Thinking of what happened in Vishakhapatnam and coastal Orissa brought to mind that things change when the normal is taken away from us. New responses come to the fore; new attitudes must be had to be able to cope with the changing scenario. Sometimes in our lives, things go well and it could be that in your job or whatever you are doing today, things are going well. Everything seems to be rolling out just as it should and you are enjoying everything going on with the people that you work with or work for or have working for you – all working together like a well-oiled machine.
But the question always about leadership is: what happens when status quo changes? What is your default mode when things don't function as they ought to? This question made me think because our default modes are what we go to unconsciously. It's what we move to because that's our comfort zone. Yet, we need to be so careful that that default mode is the right mode that we need to operate in when things don't go too well.
I was reading this book by Simon Sinek "Leaders Eat Last". I have referenced it before and it's a great book. In it, the author talks about a culture that permeates organizations. He entitles that chapter 'So Goes The Leader, So Goes The Culture,' really saying that we weave that culture in. he references a Captain Marquet who in January 1999 took command of a 2 billion dollar submarine, slightly longer than a football field, had 135 crew members, called the Santa Fe. But, the thing about this command for Captain Marquet was that he was a little unprepared for it. He had been told that he would be taking over command of the Olympia. He had spent a year going over everything about the Olympia, the engine room, wiring. He knew everything about it backwards including the kind of people who would be on it. At the last minute, he got changed and was sent to the Santa Fe. This submarine, in terms of readiness and retention measurement, was at the very bottom of the totem pole of readiness. When Captain Marquet took this command, he immediately realized that he had less information about this submarine than he had about the Olympia. He says that his default mode here was control. When you are not sure of yourself, take control. He says that's what he did. He took control and it seemed to be running well. Everybody was walking around with an 'Aye aye Sir' mentality. Things were going well and he thought that he had things under control.
But he decided to do a drill where he actually had the nuclear reactor manually shut down to simulate a reactor failure. When that happens, the submarine has to switch to a battery-powered motor, or EPM, as they call it. It runs at a lower speed but can still keep the submarine moving. In the course of the drill, he thought he would push his crew a little further and see how they would take some pressure. He gave the officer of the deck, the ship's navigator who was the most experienced officer on board, a simple instruction. He said, "Ahead, two-thirds." This meant that he wanted the crew to run the electric motors at two-thirds of their maximum power. It would drive the ship faster, but it would also run the batteries down more quickly and add to the pressure of getting the reactor up and running much faster. He thought that this would be a good way of seeing where the men were.
Interestingly, the officer of the deck acknowledged the captain and repeated the order loudly, instructing the submarine's driver to turn up the speed. "Ahead two-thirds," he said to the helmsman. Nothing happened. The submarine's speed remained the same. Captain Marquet said he peered out from behind the periscope and finally focused on the junior-enlisted crewmember who should have executed the order. The young sailor, who was sitting at the controls, was squirming in his seat. He said, "Helmsman, what's the problem?" to which the young sailor replied, "Sir, there is no two-thirds setting." Unlike every other submarine that Captain Marquet had been on, the newer Santa Fe didn't have a tow-thirds setting on the battery-powered motor.
It threw up an interesting dilemma. He turned to the navigator who had been on board for two years and asked him if he knew that there was no two-thirds setting. "Yes, Sir" replied the officer. Dumbfounded, Captain Marquet asked him, "Then why did you issue the order?" and the officer said, "Because you told me to." The crew had just been trained to follow instructions and everybody was just blindly following his orders because he was the one in charge. At that point, Captain Marquet realized that this was a very dangerous position to be in. he was operating from less information down the order to people who had more information but weren't given the ability to be responsible for their actions. In that, everything was stacked against them. They were really headed into a death trap in a situation like this that could have surfaced in a war zone.
So true! That made me think as we look at the situations we find ourselves in. as long as things are going well, everything works well. But leadership comes to the fore, at least the caliber of our leadership, when we are faced with difficult situations; when everything is not going well, when the status quo has changed. But here's the thing that really caught my attention: it was the fact that at a point like this, information is not always with the person who is in charge. Just as people who experienced a cyclone yesterday and the day before, the people who are monitoring at the meteorological department will have some idea. But it is really the people of Vishakhapatnam who will be able to tell them of the kind of damage that has happened.
Information is really at the bottom of the pole. If you really want to be a good leader, somehow you have to find it within your leadership style to accommodate the people at the bottom of the totem pole who have more information than you have, and somehow to be able to give them more responsibility. If you move from a top to bottom situation, you're operating with authority, with information that you don't have. That can only be disastrous.
It really made me think about responsibility. Responsibility is not doing as we are told; that's obedience. Responsibility is doing what is right. Somehow we need to create that kind of awareness among the people who work in our organizations, that we expect them to be responsible for their actions. That's the only way that we can make things work well.
Captain Marquet did a strange thing after that. He changed the way that the crew spoke. Previously, it was "Permission to". An officer would look up and say, "Sir, request permission to submerge the ship." The answer would come, "Permission granted." "Aye, aye, Sir. Submerging the ship" was the way it happened. This was the standard operating way. He changed it to, "Sir, I intend to submerge the ship." The chain of command still remained intact; people were still calling up. But the only difference was a psychological shift – the person performing the action now owned the action instead of carrying out an assigned task.
That is something that is important for us. As we look at changing situations and situations that may catch us by surprise, even though we have the authority, look and see where the information is and then empower the people with that information. Give them the authority because they are in a better position to do something about it.
Who do we really lean on for the most information? The answer is GOD. He has the full picture before Him. He always has the full information. Our Holy Scriptures say "Not to lean on our own understanding, but to listen to Him, to submit to Him, to acknowledge Him and He will direct our paths." So, the next time you find yourself in a difficult situation, maybe, waft a prayer upward and ask the one who has all the information how to go through the situation.
Here's the key: leadership is not about what happens in the status quo. It's what happens when the status quo changes and all the rules suddenly get shaky. That's when the caliber of our leadership is actually measured. My prayer is that when that happens, we will lead well.
May I pray with you? Almighty God, on each one of these precious ones on this call, to whom you have placed in positions of leadership, help us to lead well. That when things don't go according to the plan, we will be able to lean on You who has all the information and then empower people around us who have more information than we have to be able to do what they need to do and for us to lead well even in those situations. I pray a blessing upon each one in the Name of Jesus. Amen.
• Simon Sinek, "Leaders Eat Last," Account of Captain Marquet taken from the chapter: Leadership Leasson 2: So Goes the Leader, So goes the Culture.
• Proverbs 3:6 (Bible) "Submit your ways unto the Lord and He will direct your paths."
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