1. 38 SHIPMATE
FEATURE
Leadership Lessons in
History and in Practice
Nearly three years ago I reported to the
NavalAcademy to fulfill a dream of
becoming a company officer. After earning
a Masters of Professional Studies in
Leadership Education and Development
(LEAD) degree from the University of
Maryland as part of the USNA LEAD
Masters Program,I assumed duty as the
14th Company Officer.
What awaited me was an incredible
journey of personal and professional
development that was completely
By Lieutenant
Jonathan “Shank” Lushenko ’05, USN

2. Stewardship, Spring 2014 39
unpredictable.The moral,mental and physical development
midshipmen receive during their four years is similar to the
development that Navy and Marine Corps junior officers
receive while on staff.My recent tour at the Naval Academy
is a testament to the education and training midshipmen
receive and demonstrates the spirit and promise of our next
generation of naval leaders.Our Brigade is as strong as it
has ever been.Nowhere is this spirit stronger than during
Plebe Summer.
The challenge of leading 80 new and inexperienced
midshipmen was my reward after taking over 14th Company
in April 2012. As the Plebe Summer 2012 Golf Company
Officer one question guided my actions:how can 80 of the
youngest and newest members of the Navy come together to
form a successful team? This question also extended to the
first- and second-class detailers who were charged with
preparing our plebes to join the Brigade of Midshipmen;
their development was also paramount.
Drawing on the education received during the LEAD
program,I began constructing a comprehensive strategy
designed to ensure all members of Golf Company—plebes and
detailers alike—understood and appreciated the mission and
vision of our company.This was accomplished through small
group meetings,one-on-one interactions and company-wide
discussions primarily conducted at the conclusion of daily
training.Three overarching goals led our company:1)Approach
each day with a positive attitude;2) always give 100 percent
effort;and 3) Never let fear get in the way of opportunity.
Together with Golf Company Senior Enlisted Leader,
Chief MigualTater,we gave our detailers the tools and knowledge
of fleet experience to appropriately direct and temper their
well-intended enthusiasm for leadership and discipline.We
largely provided guidance and instruction when requested
and when inexperience necessitated our input.
Ultimately,because of the relationship of mutual trust
and respect we built with our detailers,and because of the
exceptional talent of our fourth-class midshipmen,Golf
Company earned Color Company honors as the number
one of 15 companies during Plebe Summer 2012.
Prior to the USNA LEAD program,my understanding of
command and leadership was underdeveloped.My knowledge
and appreciation for the heavy responsibility of command was
greatly advanced while attending the University of Maryland
and as a company officer.One of the most indispensable
elements of command is a command philosophy.Before
taking over as the 14th Company Officer,it was apparent
that our company lacked a shared vision and organizational
values.To correct this deficiency,substantial time and effort
was devoted to developing a commander’s intent:Excellence
Through Courage.
In addition,our company set several goals and identified
keys to success.The goals of 14th Company were:1) Have fun;
2) No major conduct or honor offenses;3) No PRT failures;
and 4) No academic failures.Our keys to success were:trust,
respect,teamwork,compassion,discipline and accountability.
After publishing this intent,I took a deep breath,entrusted
14th Company to the capable leadership of our company staff
and was completely amazed by the performance of our company.
We went from being the 14th ranked company the previous
two semesters to earning Color Company honors.In all
Class of 2017 Plebe Summer. Photo by Barbara Hendricks

3. 40 SHIPMATE
FEATURE
As author Ira Chaleff wrote in the Courageous Follower,
“The rewards of the balanced leader-follower relationship
are the rewards of all healthy relationships—honest struggle,
growth,mutual admiration and even love.”Moreover,“the
sooner we … [get] comfortable with the idea of powerful
followers and powerful leaders,the sooner we can fully develop
and test models for dynamic,self-responsible,synergistic
relationships in our organizations.”2
Put differently,leaders
are only as good as their followers.
But,how did we create this environment?
