Don’t Give Up the Shipmate!

                                                                                         By LT Steve Bird, C2CEN

    Everyone has probably heard, or lived, the old paraphrase “you spend 90% of your time on 10% of your people.”  A prior CEO of a Fortune 500 company advocates “cutting off” this lower section of performers until they leave on their own.  That is definitely an interesting (and often tempting) management method, but in reality the Coast Guard can’t afford that kind of attrition.  Coast Guard leadership, therefore, must be prepared to reach out to change the behavior of the 10% bracket.  By including the task of raising performance in leadership’s description, leaders will not be meeting their mission expectations unless everything is done to change (i.e., improve) the performance of that 10% bracket.  If job requirements go unmet, then leadership is in danger of becoming a member of the 10% bracket, and subsequently losing the “leadership” title.

    Why my particular interest in this subject?  The answer is simple; because I was once a member of the lower performance bracket.  A wise Engineering Petty Officer once did for me what has been proven effective several times over for others around me through the progression of my career.  Here are some basics I feel facilitated my turnaround success.  I have also personally witnessed other struggling junior enlisted members “come around.”

-   Manipulate the environment to help portray a “fresh start” rather than a second chance (too often interpreted as a last chance.)

-  Raise responsibility and expectations.  In most cases, People will perform to whatever level is expected of them.

-  Give people 100 percent of your attention.  Make them feel that they are the most important item at that given time when dealing with them.  Great listening skills are, arguably, the best tools a leader can have.

-   Celebrate their achievements!  Reward supportive behavior to get supportive behavior.  If we do not recognize a job well done, they may not give us another chance to.

    One challenge that will undoubtedly take place is to not neglect your already high performers while concentrating on the low ones.  First, those high performers can help!  Just let them know what you know and deploy your approach through them.  If they are indeed high performers, they are hungry to be leaders and leadership disciples.

    Secondly, here again, a little recognition goes a long way.  I have been criticized in the past for “Candy Man-ing” too many awards, and spending too much time justifying high marks.  My opinion is when someone does a good job; recognition and reinforcement become part of leadership’s job.

    The routine tasks involved in our daily jobs, (maintenance, logistics, or operations) won’t ever go away.  Those are the professions we were trained for.  But there is a “total package” responsibility that presents a greater challenge of perpetually educating ourselves on how to motivate others to perform and achieve goals that may not have been previously thought possible.