‘Passion bordering on anger’: The inside story behind the CO’s firing on the destroyer Forrest...

PO1 Tony Holland https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KekChFdIe00

Recall a VP of semiconductor manufacturing that used the daily ops meeting to regularly humiliate attendees that didn’t live up to his expectations. During an oral surgery session that one of my co-workers was undergoing, I opened my Leatherman and offered it to the Veep with the suggestion that it might be easier to pull my friend’s teeth with it. That finally got him to STFU and move on to the intent of the meeting (i.e., determine how to keep improving product yield). Have always felt if you treat people right most (but not all) will usually return the favor.

Lord, I've seen this type many a time. It helped motivate me not to be like that when I started Skippering. First rule: let others do the yelling for you, i.e. the XO and SEL. Even then, keep it to a mild roar. Rule 2: It's just business, not personal. Underperformers are counseled professionally and they make the decision on their continuance. Having a reputation of offloading quickly is a morale booster. Rule 3: Praise publicly and chastise privately. Rule 4: Everyone else knows their job better than you so don't be a FKIA. Rule 5: If you feel you must cuss, then it shows your inadequacies, not the crewman. I think this guy violated all my rules. Had an O-5 Ops Boss that violated them too. I applied Rule 2.