Every Ensign is obligated to lead. Ensign Ty Downing, the fire marshall on board the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower (CVN-69), demonstrates proper hose techniques during a general quarters drill.
Not all junior officers are expected to be great leaders, but all junior officers are expected to lead. This can be frightening because we often confuse the two expectations. We fear we might not have what it takes to become a great leader. We worry our inexperience will contribute to our failure. These anxieties, especially when you first step in front of sailors, can be overwhelming and get in the way of taking the initiative to lead.
Some officers may be born leaders. Some may have developed relevant skills during past experiences and feel prepared to stand accountable and responsible for the careers and lives of others. Some junior officers may have the natural talent and charisma to convince others to follow and to accomplish difficult things.
But most junior officers are inexperienced, and no amount of time spent as captain of the football team or president of the fraternity/sorority will fully prepare us to lead sailors in defense of freedom. From the day we accept our commissions—regardless of intellect, talent, or charisma—we are expected to stand in front of our sailors and take responsibility for their careers, their safety, and their ability to accomplish the mission.
Ensigns Are Obliged to Lead
While we knowingly accept the responsibility and obligations that come with our commission, we should rest assured that our commission does not obligate us to know all or be all from the start. Nor are we expected to be the next Admiral Chester Nimitz or William Halsey. We are expected, however, to overcome our fears and face the challenges of leadership head-on.
E. B. Potter, in his biography of Admiral Arleigh Burke, provides an inspirational example of a junior officer forced to face his fear of failure while striving to meet the expectation to lead. The story takes place as Burke and Admiral Marc Mitscher’s fast carrier task force are first confronted with kamikazes.
One evening, listening on the circuits, Burke heard “one of those freak communication things.” It was an ensign reporting from a picket destroyer, then under attack. The number-one gun was dismounted, and the ship was listing badly. The captain, the executive officer, and the engineering officer had been killed. So far as Burke could make out, the ensign was the only officer still alive on board, and he had taken command. The ship could still make five knots and had two guns left in operating condition.
With a blend of horror, pride, and pity, Burke listened to the conclusion of the young officer’s report, words that would haunt his memory for years:
“I am an ensign,” the voice said. “I have only been on this ship for a little while. I have been in the Navy for only a little while. I will fight this ship to the best of my ability, and forgive me for the mistakes I am about to make.”
At that point, the communication snapped off. Burke assumed the attack had resumed and, in all probability, the ship was sunk. He never learned the man’s fate or his identity, but he never forgot his words.1
We all can learn from this unknown ensign’s inspiring example of struggling with the fear that inexperience would contribute to a failure to lead. The ensign was not chosen to command the ship because of his talent, intellect, or charisma. In fact, we have no idea whether he was perceived by his sailors as a good leader. All we know is that he was the only person left with a commission, and he was expected to lead. The ensign, recognizing his inexperience, faced his fear with perseverance and passion. He faced it with grit.
Grit Combines Passion, Purpose, and Practice
You do not have to be born with grit. Unlike intellect or charisma, grit can be nurtured. Grit is a characteristic of leadership we all can develop.
Angela Duckworth, a 2013 MacArthur Fellow and chief executive of the nonprofit Character Lab, spent years studying why some of the smartest kids in her classes were being outperformed by the hardest working. What she found was that “perseverance and passion for long-term goals,” or “grit,” was a greater predictor of success than IQ or talent.2 Her TED talk on the subject has been viewed more than 9 million times, and her book, Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance, has become a New York Times bestseller.3
Junior officers must be passionate and enthusiastic to inspire their sailors and face their fears of failure.
After studying a variety of individuals, from West Point cadets to salesman, Duckworth found that their success was not necessarily dependent on their IQ, skill, or talent, but instead on their willingness to stick it out after failure. She argues that the ability to stick it out—to persevere when facing new challenges—can be developed by every individual.
The unknown ensign, new to the Navy and his ship, who stood ready to persevere despite his inexperience, is a role model of what grit looks like in a junior officer. We all should strive to face our greatest fears and challenges with grit, something Duckworth says can be done through passion, interest, practice, and hope.4
What is your passion? To become gritty, we need to think long and hard about what we are passionate about in our professional lives. To help in trying times, junior officers should articulate the reason they sought a commission. Usually, it is because we wanted to serve our country or serve something greater than ourselves. We wanted to feel a sense of purpose in our chosen profession.
If that is the case, do not be shy about it. Be passionate about your country and your part in defending her. You may not feel on a day-to-day basis that you are making an impact, and that is okay. Never forget, though, why you chose to serve. Make sure you rekindle that passion as you face new challenges in your career. This will foster pride in what you do and help you to face your fear of failure with grit.
It is easier to identify your passion on the first day at a new command, but as the routine sets in, it often is forgotten. Therefore, to maintain grit, it is important to identify an interest related to your current assignment.
Think about the tasks you must tackle on a regular basis. Maybe you are fortunate and you are interested in most of the things that take up your time. But for most of us, that probably is not the case. You should, however, be able to pick at least one thing that excites your interest. And if it is not something you deal with on a daily, or even weekly, basis, that is okay too. Spend the time to look more into it and to think more about it. Then work on conceptualizing how that one interesting thing fits into everything else you do. If you identify an interest that brings out your passion, you are much more likely to face new challenges with grit.
Identifying your passion and your interest will help mitigate the fear of failure, but it does not get rid of it. Although grit can be grown in each individual, it requires practice. To practice, it is important to identify the basics of our jobs. We must prioritize what needs to be done on a routine basis to achieve the mission. Break it down and keep it simple.
As we move throughout our careers, we will be expected to become “brilliant in the basics.” Practice those basics, such as communicating with your boss, asking your sailors questions, and reading the instruction. Volunteer for tasks that allow you to fail in a safe environment and where you can learn from that failure. Then volunteer again. As you become comfortable with failing and learning, the fear that your inexperience will contribute to a failure to lead can be overcome.
Inspire Through Enthusiasm
Resolve to be an optimist. This can be difficult given that junior officer culture, especially in the surface warfare community, can foster pessimism. Do not let others get you down. Remember your passion and purpose. It also is helpful to find positive mentors to emulate. Allow their positivity to infect you.
Some days will be hard, and the fear of failure may be overwhelming. When that happens, force yourself to be enthusiastic. If you are passionate about what you do and interested in what you are doing, having a positive outlook on the challenges you face should come easy. If you act enthusiastic, you will be enthusiastic. The enthusiasm and optimism you force yourself to have will help you persevere.
Imagine yourself as that unknown World War II ensign, suddenly alone and in command. Hopefully, we will never face a day so tragic and challenging as he did. Yet his story is vital to our heritage as naval officers. We know not if he was perceived as a good leader by his sailors, but his grit can inspire all of us to find passion in what we do, practice our profession, and inspire with enthusiasm while we do it. His is a path worthy of following. I guess that made him a great leader after all.
1. E. B. Potter, Admiral Arleigh Burke: A Biography (New York: Random House, 1990), 252.
2. Angela Duckworth et al., “Grit: Perseverance and Passion for Long-Term Goals,” Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 92, no. 6, 1087–101.
3. Angela Duckworth, “Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance.” TED Talks Education (April 2013).
4. Angela Duckworth, Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance (New York: Scribner, 2016), 92.
Lieutenant Harbin is a judge advocate stationed in Rota, Spain. A qualified surface warfare officer, he holds a bachelor’s degree from the Virginia Military Institute, a juris doctor from Pennsylvania State University, and is a 2013 graduate of the Rhodes Academy of Oceans Law and Policy.