Creating a successful organization where the leader-follower
relationship is paramount is a deliberate and thoughtful process
that depends upon shared vision and goals within an environment
where morality and ethical behavior is omnipresent.Followers
must know that their leaders have their and their organization’s
best interests in mind while maintaining convictions and
concerns outside of the bottom line.Likewise,leaders must
know that their followers are willing to lead from below by
holding them accountable through well-intended conversations
and interactions.If leaders have created an environment of
mutual trust and respect,followers will have the courage to
hold leaders accountable,both ethically
and professionally.
During my time as a company
officer I came to realize that the formula
for creating this type of environment is
not under lock and key—we are all
capable of creating these types of
organizations.The roadmap to success is
standing for something and creating a
shared vision accessible from the top to
the bottom of an organization.Telling
stories,creating mantras,communicating
organizational goals and using teachable
moments are all ways to reinforce
organizational values.For example,
14th Company celebrated individual
birthdays,rewarded exceptional
performance with a company coin
and other incentives and took pride
in all aspects of our performance—
moral,mental and physical.
These actions took forethought and
built trust.Jim Collins offers the following
ways to build and maintain trust in an
other major categories,we were ranked in the top 10.
Most importantly,we were a team.Every member of our
company understood our organizational values,and we
took great effort to ensure that positive contributions were
recognized within our company.
The immense value of transformational leadership was
highlighted during the LEAD program in organizational
behavior and student leadership development theory courses.
Defined as leaders“appealing to followers’values and their
sense of higher purpose [in a] moral exercise [which] raises
the standard of human conduct,”1
transformational leadership
requires leaders with refined emotional intelligence,values-
oriented character and keen appreciation for mentorship.All of
this rests upon an organization that elevates the leader-follower
relationship.Those of us who have been in an organization
with a high degree of mutual trust and admiration between a
leader and his or her followers understand the magic that exists
in such a team.The climate and culture of the team overflows
with enthusiasm and purpose,as well as an unspoken contract
of accountability—accountability between both the leader and
a follower.This was 14th Company.
The 2012 Concordia Summit in New York City. From left to right: Capt Bill Woodward, USMC, 19th Company
Officer; LT Jon Lushenko ‘05, USN, 14th Company Officer; ENS Chloe Staab ’13, USN; former President Bill
Clinton; ENS Charlotte Hauser ’13, USN; and ENS George Bowman ’13, USN. Photo courtesy of LT Lushenko

4. Stewardship, Spring 2014 41
organization:1) Lead with questions,not answers;2) Engage
in dialogue and debate,not coercion;3) Conduct autopsies
without blame;and 4) Build“red”flag mechanisms.3
Or,as
General George S.Patton said,“Never tell people how to do
things.Tell them what to do and they will surprise you with
their ingenuity.”
The beauty of exceptional leadership is that it transcends
all professions and walks of life.Generally,successful leadership
practices in the corporate world are equally effective in the
military.The power of human relationships does not change or
diminish from one profession to the next.Rather,human capital
and other successful leadership practices—leading by example
and with action;communicating regularly and with clarity;
and sacrificing for those with whom you serve,to name a
few—are woven into the fabric of all successful organizations.
My time as the 14th Company Officer prepared me well
to serve as the executive assistant to the Commandant of
Midshipmen.Although less accessible on a daily basis,I made
time to mentor many midshipmen and focused on leaders
from our history who represent the essence of transformational
leadership,because,as Churchill noted,“the farther backward
you look,the farther forward you are likely to see.”One morally
courageous leader who best illustrates the servant leadership
midshipmen should emulate led our nation during a critical
time in the early 20th century—World War I—was the 28th
President of the United States,President Woodrow Wilson.
President Wilson lived a life dedicated to public service
that was built upon an incorruptible moral foundation.
His service to our nation still resonates today in many ways.
As the president of Princeton University he stood firm
behind,and implemented,many progressive reforms and
innovations despite heavy resistance.In some respects,he is
the father of higher education.
As President of the United States,Wilson promoted his
“New Freedom”program which fought monopoly powers
and corruption.He was more interested in standing on
the side of right than he was of popular opinion because
everything he did had the best interest of our nation in mind.
