Leadership and The PRP Program

PRP

I gave a short discussion on this to a group of industry professionals that work primarily in the Federal Market place. This group was a lot of retired military and civil servants so the audience is similar to the people here at RP. Therefore, I felt like expounding the ideas into writing would be valuable. Many veterans will remember the Personal Reliability Program (PRP), this was a DOD program that included security, medical and psychological evaluations that ensured those people trusted with our Nuclear and Chemical arsenal would not go postal. I was in the program from 1986-1990 and it is still a tag in my VA medical file today. I decided to re-coin the acronym to stand for Presence, Relationship, and Performance. While it was meant to describe my current program supporting contingency operations in the Middle East I think the tenants are valuable in building your leadership toolbox. Again like my previous CP this is written from a Navy Surface Mustang perspective but I hope you all get something out of the post.

Regardless of your position in the Chain of Command you physical presence in the work place is an important part of your ability to lead. I always use the analogy of the engineering spaces on a 1200 lb. steam ship. They are hot, humid, dirty, dangerous, smelly places that most people would like to avoid. As a Junior Officer (JO) I always encouraged my peers to get out and tour their spaces on a daily basis. You may not get to all of them, but if you take some time each day most Division Officers can make it to all their spaces at least once a week. My argument was that when the Divo stopped going into the spaces then the Chief is less likely to visit. Then when the Chief stops why would the Leading Petty Officer visit. So next thing you know Firemen Timmy is left to himself in the place that some would compare to hell. That means that all of your experience noticing problem before they become major issues are off chasing some other ambitions. The fact is to be an effective leader your troops need to see you in the field, space, deck wherever the work and fighting is really being done. The Marines call it “Lead from the Front”

Relationships are important in many areas of our life, relationship with a spouse, children and immediate family for instance. That is true in business and your role as a leader. You hear a lot about Officer and Enlisted should not be in a relationship but that is different. As a leader you should absolutely have an appropriate relationship with your team that will need to be developed. You need to learn about their families and past with a sincere concern for their wellbeing. Every exceptional leader I have had the honor of serving with was very personable. I would run into them years latter and they would still remember details about my family. This is one of my personal faults, I have a real hard time remembering peoples names, must be from years of working with people that had their names stenciled to their uniforms. So while you are out in the field get to know your troops and build the appropriate relationship. They will follow you to the depths of hell if you do.

Personal performance is in my opinion the most important and thus last R in my PRP program especially for JOs. Again from the Navy SWO perspective a JO should spend the majority of their time becoming a master tactician. In the end the ship is there to fight so in the immortal words of Admiral Arleigh Burke “This ship is built to fight. You’d better know how.” Let you Chief run the shop you should be working on your deck qualifications and ship handling. Ensure you meet all of your obligations on time or early, get to every brief and meeting on time or early. Be ready for every watch turnover again on time or early no matter how other JOs are doing it. Balanced with the discussion above, but the highest standards of personal performance set an example for your team and they will be motivated by seeing you succeed. Wake up everyday with a clear goal of what you need to accomplish that day to achieve your goals. Set both long term and short term goal and work hard to realize them. Sometimes forces beyond your control may derail you at times, but if your team sees you overcome adversity and recover quickly it will motivate them to do the same. Lead by example!

This PRP program is just an outline of what I have found to be a set of best practices as I have developed my leadership style. While many can debate what makes a good leader or what leadership style is the best. I would like to think I am more of a Participative/Delegative type leader, at lease at this point in my career. That leadership approach obviously is not appropriate to all teams and all situations. You will undoubtedly find yourself in a position while on active duty where the Authoritarian is required. Yet, I think it you build your foundation on PRP when those times develop your team will rise behind you in support because they believe in you and your leadership. Led by example, from the front, develop a relationship with your team and perform at the highest levels and this will lead to your success for life.