Leadership and the Maritime Academies

Professional Mariner Forum
21

Ah yes fashion over function. My favorite routine of the day is the fashion show, “you have class at XYZ building you need to be in Khakis” oh you have 10 minutes to be on the ship best to race into your work uniform. If I was a normal freshman and not allowed to drive I would have been late to class (as most of the freshman were because of this). When classes are 50 minutes long, missing 5-10 minutes so not a good thing. Some schools allow you to simply continue your day in one uniform.

This makes me bring up the work uniform if the big issues are because of the condition of some student’s work uniforms (admittedly I have seen some students walking around with holes big enough for a basketball to go through) then have them fix them or replace them. They will casually allow that to continue for a year but heaven forbid someone while its pouring snow shows up to inspection in boots.

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22

A minor disagreement with this assessment of interactions between office “weenies” and captains, keeping in mind that management can be different in different companies.

I am a captain (I still take boats out on occasion) and I also supervise captains, as well as manage crews. The kiss of death for any person I supervise is interrupting me. I tell the hiring staff to avoid hiring anyone who interrupts them during the interview process.

The prohibition has nothing to do with politeness. If someone interrupts you when you are speaking, it means they aren’t listening to you, or they possess little self-control, or both. They’re listening to their own internal monologue. If a captain isn’t listening to me, why should I employ them?

It took me ten years to learn this “tell” of human behavior.

The way captains baffle office weenies is to tell them exactly what they want to hear, and sound like Rex Harrison when they do it. The most obnoxious of captains I’ve come across can also be the most charming, when speaking to their own boss. This also holds true for obnoxious deckhands: rough on the crew, but often deferential and charming to the captain. That’s how they get away with shit.

Based on this, I warn the hiring staff, In interviews always be wary of smooth talkers who sound too good to be true, because they usually are. Good seamen are generally inarticulate, and the smart ones realize it is better to keep their mouth shut, than hazard sounding like a fool.

Circling back to the title of the thread, a merchant marine academy should, IMO, should teach not fewer than three leadership classes in four years, taught by maritime experts. Practical stuff, like the things I mention here. Trouble is, there would likely never be enough of these experts to go around.

When I went to the academy I had one leadership class in four years. Very useful, but far too little, and the principles were never emphasized in practical training. Things may be different in academies today. I don’t know.

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23

Same here… though I can’t for the life of me remember a damn thing taught in that class. Most of my leadership training came much earlier in Boy Scouts and Sea Scouts, and then getting very lucky in working on a ship with two fantastic captains on my first true 3/M billet.

The two couldn’t have been more different in their approaches. One was an Annapolis grad and went aviation before going deep sea, and the other was very vocally a KP’er. One was the laid back “sea daddy” that expected everyone to do their jobs and kept his mitts out of everything unless he was needed (but god help us if the hot tub needed scaling and painting, because he’d be papa smurf back there from the blue paint :rofl:). The other had a quiet hand in everything from mast to keel, and a chief mate that was his watch dog on the deck.

Now neither one of those leadership models were perfect. But in combining the good from both, I’ve found a style that works for me (and my office) for the past 10 years as a Captain. …and it didn’t come from any drill and ceremony BS or class at TMA.

I think that so much more learning of true leadership comes after graduation than during a cadet’s four years (or it at least comes from outside the academies, whether cadet shipping or extra-curricular), and while I understand the reasoning, I wish the schools would work more on actual leadership and maritime training than how to march pretty.

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24

I was (mostly) being factitious but you’re right, it would be usually be a mistake to interrupt your boss.

The weenies, and I know shouldn’t call them that, are not the boss but the whole army of support people , supply, engineering., personnel, payroll, regulatory compliance, IT and who know who else that are technically below the level of the real boss but for some reason have the power to email the ship and give the captain clerical chores. (Captain, third request!!!). If their requests are not met in what they consider a timely matter then the actual boss will show up on the cc line of the emails.

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25

The real rub is that usually the information requested was already sent but it is easier to send another email than go look up the information.

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26

Yeah, it’s like running a document storage and retrieval service for a dozen different people.

27

“My love of the regiment keeps me warm”

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28

And that is when war has been declared and the weeks of emails that have been exchanged and diligently filed are attached to the email with everyone in copy. You call me out on the carpet in front of the boss and the gloves come off.