He was fond of saying that he“would rather lose in a cause
that will someday win,than win in a cause that will someday
lose,”and“absolute identity with one’s cause is the first and
great condition of successful leadership.”4
Most important wasWilson’s understanding of the
leader-follower relationship.Leadership theorist James
MacGregor Burns thought of Wilson as a leadership pioneer
Private Support Plays Critical Role
in Midshipman Leadership
Education and Development
The LEAD Masters Program that had such a dramatic
impact on Lieutenant Jonathan Lushenko ’05, USN’s,
emerging career is a thriving partnership between the
Naval Academy’s Leadership Education and
Development division and the University of Maryland.
Masters courses taught on theYard by Academy faculty
include “The Nature and History of Command” by
Lieutenant Colonel Joseph J.Thomas, USMC (Ret.),
the Class of 1961 Chair and Distinguished Professor of
Leadership Education, and “Moral Reasoning for the
Company Officer”, by Captain James A. Campbell ’73,
USN (Ret.), the Class of 1972 Distinguished Military
Professor of Character Education—two professors
whose positions are made possible through philanthropy.
In addition to their work with the LEAD Masters program,
Thomas and Campbell also engage directly with
midshipmen in a variety of ways including teaching
courses in the Leadership Education and Development
division, participation in Plebe Summer education and
the First Class Capstone Seminar, mentoring those with
honor violations, leading domestic and international
immersion experiences and working with the National
Outdoor Leadership School. In these efforts, they are
joined by several other distinguished faculty members
whose positions are supported by individual donors,
class giving programs and corporate contributions.
“When it comes to providing our midshipmen with
the foundation in character, ethics and leadership that
will help them succeed as officers, there is no substitute
for the insights, perspectives and real-world context
of someone who has been in that position him or
herself,” said CommanderWes Huey ’87, USN,
Permanent Military Professor and director of the
Leadership Education and Development division.
“We are fortunate to have been able to bring several
recently retired military officers with exceptional
careers and experiences into our division, and are
immensely grateful to those whose generosity has
made these critical faculty additions possible.”

5. 42 SHIPMATE
FEATURE
who“called for leaders who,by boldly interpreting the nation’s
conscience,could lift a people out of their everyday selves.
That people can be lifted into their better selves is the secret
of transforming leadership.”
In 1916,President Wilson delivered an impromptu speech
during the graduation and commissioning ceremony at the
United States Naval Academy that centered upon duty.
He said,“You cannot forget your duty for a moment,because
there might come a time when that weak spot in you should
affect you ...and then the whole history of the world might be
changed by what you did not do or did wrong.”5
As a reward
for following duty,Wilson promised midshipmen affection
from mankind.
The reward for embracing my duty to develop midshipmen
into leaders was mutual respect and affection.Nearly 100 years
later,President Wilson would be proud.
Lieutenant Jonathan Lushenko ’05,USN,served as the executive
assistant to the Commandant of Midshipmen and the 14th Company
Officer at the Naval Academy.He is an MH-60R pilot currently
deployed with Carrier Strike GroupTwo in support of Operation
Enduring Freedom and Maritime Security and Presence Operations
in 5th Fleet.He is assigned to Destroyer Squadron 22 as the Air
and Future Operations Officer and is embarked on GEORGE H.W.
BUSH (CVN 77).
1
Richard L.Hughes,Robert C.Ginnett,and Gordon J.Curphy,Leadership:
Enhancing the Lessons of Experience (NewYork:McGraw-Hill Irwin,2012),p.577.
2
Ira Charleff,The Courageous Follower:Standing Up to & for Our Leaders (San
Francisco:Berrett-Koehler Publishers,2009),p.3,p.235.
3
Jim Collins,Good to Great:Why Some Companies Make the Leap … and Others Don’t
(NewYork:HarperBusiness,2001),p.88.
4
Izquotes.“James MacGregor Burns Quote.”http://izquotes.com/quote/27799.
5
PresidentWoodrowWilson,“Responding to the New Call of Duty,”in Lend Me
Your Ears:Great Speeches in History,ed.William Safire.(NewYork:W.W.Norton &
Company,2004),p.1076.