Chapter 2 Shakedown & Dependent’s Cruise

Time was now the adversary. If they were to meet the 10 July deadline for being in Guantanamo Bay in time for the exercise they had to activate as many of the ship’s company reserves as possible. They had to do a three-day shake-down cruise, to ensure the Card was ship-shape and could survive the long trip to Guantanamo Bay for the combat exercises. ComResDesRon required the Card to report to Little Creek firing range for a one-day test of the ships gun batteries and assess the gun crews. The Captain planned a one-day cruise for the dependents of the ship’s company.

Mister Winthrop had been a thorn in the Captain’s side from the time he came on board. He was belligerent, independent and bordered on disrespectful but at least he had the good sense to refrain from being insubordinate

As for letting Mister Winthrop melt down during the trip through the auxiliary channel It is a risk anytime a leader allows a high level subordinate to make a fool of himself in front of lower level managers and employees, but sometimes it is a risk that needs to be taken. In almost every situation, the senior manager will take steps to protect a high level subordinate from embarrassing the management team but this was not a normal situation.

The captain allowed Mr. Winthrop to crash and burn in front of the entire ship’s company. He had to allow his credibility to diminish to the point that he would no longer influence the officers and the crew. Circumstances, or a clever plan, put Mr. Winthrop in a situation where only the captain could save him, or let him sink.

The old skipper nodded his head, and then slowly shook his head sideways. “Heavy seas . . . Beauford 8.” He leaned forward. “The ship and her crew need a Captain, Bob. They a need a Captain who can give them back their self-esteem, return them to the Navy. They need a Captain with a unique set of skills, the ability to establish and maintain discipline inculcated with people skills.”

Captain Mills discovered the ship and the crew were so steeped in a status-quo, don’t rock the boat mentality that only a major test of skill, material and equipment would wake them out of their stupor, and that is exactly what Captain Mills did. He took them out and allowed them to fail. They learned from their failure and they took advantage of the opportunity he provided that would prepare them to meet their combat expectations. This time they succeeded, in spite of the unforeseen problem of getting out of channel. Overcoming that obstacle was another test they passed and it added to their self respect.

The Stewardship of Command – Managing in Turbulent Times is the second book in two book executive management series by Lawrence Wade Johnson. The first book The Stewardship of Executive Management – for the Manager who Manages Managers introduced the USS WARREN LYNN CARD (DE 383) as the vehicle for illustrating the executive principles covered in the book. In this first book the case study began when Robert Mills was appointed to command a very dysfunctional organization and how he brought it up to combat readiness.

This second book continues where the first book ended. The crew of the Cardtakes the ship to the U.S. Naval base in Guantanamo Bay Cuba to participate in combat readiness exercises. During this cruise the ship and the crew experience not only the rigors of a very realistic combat training exercise, they also experience an onslaught of dangerous do or die situations that test their mettle as managers and maritime professionals. The experiences of the crew are compared with the turbulent times faced by commercial and industrial organizations in the private sector. Like the first book, the author provides expert advice and management axioms for handling those difficult situations drawn from his 40 plus years serving in the executive function and as a professional consultant to management.

In this episode we witness the chief executive bringing subordinate managers through the processes of Organizational development, training and development, management succession, evaluating the performance of subordinate managers and what to do with executives who are no longer effective.

A must read for those senior and subordinate executives who have suffered disappoint and defeat.

In this episode the subordinate managers learn a lesson about assessing the needs of the organization under stressful deadlines and taking action to address the most pertinent conditions. They also learn why, how and when to contract for outside services when there is talent on board.

The captain assists his subordinate executives to understand the realities and effectiveness of real leadership, stewardship, Management and command. We learn about power, authority and politics - what they are, what they are not and how to use them, not for one's own personal grab for position, but for the benefit of the organization.

The new chief executive deals head-on with running a tight ship - attitudes, job satisfaction, compliance and cooperation, morale, motivation and discipline. Techniques used by the "Skipper" uses principles and perceptions not normally taught in basic leadership classes. But they work!