Let the Experts Be Experts: Leadership in a More Modern Navy
By Lieutenant Commander Nick Dyson, U.S. Navy | August 25, 2022
The role of the Navy officer can be a daunting one—no ifs, ands, or scuttlebutts about it. Whether new to the officer corps or to the Navy entirely, the absurdly large download of completely novel information can quickly leave even the most prepared ensigns (or so they thought!) reeling from a hard day’s work in which not only results are highly sought after, but learning is both paramount and measured. The mental game of having to ignore the good chance that you are the most experientially uneducated person in the room can be exhausting—but it is necessary to provide the clarity and confidence needed to accomplish the mission. Where junior officers sometimes get it wrong, however, is striving to have all the answers or be the most knowledgeable junior officer (JO) around the wardroom, ship, or flight line. Instead, what we should be doing (and what the best leaders on and above the deckplates are doing), is allowing the Navy to showcase its own investments. But how do we do this?
Let the Experts Be Experts
When we are too quick to point out the need to “lead from the front” and to “take charge,” we not only miss the opportunity to build more leaders, but also to see the full capabilities of our enlisted counterparts—the technical experts—first-hand in carrying out the more complex tasks their own jobs require of them. It is a wonderfully fulfilling thing to see your brand-new second-class petty officer come back to tell you “the bird’s back up” or “skipper’s in the air” after your only input into the matter was telling them to go do their thing. Yet, while we as junior officers are often just an intermediary when it comes to carrying out our CO’s vision or our XO’s strategies, it is humbling to be responsible for any level of mission success when you sometimes provide little more than the faith and confidence in the skills and expertise of the sailors around you.
https://blog.usni.org/posts/2022/08/25/let-the-experts-be-experts-leadership-in-a-more-modern-navy
