Naval Leadership Lessons are less in class rooms and more demonstrative at work! More action oriented and less sermonising . It shows more than it says and therefore are simpler to understand , imbibe and follow.
There are
leadership schools for officers and senior sailors and Military leadership and
modern leadership lessons are imparted to all at various stages . But in my experience, we all assimilate by
seeing more than reading having attended
these courses and also had the
opportunity to teach.
All types of leaders exist in Navy and perhaps in all
three services. Transactional as well as transformational , authoritarian as
well as democrat . Many have traits of great leaders and some lack the same.
The ‘Situational’ leadership approach could also be applied to them and many
would emerge with flying colours and few would fall in critical situations .
War time leaders as well as peace time heroes function in the dynamic world of Navy !
Naval Leadership lessons are not complex , sophisticated theories but a process and are cultivated by observing
simple day to day routine in harbour and at sea. The main focus is on your
‘Men’! No matter how modern and technically superior your weapon systems are ,
the people who operate them are key . Their
‘ morale’ is to be maintained and the Naval Leadership hinges on this
concept of ‘Morale’.
The first lesson we receive is to ‘know your men’, ‘
rubbing shoulders with your men’ . There is a ‘Divisional system’ in place and
an officer has about 25 to 30 sailors under him whose welfare , training ,
conduct and discipline he has to watch . he maintains documents and presents to
the Commanding Officer periodically . This system is the backbone and
foundation of the Naval human resource management and Leadership. Time tested
and proven and when it fails sometimes the officer is invariably responsible.
The fundamentals of conduct and discipline one learns
by observing the Captain and the ship! Yes; the Captain of a ship is known by the name of his ship! The role
model in front of a young officer wherein he imbibes leadership skills by
observing his Commanding Officer . The
uniform ( turnout) , punctuality the demeanour is watched . Each activity of
the ship moves under a planned system in harbour and at sea, promulgated by the ‘Daily orders’ and after
observing these timings one gets aligned to the concept of punctuality.
Insistence on troop games such as football, hockey ,
volleyball and basketball over individual games is a standard practice over the
years where officers and men play together in a spirit of competition and
comradery. Abiding by the Naval
tradition annual ‘pulling regatta’ ( boat race) is conducted among fleet ships and each ship fields teams
department wise and officers also participate . Teams practice for long
durations and extra diet is provided .
It is a prestigious championship and each Commanding Officer wants to win the
‘Cock’! The ‘Silver Trophy’ in shape of a
‘Rooster’ .
In harbour and
at sea the Commanding officer and the
concerned staff ensure that good quality food is provided to men . Each meal is
tasted by the duty officer and the Logistics officer , the Commanding officer
also visits galley in order to observe the food quality , hygiene and morale of
the cooks.
Close periodic
monitoring of discipline on board is embedded in the system wherein every
Friday afternoon ‘Requestmen & Defaulter’ is conducted . The disciplinary cases are dealt on the
table of the Commanding officer and it is called ‘Summary Trial’ . Along with
this ‘Requestmen’ is also held and sailors put up their ‘Request’ for various
issues- Promotion, undergoing civil courses, to continue in same station,
transfer to shore establishment, change of Branch etc. Watching these
proceedings as Divisional officer where you have to explain your sailor’s case
one is observing the fairness and decision making ability of the Commanding
Officer ! Also assessing the leadership style of the Command!
Large number of senior officers , dignitaries visit
the ship . The ship also visits various ports and foreign ports as well on good
will visit and it is during these occasions the young officers learn how to conduct . The language , the
subject of discussions and the manner in which the Captain and other seniors
conduct themselves is an invaluable lesson . How much to speak, what to speak
and when to stay quiet and nod smilingly !
Safety of the Ship and its Men is the ultimate
responsibility of the Commending officer and this is seen during long
deployments and exercises , tough
weather conditions when the Captain would be on the Bridge( Command platform )
with the executive officer and other
heads of department most of the time
alert and taking quick decisions motivating the ship staff , hardly resting! Even
the largest ship such as an aircraft carrier moves as an entity and the pulse
and tension percolates to the bottom and therefore in this aspect the Navy is unique .
Certain customs and traditions help in maintaining
‘core values’ of a Leader! Respect for women and care of children ! Any Lady
entering the ‘Gangway’ has to be saluted on board ships. During the ‘Navy Week’
when the ship is open for visitors . One has witnessed long queues of school
children from the suburbs of Mumbai waiting for their turn to see the ship
bearing the sun , but they smile at you and salute you! At these instances you realize
the tremendous responsibility one has toward these aspiring children who hold
you in high esteem ! The Navy belongs to
the children of India!
We learn from our mistakes and blunders and sometimes
human and material loss which have occurred in the past . Some stories of
bravery and determination inspire us still. During our missile boat course we
learnt of Chatak fire! In the early eighties INS Chatak a missile boat caught
fire after a missile mis-launch which led to a major fire and the ship staff
was prepared to abandon the ship but the Captain of the ship Lt Cdr Rehan and
his executive officer fought the fire , motivated their men and saved the ship
. When the ship returned to harbour it was jet black with smoke . The Captain
was signalled if anything the ship wants
on reaching harbour . He replied ‘Biryani!’. ‘ To Float , To Move , To Fight’
is the motto on which the ships operates and each person works towards it
Finally ; the heroic stories of our past Heroes are our
Leadership lessons . These tales are our
moral compass, and we hold them in our sacred corner! The sacrifices made by officers and
men in War! The name of Captain M N Mulla the commanding officer of INS Khukri
which went down to sea , hit by enemy torpedo on 09 December 1971 Indo - Pak
war remains etched in our collective memory . The ship was sinking , he gave
his life jacket to a sailor , sat in his Captain’s Chair and went down with the
ship! He was the ship ! He was Khukri!
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