Character in Action: The U.S. Coast Guard on Leadership

Rating:
Summary: Leadership or Management?
Review: A primer on naval leadership within the Coast Guard has been long awaited and perhaps we will have to wait some time longer. Mr. Phillips and Admiral Loy combined their collective skills to produce a small text of their personal visions of management within the Coast Guard.

The book is well done and easily read in its outline form. The general layout mimics a school lesson plan. There are four parts, each containing four neat chapters and each chapter is laid out with managerial regularity. Each chapter begins, basically, with a quote or two, an introductory sea story or anecdote, the supporting concept information, a reinforcing sea story or anecdote to support the concept and ending with a list of reinforcing notes of do's and don'ts. It is the old formula of Tell `em what you're going to tell them, Tell `em and Tell `em what you told `em.

There is nothing new or inspirational in this volume, nor was there any such claim. The introduction echoed many thousands of public relations releases and the work stems from the Coast Guard's "Williamsburg Charter" of 1990 introducing Total Quality Management (TQM) to the Coast Guard. Like the TQM system, this book ignores service culture. Some references to service history serve as examples, but these do not denote culture or exact history. It is difficult to teach any character action if all those who come later are operating in a cultural and historical void.

The unpopularity of TQM in the Coast Guard was not because of its basic ideas but its implementation. The Coast Guard remains the top-down leadership hierarchical organization it was in 1790. The Coast Guard's leadership model has more in common with Cotton Mather than with Deming, Drucker or Juran. The Coast Guard's placement of TQM is not unlike the 1929 comments of Mao Tse-Tung. He also had difficulties getting his people with the party program noting;

"There are various non-proletarian ideas in the Communist Party organization in the Fourth Red Army which greatly hinder the application's of the Party's correct line. Unless these ideas are thoroughly corrected, the Fourth Army cannot shoulder the tasks assigned to it in China's great revolutionary struggle. The source of such incorrect ideas in this Party organization lies, of course, in the fact that its basic units are composed largely of peasants and other elements of petty-bourgeois origin; yet the inadequacy of the Party's leading bodies in waging a concerted and determined struggle against these incorrect ideas and in educating the members in the Party's correct line is also an important cause of their existence and growth. " (Selected Military Writings of Mao Tse-Tung. Peking. Foreign Language Press. 1966)

The correction of "incorrect ideas" is one purpose of the book yet creates another. The authors use the words "customer" and "employee" when referring to the military personal of the Coast Guard. One of the Coast Guard's largest difficulties since the end of WWII is the lack of identity as one of the nation's armed forces. The cultural norm for a military organization is to use proper terminology to instill the attributes of that service onto its people.

A striking item missing from the work is failure. The book lacks examples of leadership failure and what the Coast Guard learned from it. Mentioned among the service's more notable historical leaders is Captain Mike Healy. Healy has become a service beacon of leadership example, but his lack of leadership qualities should be constant case studys at the Coast Guard Academy. Failures such as the Coast Guard's inability to establish consistent missions since the end of World War II, the MCPO-CG who yielded to a commandant's personal grievance, the failed leadership in the Simas Kudirka incident, the to raise non-heroes to hero status in the Coast Guard, an overblown awards system, and the debacle of the selection methods used for a prospective MCPO-CG.. In this vein, both authors failed to prove or show that the "Coast Guard is [a] superlative example of an organization with effective leadership."

This book's tone is of abstraction and theory in management leadership. Missing are the tested concepts and personal touches of Arthur Ageton, Attilla the Hun, Charles F. Shoemaker, Barbara Woodhouse and others. There is some disappointment that Admiral Loy did not include his personal successes and failures of leadership. This would have made the book more human, more authoritative, for future Coast Guardsmen with his personal touches. This work could be a first attempt by the Coast Guard to wage "a concerted and determined struggle against these incorrect ideas." The authors claim this book is the first to use "an entire organization, rather an individual, as a model." This indicates that both believe the Coast Guard is a homogenous organization where the same techniques and procedures may be used across the board. However, the Coast Guard cannot be pigeon-holed so easily. Therefore, the entire organization cannot conceivably be used a model. It must be viewed by its parts and sub-parts. The leadership of a Chief Petty Officer as officer-in-charge of an active station will certainly employ different techniques and principles than that of a Captain in Coast Guard Headquarters. The culture of the service has created several different Coast Guards and since the rise of careerism in the 1970s careers have been made to ensure they rarely meet.

In the end, this Coast Guard commissioned work will be placed on official reading lists and office book shelves. Its use may be limited because the "leading bodies" are not being educated in the more base leadership principles of a naval service and their inability to remove the ideology that authority and responsibility can be separated. The Coast Guard should learn from this book that styles are not all inclusive and a variety of sources must be the goal. It may help some, but the Coast Guard must learn, or re-learn, that its core is that of a naval service - not a corporation.

Rating:
Summary: From the author of "Chronicles of the HEDGE"
Review: As a 26-year veteran of the Coast Guard (retired in 2003) who has served on small boat stations, a 378' Cutter (USCGC GALLATIN), and District and Headquarters offices, as well as authoring a fiction novel, I have a far different take than some of the reviews about "Character in Action." I found the book to be an enjoyable read that espoused the type of dynamic leadership I suspect most people would appreciate in their organization. As one reviewer euphemistically stated, this book is "sufficient for someone who manages an office or a McDonald's." I would agree. But the reviewer stops far too short. The book is also sufficient for someone who manages a Fortune 500 company, a Federal agency, or anything in between. The truth is, the leadership qualities described in this book - from encouraging frank communication, personal empowerment, adaptability to change, and the sheer courage to do the right thing at the right time - would be appropriate, and in fact, paramount to any organization that wants to both succeed in business and in life in the 21st century.

