The Secret To a Brilliant Navy Career -
and it's right before your eyes

It’s not in a genie bottle on my desk.  It’s not in a safe deposit box walled within a high security bank.  Nor is it an absolute secret I will take to my death bed.

But I do have it.  The absolute secret to a brilliant career in the United States Navy.

And the results of using this secret will answer all the questions a sailor may have in building that successful career, such as: what do I have to do to advance to Chief Petty Officer? what recommendations do you have for me to get that “C” school I truly want? what is the best way to show my chain of command that I am ready for the next level of responsibility?, etc, etc, etc.

So, for absolutely no cost, other than taking the time to read this column, I will provide this secret to you.

And why, you may ask, would this be a secret anymore if I shared it with the entire U.S. Navy community?  Because it is the right thing to do.  And because not enough sailors are using this secret today.  That’s right.  This secret is right in front of you and is something you can start putting into play today.

And if you are a Chief Petty Officer worthy of putting on the anchors, even a Leading Petty Officer directing that group of young charges, you will do the same.  Share this secret.

It is: a saying.  It is the only one on the wall next to my desk (besides the famous GEN Colin Powell Top 13 Rules – which keeps me from getting too full of myself) –

“A Thought Is Just A Thought.  A Thought With Action Is True Leadership”

It is so simple it almost means not a thing unless you think about its implications.  Believing in this one saying will affect so many segments of your career – your evaluations, your advancements, your daily schedule, your dealings with your fellow sailors, your relationship with your chain of command, and your performance on the job.  However, it simply will not work unless you truly understand what this one saying means.

We all have ways of improving a procedure.  We all believe, in our hearts, there must be a better way of correcting a problem.  As a matter of fact, there are probably a million ideas out there on this very day that our sailors, if we polled them all at once, could provide.

Yet, there are some military personnel who are determined to come up with solutions or ideas, and toss it on someone else’s back to accomplish.  They feel the “idea” is all they have to do in order to get the ball rolling.  They feel they have done their job, but actually, the job has only started.

I used to work with an Army Master Sergeant (E-8) at a NATO command who would make it a point to drive just about anybody nuts, on a daily basis, extolling his opinions on how something needed improvement, how a procedure wasn’t working, or how another department’s policies were negatively affecting his department.  He would silently walk into an office, toss his thoughts on the table, and walk out.  He called this his “personal grenade” – flip the opinion in the room, turn-around, and wait to see what kind of affect his “explosion” had to the listener.

If that department was truly proud of its efforts, you could see them running around, bouncing off the walls trying to make the “supposed” improvement.  Most of the time, the improvement was a glue-and-paste-and-tape.  And another problem would take its place.

Although this type of leadership had its’ initial benefits, it was never consistent and didn’t last long.  After awhile, junior personnel would believe the “little boy who cried wolf” syndrome had taken over any supposed improvements or benefits.  --  “Chief, all that Master Sergeant does is complain – he never offers details of the problem – he never offers his personnel to help solve it – he never offers possible solutions – and never provides a follow-up on the correction.  Just to let you know, Chief – I am now deaf.”

We now have shut-down, Houston.  And effort and motivation have gone with it.

Your thoughts.  Your ideas.  Your opinions.   Without effort.  Without action.  Without involvement.  Nothing happens.

So how does use of this saying specifically affect segments of your career as I mentioned above?…..

Your evaluations and fitness reports -  I would, as a Chief and without hesitation, mark a higher performance trait for a sailor under both Quality Of Work, and Personal Job Accomplishment/Initiative.  And why not – both areas are affected by a sailors’ direct actions.

Your advancements -  By getting involved with almost every problem or emergent requirement that comes into your office, you will undoubtedly absorb a whole lot of information.  Best on-the-job training for advancement study you could ever use.

Your daily schedule –  Our hectic lives are getting busier than ever.  And your involvement and actions will spill over into improving your daily ops – and not keep moving those To Do items to the next day.

Your dealings with fellow sailors –  Simply, your shipmates will have complete trust in you, no matter the situation.  You are the one who can be counted on in a pinch.

Your relationship with your chain of command –   Sailors who come up to me and say, initially: “Chief, we need to look into why that local command makes transporation hard for us”….and before I can show a scowl for bringing this “monkey on my back”…he says: “but I called them and we worked out a solution with an idea I had.”  Ask any Chief: Sailors like that are “golden”.  You have now created another leader for the United States Navy.

Performance on the job –  Add ALL of the items above if you can figure out a mathematical solution.  I guarantee it adds up to: a brilliant Navy career.