1. April 2012
005/12
Sailor Gram
“Leadership”
“L3+CE”
In Sailor Gram 016/11 I shared with you characteristics of good leadership by using the
acronym TIE for trust, influence, and experience. In this Sailor Gram I would like to discuss the
execution of leadership. Recently at the Year of the Chief celebration, CNO Greenert described
MCPON West’s leadership using the three “L’s” in that he truly Listens, Learns, and leads. Our
MCPON really is great in these areas but as I reflected on this I felt compelled to create the
equation above “L3+CE” to further explain the execution of leadership.
Listen (L1)- All good leaders must be willing to listen to those they lead as well as other
influencers to make good decisions. If you fail to listen, you will most likely not be seen as a
leader but rather a dictator. Listening and understanding the needs, requirements, and
resources of those you serve enable you to lead effectively.
Learn (L2)– All good leaders must also be willing to learn. One must personally and
professionally develop themselves on a continuous basis if they expect to lead a team to greater
success. If a leader fails to learn they fail to grow and therefore the team never grows. A leader
must also be willing to learn from those they serve to understand the challenges so that they can
assist in improving the outcomes.
Lead (L3)– Once you listen and learn, only then can you lead and be able to make positive
change through influencing others with good information and resources that will enable greater
success.
Now that the three “L’s” are defined and executed, you must now continue with the CE
Communicate – This execution point is essential for any leader, once you begin to listen and
learn from those around you the leadership part continues. Now return to those you lead and
communicate back to them feedback and expectations.
Educate – This is critical as you communicate. You must be able to have learned from your
actions and be able to adequately educate those you are leading to enable success. As the team
understands challenges or decisions that you have made or learned about, they will need to
become smarter so that they may support those challenges and decisions. As they understand
they may also be able to assist with ideas and innovations to support the goals.
See the challenge and recommended reading below. This is an equation that must continue on
a rotational basis. As a leader this process never stops and you must continue to learn.
Challenge: Leadership Book Recommendation
Reflect over events of the past year to determine if you utilized
this in your leadership execution. 1) Did you miss any step? 2) “Our Iceberg Is Melting” By John Kotter and Holger
How can you improve in this equation? 3) How will you grow in Rathgeber
the future?