In an earlier post I mentioned I had taken a business trip to Hawaii. For several years after I retired from the Navy, I worked as a civilian contractor at Navy base here. Going out to sea as a civilian contractor (as opposed to a senior officer) is quite a different experience. I’m the same person as when I was on active duty, with the same knowledge and experience. However, since I no longer wore the uniform, my role was essentially that of a worker bee. It was quite a humbling experience (if not a little frustrating as well).
As a civilian contractor I got to work alongside several Army and Air Force officers as well as my Navy team. Out in Hawaii my team was working with an Army aviation regiment at Wheeler Army Airfield, specifically two crews of pilots and maintenance personnel commanded by an Army Captain. Although she looked young, the Captain was the embodiment of leadership and professionalism. And on this one particular day we all witnessed a powerful leadership lesson. (4:34)
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Greetings Commander Wiz!
Ah, the fear of looking weak; the fear of looking unqualified, insecure, and so on. I believe these are a few of the major reasons many people in positions of leadership don’t ask questions, or they don’t ask for help.
Sometimes the queries do occur behind closed doors in a private phone call with a peer. That’s fine! And there were a few times over the years when I didn’t always recognize when I could have personally benefited from reaching out like this more often.
But there are also situations that warrant an immediate question or call for assistance. Far too often I saw people “reprimanded” for exactly what the Army Captain did in your blog post. I was even the recipient of it myself a few times.
I wish more people had the leadership confidence to ask for advice and to encourage others to do the same. No human is perfect and the truly wise and confident leader seeks advice, and then makes the decision based on this advice.
Karen