Leadership & Walking the Walk

On my first day as a Special Assistant to the newly appointed Secretary of the Navy in 2000, I joined the rest of the small personal staff for his initial meeting with us. The first question this non-uniformed political appointee asked us was: “What’s the most important thing in the Navy?” There was no hesitation from any of us, as we answered nearly in unison: “Sailors,” we responded. Not the ships; not the mission; our people are our most important asset. Obviously. It was ingrained in us, and we were proud of holding this as a core value.

“No they’re not,” he told us. “That’s not true at all.” After the initial shock, and moment of awkward silence, the Executive Assistant spoke up for all of us (fighter jock – no fear): “What do you mean, Sir? We say it all the time. Sailors are our most important asset.”

“You say it, but you don’t really do it,” he responded. The mission comes first. Then he gave us an example. We send new recruits to Boot Camp, then often to advanced training schools, earning the equivalent of an associate of arts degree in a highly technical skill. After upwards of two years in some cases, a new Sailor reports aboard his first ship, eager to get to work as, say, a missile technician; or an IT specialist. And what do we do, the Secretary asked? We assign him or her to six months of cooking and cleaning heads (bathrooms, aboard ship).

The Secretary’s rhetorical exercise had its intended effect. We were talking the talk as an institution; but we were often not walking the walk. And the ramifications of not doing so have real implications for the morale of the force. That’s important as a matter of principle for any elite institution. And in an all-volunteer Navy that’s important as a matter of common sense.

This lesson is a sharp reminder for any organization’s leadership that values its people as the most important asset it has; and any organization that wants to succeed in any business, long term, has to hold this principle as a core value. In the Secretary of the Navy’s example, there was no easy fix to the dilemma he put before us. Ships have to have someone cook and clean heads, after all, don’t they? But that challenge led to a short term fix to at least address the reality of what the Navy actually valued – a new slogan: “Mission first; people always.” We could at least acknowledge the priorities at hand, so Sailors could do the same and respect leadership’s embrace of that reality. More importantly, that one moment led to long term fixes like self-cleaning heads and Star Trek-type attendant-less food preparation aboard naval vessels some 20 years later.

Leadership is one of those things that is so easy it’s hard. It’s really easy to say – and honestly believe – what’s truly important. But it’s really hard to act on it, and make it real for those who have to follow; to walk the walk. Effective leaders do the hard things. Even if it takes a generation, and even if someone else takes the credit long after you are gone… as was the case with the Secretary of the Navy I was honored to work for a generation ago.