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29

How many e-mails from the office are essentially: “would you please do something that is not your job, so that I don’t have to do my job?”

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30

Sometimes a lot and sometimes not very much. It seemed to depend on how many new people were in the office and who was in change

One manager put out an email almost on his first day with guidance on email usage. That really cut down on it a lot.

His replacement however focused less on that sort of thing and it got much worse, seemed like it was every man for himself in the office. I used to get a lot of email from him with the subject line “Re Noon Report” and from time to time I’d waste a lot of time looking for a specific email from him to respond to. Worse the rest of the office started doing the same thing.

31

That statement shows that lack of leadership on shore is problem too, as if we didn’t know. How can one manager have a rational email policy but the next doesn’t? Where’s the CEO or president of the company while decisions are being made concerning productive work of a captain or chief? There are times you have to politely ignore these people with nothing better to do than send emails. I have on occasion answered a query about an ongoing problem when sent the 2nd or 3rd time in one day thus," I appreciate your concern. Sadly I cannot remedy this situation in front of a computer with an email server so I cannot respond in a timely manner. Please be advised I will keep you informed as we progress. Hopefully you will hear from me soon. "

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32

That’s good. I’ve also tried one-worders like
“Noted”
“Understood”

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33

:grin:, yes I tried that too but once was told by the captain that I was being disrespectful to the “office” and didn’t understand they have to answer to clients. I told the captain I understood and please tell the “office” to tell the client to contact me and I will keep the client informed, I will gladly take that burden off the “office” as I am sure they have better things to do than relay messages.

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34

“Noted” has a dismissive tone. I use it when that’s the tone I want to convey.

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35

Agree. To me “Noted” is the same as “Whatever” Rude but if that’s what you’re trying to be it is fine

36

Understood - I understand what you are asking, understand you want it done, understand it’s my responsibility. I’ll get it done.

Noted - I knew that, thanks for the additional email. I’ve Noted this on a scrap of paper that will soon be deposited in the trash.

I’m also a fan of “I will follow-up when we have a solution or require further assistance”. The good shoreside managers I’ve had will head off the masses and let me lead my team. Even a simple text or message just to me to make sure everything is progressing beats another group email that will require a thought-out reply before there’s any new info to provide.

Regarding my unanswered emails to the office, if there have been several I have no problem replying via my last sent email, “has there been any update on the below request?”.

But back to Leadership, like others I struggle to recall an actual dedicated course on the subject at the academy. I think that was meant to be instilled via the regiment, which presumably is where some learned the dickish form of leadership. Not to make this a deck v engine thing, but I recall all us engineers joking that deckies were required to take a course on undue arrogance. I blame some of the deck professors for that.

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37

I don’t see many of that type. More along the lines of requests for information that is available to the sender but at a cost to them in time or inconvenience. A direct inquiry to the ship is less effort for the sender. Or asking for information they have but want in a different format.

It’s shifting cost in terms of time, effort and hassle onto the ship.

38

The scouts plan their trips/outings. What meals they’re gonna prepare. How they’re gonna be prepared (As a group or by the individual). What gear to bring. What is important and what needs to be left behind. Bringing the wrong thing has the real (if minor) consequences of being cold wet or hungry. They set up and break down campsites. Prepare and clean up group meals. The leaders cycle through every so often with the older ones getting a chance to help guide this stuff.

It gives kids who never would have the opportunity otherwise to go camping, hiking, or canoeing. It also gives them a hand in planning and guiding these activities.

How does this compare to a week of rowing and marching around? Standing at muster listening the the national anthem being butchered? Sitting in a personal development class listening to the Lt. read passages from Covey’s book.

the latest Maine alumni magazine has a article full of cheesy teamwork and leadership buzzwords here.

As Maine Maritime Academy approaches its 80th year training professional mariners, is the Regiment truly still relevant?
Unsurprisingly, the members of the professional command staff believe with a passion that it is.
More important, though, for these midshipmen in all ranks of of the Regiment, from top to bottom, the answer is also a resounding, “Yes!”

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39

Resounding answer from top to bottom… hahaha. They don’t want the non-trads and vets to answer.

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40

Sounds like we ought to have the Boy Scouts take over the management of the Maritime Academies. At least the Boy Scouts have adult supervision.

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