Deckplate Leadership

There are many books, podcasts, videocasts and workshops that address the various topics of leadership, management, time management and the like, and there are many more books that have a military perspective on this. But the majority of military-related leadership books that have been written almost exclusively celebrate the leadership of the leading officer or General and the policies and procedures they put into place to make an organization successful. Or a strategic move they made on the battlefield that lead to the success of a mission or battle. To my knowledge though, there are not very many books or other media–if any–that discuss leadership from an enlisted leader’s perspective or that celebrate the successes of the enlisted leader.

To lead enlisted men and women in the service can be a very difficult thing to do and as a result enlisted members learn from experience good leadership techniques and develop solid leadership attributes that the private sector can learn a lot from. In the Navy, we call it “Deckplate Leadership”.

Deckplate Leadership is described by the current MCPON in his Mission, Vision, and Guiding Principles as such:

“Deck-plate Leadership – Chiefs are visible leaders who set the tone. We will know the mission, know our Sailors, and develop them beyond their expectations as a team and as individuals.”

This weblog, along with its accompanying podcasts (available soon!), will serve to close in the gap in leadership education and aid in developing strong deckplate leaders. In the coming entries, we will discuss the time honored and battle tested leadership concepts and methods used by Navy deckplate leaders for the past 232 years. We will provide insight into the mindset and values that embody and create true, successful leaders in the United States Navy, to include our Navy’s heritage and tradition of deckplate leadership. We will also discuss the issues that have a major impact on our Navy’s Sailors and their families, and the leadership challenges that we face today and in the future.

This is also meant to be an interactive venture, so get your cup of joe, relax, and soak in–as well as add to–the wisdom and lessons learned from over two centuries of leading from the deckplates.