1. Walk in your member’s shoes from time to time. It’s essential for FC’s & DCDR’s to delegate if they want to succeed, so I’m certainly not implying you should spend all your time doing lower-level tasks. However, if you’ve gotten to the point where all you do is high-level stuff and you’re never down in the trenches with the people who actually make your Flotilla run, you’re missing out on many things.
First, you’re likely not interacting directly with customers (the boating public and the Coast Guard). Second, you’re not seeing the opportunities for improvement. Third, you’re building a wall between yourself and your members. Make sure you regularly spend some time working side by side with everyone on your team.
2. Solicit opinions—then listen and act. Encourage members to offer opinions or suggestions and act on the ideas. It’s easy to get defensive when someone criticizes the way you run things and instinctively dismiss what they have to say. Instead, take
some time to truly consider the ideas—and not just by yourself. Involve your whole team in discussing member ideas and suggestions. (You can keep them anonymous, which obviously makes it easier to get honest opinions and discuss them openly.)
This doesn’t mean you always have to act on the will of the majority: After all, you’re the FC/DCDR. However, it does mean you need to sincerely consider ideas and suggestions and why they will or won’t work. It also means you need to share your decisions and the reasons behind them with your staff. This will help give members a big-picture view of how the Auxiliary operates, enabling them to be more invested in the organization and to come up with better and more targeted suggestions in the future.
3. Listen to what your members aren’t saying. No matter how good a FC/DCDR you are or how well your team gets along, sometimes members are still reluctant to say what’s on their minds. This is why it’s crucial to keep your ear to the ground and pay attention to the mood in the Flotilla. Often, what members don’t say speaks louder than words. Is absenteeism increasing with no obvious reason? Are two people who used to be buddies suddenly refusing to work with each other? Has someone stopped meeting his or her goals? Observe the situation and you’ll likely spot clues to the real problem, which you can then address. If human behavior isn’t your strong suit or you’re not a good observer, enlist another key member to scope things out and report back to you.
4. Give (and get) lots of feedback. As you engage with your members, be sure to offer ongoing feedback. Most FC’s give too little
feedback, and most members can’t get enough. Make sure your feedback ratio is
BOTTOM UP LEADERSHIP
OVER THE BOW Winter 2017