Next Level Blog

Three Things The Coast Guard Does to Prepare for Emergencies

The turmoil and damage caused in the Northeast last weekend by Hurricane Irene is just the latest reminder of how much we rely on first responders like the U.S. Coast Guard in times of emergencies and natural disasters. There was some dramatic video released yesterday of a  Coast Guard helicopter rescue of a boater in distress off the Rhode Island coast during the storm. Military.com provides a nice summary of the Coast Guard’s Hurricane Irene operations in this article.

There’s definitely a lot of courage displayed by first responders in emergencies but there’s also a lot of preparation and training on display as well.  As I wrote here last week, I recently had the opportunity to spend the weekend at sea with the crew of the USCG Cutter Venturous. The patrol that I was on was the first time on board for about a third of the 80 person Venturous crew. The training started immediately upon departure. Once we were under way, a series of drills were executed to get the crew prepared for emergencies that might arise. First up was a man overboard drill. You can see some highlights from that in this video:

The first afternoon at sea ended with an abandon ship drill and the morning of day two started with a migrant onboarding drill. Members of the crew were given the opportunity to come up with a plan for rescuing migrants from a raft, bringing them on board, securing them, processing them and sheltering them.  Here are some video highlights of the drill:

Not surprisingly, because it was the first time doing this for many of the crew, there were some kinks and bottlenecks in the process. It was a very fortunate thing, however, that the crew had the chance to run and debrief the drill. Twenty minutes after it ended the commanding officer announced that he had just gotten word that the ship would be bringing 15 Cuban migrants on board in about three hours. He wasn’t joking. A drill had quickly turned into the real thing.

Next week, I’ll share a video of the crew preparing to bring the migrants on board but, for now, here are three things I learned about how the Coast Guard prepares for emergencies:

What Happens After a Legend Leaves?

There’s been so much written about Steve Jobs stepping down as Apple CEO this week. As an Apple fan and a student of business leaders, it’s hard to disagree with the many, many tribute articles that have sung the praises of Jobs. Anyone who changes multiple industries – computing with the Apple II, Lisa (remember that?) Mac and the iPad, music with iTunes, telecommunications with the iPhone, movies with Pixar – is a genius. When the history of innovation is written, Steve Jobs will be up there with Henry Ford and Walt Disney.  

There’s a lot of speculation that Apple will fade without Jobs on the scene. Is it possible, though, that the company might do even better in the future?

Based on a very limited amount of personal experience, I think it might be. Here’s the story.

Sneak Peek Opportunity

September will see the launch of a new Eblin Group website and Next Level Blog with some cool new features and resources. One of the ones  I’m most excited about is an online self assessment based on the Next Level model of leadership presence. There will be a complimentary version and an expanded version which will provide leaders with a customized video coaching plan tailored to their lowest rated behaviors.  

In tomorrow’s monthly newsletter, I’ll be giving subscribers a sneak peek at the video coaching plan approach with a link to a short introductory video.

If you’re interested in taking a look, you can sign up for the Next Level Thinking newsletter here.

How Will You Feel When the Big One Hits?

So, the big question on the East Coast yesterday evening was where were you when the earthquake hit? I was in a large conference room in Baltimore leading a group coaching session for rising leaders at a client company. They were working in small groups when I noticed the image on the screen jiggling crazily and saw the projectors hanging from the ceiling shaking back and forth.  We moved outside into the courtyard pretty quickly.  When the building was evacuated, we decided to call it a day. Definitely the first time I’ve ever ended a session early because of an earthquake.

What a great reminder that if you ever think you’re the one in control, you’re not.  In a way, that turned out to be the theme of the day. Just a half hour before the earthquake excitement, we had wrapped up a lunchtime conversation with a company executive who essentially said the same thing. She began her talk by holding up a sheet of paper with 75 names and pictures on it.  She told the group that this was all of the directors and above in that sector of the company in the year 2000.  “How many, she asked, do you think are still here?”  The answer was 23.  Then she showed a photo composite of the top 15 executives from 2004 and asked how many of them were still around.  The answer was one and he’s the current sector president. 

Her point was not one of those, “Look to your left and look to your right; one of you won’t be here,” kind of deals. Rather, she was making the point that there are so many things outside of your control in your career that you have to be prepared for change and make the most of the opportunities you have while remaining true to your values. In her case, that has meant:

What I Learned on a Coast Guard Cutter

For the past few years, I’ve had the opportunity each Fall to talk leadership with the newly promoted admirals of the U.S. Coast Guard and their Senior Executive Service counterparts from the Department of Homeland Security. I’ll be joining the group again this October and will be bringing a new perspective to the conversation. That perspective comes from a once in a lifetime opportunity I had last weekend patrolling the Florida Straits with the captain and crew of the U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Venturous.

Last year, I wrote a similar post to today’s titled What I Learned on an Aircraft Carrier. Some of the lessons from the Venturous are in the same ballpark, but there are a number of new ones.  I attribute the dichotomies to the difference in scale (The USS Harry S Truman has 3,000 to 5,000 crew members and is 1,092 feet long.  The USCGC Venturous has 80 crew members and is 220 feet long.) and mission. As they patrol the Straits of Florida and the Caribbean, the crew of the Venturous may be intercepting drug runners one day, rescuing boaters the next and picking up Cuban migrants the next.  I was only with them two days and, by the end of the second day, the crew had picked up a raft full of Cubans. I was in email correspondence with the executive officer, LCDMR Blake Novak,  a few days ago and he wrote that by the end of the week that started with my stay onboard  the Venturous had picked up a total of 80 migrants. For Coasties, it’s all about being prepared and adapting to the current reality.

In today’s post, I’m sharing a few of my high level lessons learned and this overview video of my time with the crew of the Venturous.

In the days and weeks to come, I’ll post more videos of specific tasks (or, as the Coast Guard calls them, evolutions) and additional reflections on what I learned onboard. For now, here are the headlines on some of my leadership takeaways from Venturous Commanding Officer Troy Hosmer, XO Novak and their crew: