiveness, their leadership altogether, or worse yet, the downward spiral of their walk with Jesus? I believe there are.

Integrity Is Essential

Integrity has been at the top of my “Essential Leadership Qualities” list for a number of years. Integrity leads to credibility, which leads to trust, which leads to influence. If you have no influence, there is no leadership. People should be able to trust me without wondering if I will do what I promised and deliver it when I promised.

I can think of few things worse than having someone say, “I don’t trust you!” I am increasingly careful about what I say and how much I promise because I am committed to integrity in all I do. Recently I sat down with a pastor who had sent out an e-mail with information about me that was flattering, but not accurate. Because integrity is a high value, I set the record straight.

Charles Colson was once asked what he considered to be the top three qualities of a leader. He answered: “Well, the first one would be integrity—and the second would be integrity. And the third one would be (you guessed it) integrity.”

Chit, Choice, Or Child?

Continued from "Very Special Request Chit"

This is the place in my narrative that I ask you what you would do. Approve? Disapprove? Is it none of your business? Is it just another chit? Or maybe it's a personal choice? Then again, maybe it's a child. Would you be an accessory? Read on as the story continues.

BM3 Smith said, "Are you sure you have time?" I replied, "Of course, what is it?" She began, "Well, Sir, 5 or 6 months ago I was dating a few guys, one or two from the ship and even seeing a couple from other ships over at the barracks." "OK," I said gently, "Continue." "Sir, I just want you to know that I don't want to leave the ship, that's why I put in the chit," she said ominously. "It's just that I am doing well here and . . . and all my friends are here, Deck is my family." "What are you going to do in a few weeks that will ensure you stay onboard?" I prodded. "Just take care of a personal problem. You see, around 5 months ago I got pregnant," she paused "and I have began showing, I've been able to continue working hard, and nobody's noticed. So, I figure I would just take care of it before it became a problem." I am not easily surprised, but this one set me on my heels. As I sat there for a moment I was amazed that she certainly was not showing and that there was no way to tell she was pregnant. I sat quietly for a minute, then I asked her to come see me in the morning with Chief; that I wanted to talk with her about this.

After she left I slowly closed the door and sat there in silence as I thought and then prayed in desperation. I pondered what it would mean for me to approve her request chit to take care of "personal business." And I thought . . . I knew that the state allowed abortions through the second term, but I also have a good friend whose healthy little girl was born early at just 5 1/2 months into the pregnancy. Then my mind flashed to images of my own child.

Ethical leadership ceased being a neat idea, fascinating concept, and positive tag line that day - it became real. Hope to hear from you on this one . . .

Very Special Request Chit

Let's get real. This is going to be heavy. What I want to do is demonstrate how what you believe (faith, morals, etc.) impacts how you lead. I would love to hear from some of you on this decision, no matter what level you lead from. Which box would you check - approve or disapprove?

The story goes:

There I was, just hanging out in the deck office on the ship chopping awards, evals, and special request chits. For those not familiar, in the military a special request chit is submitted to your chain of command for any unusual personal reason or circumstance that requires permission. Examples for their use range from the command sponsoring your dependent overseas to getting married. On this particular day a uniquely vague chit came across my desk. Chief had mentioned that he wanted to talk to me about it later, from what I recall, but I wanted to clear out the inbox and thought I would take a look at it. The request was from Bm3 Smith (one of my best young Sailors). The comment section of the chit simply requested to have a day of work off for "personal business" in about three weeks. "Personal business" seemed a bit general, but she works hard and it was almost an easy check in the "approved" box before passing it onto the out box pile. Just so happens about that time I heard a few Sailors walking down the p-way outside the office returning to the Bos'n locker from the Messdecks - BM3 was amongst them. So, I poked my head out the door and said, "BM3, got a minute? I was just looking at your special request chit." She came in the office and took a seat. I asked her how she was doing. We made small talk, then I simply asked what kind of personal business she was planning to do in a few weeks. She said, "It's a long story, Sir." "Help me, Lord," I prayed as the GQ alarm sounded internally. Whenever you hear that from a Sailor you had better listen (and pray). So, I said "I've got the time I'd love to hear it?"

To be continued (almost time for quarters) . . .

Repealing DADT

Did you know that God spoke specifically about the repeal of DADT in the Bible? You may know of Luther's "Great Exchange," but have you heard of what I call "Lust's Great Exchange". The repeal of DADT will occur because our thinking has become futile, and we have exchanged the glory of God and the truth of God for a lie, while not thinking it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God. As a nation we have departed from the Word of God, neglecting to hold fast to the Truth that guides our moral actions. And so this is revealed in the military as we are a reflection of the civil population from which we are derived and for which we represent. So, why are we so surprised - this is the natural result of a society that has turned from God and His Word. Read what Paul wrote:

²⁰For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse.

²¹For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened. ²²Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools ²³and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like mortal man and birds and animals and reptiles.

²⁴Therefore God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the degrading of their bodies with one another. ²⁵They exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator—who is forever praised. Amen.

²⁶Because of this, God gave them over to shameful lusts. Even their women exchanged natural relations for unnatural ones. ²⁷In the same way the men also abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed with lust for one another. Men committed indecent acts with other men, and received in themselves the due penalty for their perversion.

²⁸Furthermore, since they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, he gave them over to a depraved mind, to do what ought not to be done. ²⁹They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed and depravity. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit and malice. They are gossips, ³⁰slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant and boastful; they invent ways of doing evil; they disobey their parents; ³¹they are senseless, faithless, heartless, ruthless. ³²Although they know God's righteous decree that those who do such things deserve death, they not only continue to do these very things but also approve of those who practice them. (Rom. 1:20-32)