Are there flaws where leadership has failed to rise to the standards described in this book, as some reviews have taken great care to point out? You bet. But fortunately those are the exceptions rather than the rule. The anecdotal stories that precede every section in the book are clear examples, amongst hundreds of others that could be told, of Coast Guard men and women rising to the occasion under the most duressing times to complete a mission that many would not dare engage in.

I highly recommend "Character in Action" to anyone who wants to tweak their organizational leadership styles, and to those who enjoy good robust stories of real life adventure.

Rating:
Summary: Well-oiled machine, but what about conflict management?
Review: As I read through this book, I did not encounter any case studies of conflict management between U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) personnal that required resolution, though there were the occasional references to "Coasties" who felt that they were really doing unimportant jobs (like looking after a power generator) - until a more senior man comes in and convinces them otherwise.

The USCG prides itself in recruiting talent who can do more than one job and can take command in field situations on their own initiative without waiting for orders from on-high; basically, it has an "act-first-tell-me-later" approach, which appears to have served this two-centuries-old organisation well, including during the terrible events of 9/11.

Yet, though Phillips and Loy, the co-authors, give the impression that the USCG runs like a well-oiled machine, they appear to have avoided any discussion of when it does not. Conflict resolution is part of any big organisation, yet no information appears in this book about it. Since the Coast Guard is a culturally homogeneous entity, there is nothing about any clashes of mentality or management styles or thinking.

Like the other four main branches of the U.S. armed forces, the USCG is a full-time organisation, and all five do have their Reserve units manned by part-timers who have civilian jobs. It is common practice for selected military personnel to be sent on exchanges, not just within their own country, but also to other countries. U.S. Coast Guardsmen must surely be sent on exchanges, too, yet Phillips and Loy mention nothing about this.

I would have liked to have read something about the experience of U.S. Coast Guardsmen temporarily serving in the coast guard of a foreign power, because it could say something useful about the differences in mentalities and in approaches to similar situations, and about any resolutions to disagreements or conflicts. Would the visiting USCG personnel have ideas and suggestions listened to and discussed and implemented - or would they simply be ignored?

Armed forces are not the same as civilian corporations, of course, since they are concerned with national defense and power projection rather than profit-making, yet interaction between, say, western and non-western organisations sometimes results in clashes, and I think it would have served the book better, seeing that Phillips has written books on management, had there been examples of conflict and resolution.


Rating:
Summary: Currently Active Duty Coast Guard
Review: I just got through reading the book and was very pleased. I am sorry that the reviewer preceeding me was so dissapointed but for those who sit behind a key board and are not underway you should expect as much. I have not one negative thing to say about the book, the authors, or my beloved Coast Guard. We stick up for each other so I am going to stick up for ADM. LOY. I have deep respect for any one who dawns the coveted Working Blue. To Coasties everywhere, support this book because as you will read it is supporting you. Semper Paratus!

Rating:
Summary: Worth reading and a couple bucks
Review: I thought that this book was definitely worth reading. It was a very easy read, and offered some useful insight. It did a great job characterizing the organizational culture of the USCG.

After reading some of the other reviews, I feel it is necessary to say that this book was written by an person who oversaw an organization on a macro level. It is a book about executive level leadership, not functional level leadership.

In total, it consisted of nothing more than a typical book about leadership - touchy feely advice...shoulds and should nots...yada yada yada. There were some unique ideas presented in this book compared to other leadership books. Again, it was a really easy read...definitely worth a couple bucks and the few hours it takes to read it.

Rating:
Summary: Ethically Challenged Management
Review: The Coast Guard has studied and attempted to teach leadership since the inception of the Revenue Cutter Service in 1790. What is missing in this treatise is the view from those being led. At the deck plate, this theory and feel-good tome does not resonate. Those working in Coast Guard blue respond to leaders of good moral character, who lead and care, and who show fairness and compassion. The past relationship between the Coast Guard and Admiral Loy's progeny lends serious questions about morality and nepotism. That the Admiral's progeny continues to receive preferential employment now from the TSA, leads any thinking person to question the credibility of the author. The Admiral's words ring hollow. Should we "judge one by his actions, not his words" or should we, "do as I say, not as I do?"

Save your time, there is not much here.

Rating:
Summary: Character Inaction
Review: This book may be sufficient for someone who manages an office or a McDonald's, but it falls way short as far as real leadership goes. Specifically, naval leadership. Personally, I think the leadership philosophy espoused by our "beloved Coast Guard" produces really weak leaders, and it's a damn shame that there is a critical mass in this service that seems to like it that way.

And for the record, I've been stationed at eight different units in my time - five of them afloat - so I've gotten to see a pretty good cross-section of people in leadership positions in this service, and it's been pretty disheartening for the most part.

Rating:
Summary: If you don't like it, re-read it!
Review: This is an incredibly good book. If you really did not like it.... Re-read it! You missed something!

If you think it is a primer on leadership, it is not. What it is... is a great book about an organization that serves incredible service to our country with very few people and very little money. Are people in the Coast Guard perfect? NO! And in spite of that, their HONOR, RESPECT, and DEVOTION TO DUTY help them pull together to make things work- often in spite of incredible odds!

Anyone will learn something from this book. Most of us can learn a lot from it, if we are willing to draw the parallels from this agency to our own business. The lesson is Character are compelling. To succeed, we all need to put the right people in the right place at the right time. Seems simple, but in practice, is very hard to do!

The book also provides analysis about today's Coast Guard Missions and their alignment with the purposes of the United States Government's purpose of being, as outlined in the preamble of the Constitution! The match between the two is startling! One can easily see why a Coast Guardsman is soooooo motivated as they are patriots and humantitarianists.

Good read & good sailing!