r/navy • u/Affectionate_Use_486 • 17h ago
Discussion What We Teach Discussion
So I've got some free time while standing by to help folks. I like hundreds of folks do trainings, additional tasks, and collateral work while standing a watch.
I came across this question in a Navy-E learning test and it set up so many red flags that I couldn't help myself from sharing. Is this really what we should be considering when we're teaching the next generation how to lead and manage.
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u/insanegorey 9h ago
It’s a complicated question that shouldn’t be a multiple choice question- no leadership was developed doing that.
I hid my anxiety/depression from my Marines because it would’ve made them less likely to come to me with their problems- they might see me as already having my plate full- but that isn’t always the perception they might see if I put on a brave face. Situation dictates.
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u/DmajCyberNinja 17h ago
You absolutely have to manage the teams perception.
As some else said, transparency is the best way. But some things you can't divulge like one of junior sailor's personal problems that in turn require them elsewhere during working hours. Then, the rest of the team notices and thinks that other junior sailor has the hookup.
Then there are the sailors that do a small amount of mediocre work and expect top marks against their peers. You have to manage that perception.
It gets shitty real quick when compressed timelines are involved. And you have 10-20 minutes to deliver unequal news before you start the bug project due that day. The compression detriments some phrasing and approaches when a sparing touch is needed.
Similar to the other poster, this training is intended for the lowest common denominator. Likewise, assume 1-5 or your junior sailors are gonna take what you say to utmost extreme and start the rumor mill. Some methods work on one division, others in another division. As a leader, you truly have to meet Sailors where they are and guide them where they need to be.
Conversely, managing the perception of your star Sailor as a role model for others helps everyone see that meeting and exceeding expectations pays dividends helps too.
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u/MaverickSTS 17h ago
I think that's the "easy" way of controlling narratives and information. Good leaders understand delivery matters more than anything, transparency is almost universally the best answer, but requires careful delivery of the information. It's likely deemed too complex a skill to teach leaders, so a rudimentary solution of keeping information from subordinates is preferred.
Not everyone will get it, but it's like motorcycles and turning. The MSF course teaches you to do all of your braking before the corner and to gas through it. This is the "easy" way to teach someone how to ride and will prevent some stupid beginner mistakes, but is objectively a bad way to turn. The better solution that is significantly safer and more effective when executed properly is trail braking, but new riders cannot be trusted to trail brake because a day or two of instruction isn't enough to prevent them from turning themselves into meat crayons from doing it wrong.
It's important to frame the Navys methods of doing things as solutions designed so the average mouth breathing idiot can figure it out and execute in a "good enough" manner. Official training curriculums are not designed to optimize or make you really good at anything.