MG Gaineys Commanders Brief

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MG Gaineys Commanders Brief
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Agenda

• Command Philosophy
• Email Guidance
• Leadership Style

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MG Gaineys Command Philosophy
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Command Philosophy

• I want you to love your job and enjoy being a
  member of SDDC. My job is to make you
  successful- get you resources, coach you, and
  shield you from distracters. The essence of my
  command philosophy is Mission First, People
  Always. There are five basic components
• 1. Do what is right, legally and morally
• 2. Treat people with respect and dignity
• 3. Ensure everyone has the opportunity to be
  all they can be
• 4. Power down and train subordinates
• 5. Instill teamwork and values

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Command Philosophy

• Resources-People
• Take care of yourself, your family, and your
  people
• Understand my intent and guidance
• Challenge me - disagreement is not disrespect
• Set and hold high standards- be a first-class
  operation
• Train people on what right looks like and
  enforce it
• Mentor to excel and counsel those who fall below
  
• Diversity- every person brings a special talent
  -leverage it

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Command Philosophy

• Take Initiative
• You know what to do - do not need me to validate
  your good ideas
• If changing a policy or expending resources, pass
  the recommendation up the chain of command
• Lets experiment with different ideas
• Underwrite all honest mistakes
• Tell me early on and dont repeat it

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Command Philosophy

• Communication
• I have very few great ideas-- great solutions and
  ideas come from you and your subordinates- pass
  them up
• Up the chain- listen to what your subordinates
  tell you.
• Down the chain- tell them what is going on-
  dispel the rumors
• Share information with teammates

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Command Philosophy

• Candor/Loyalty
• Not a yes person and do not expect others to be
  
• Want your opinions and reasons why
• Reward teamwork, not back-stabbing
• If you cannot meet a suspense- tell me early why
  and when you can
• Technical competence cant know everything-
  tell me you dont know- then go research the
  answer

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Command Philosophy

• Equipment/Funds/Safety
• Perform preventative maintenance on owned
  equipment
• Ensure personnel are trained, licensed, to
  operate equipment
• Property accountability hand receipt,
  sub-hand-receipt!
• Monitor funds expenditure and put in place
  controls for supply and travel credit cards
• Commanders, you are the safety officer
• Safety is first and foremost in any task
• Anyone can halt an unsafe act
• Correct violations on the spot or just endorsed a
  lower standard

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Command Philosophy

• Customers
• Know them and dialogue to see where we can add
  value
• Educate them on what we bring to the table
• Understand the metrics- ensure the measures are
  correct
• Stand in their shoes and look back at processes
  and procedures
• Ask - are we responsive or Bureaucratic?

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Notes to Key Leaders

• Lead by example- they will watch you on and off
  duty
• Take care of yourself Physical Fitness, dental
  readiness, stress relief -- Have fun, time will
  pass quickly
• Power down- use your energy to see whats going
  on, reflect on what needs to happen and guide
  your command
• Keep in touch with what is going on
• Find multiple methods measure morale and command
  climate

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Notes to Key leaders

• Mentorship and Counseling- One of the most
  important things you will ever do
• I want you to counsel in writing. Provide
  strengths, areas to work on, and how to correct
  them
• Talk through career development- help them come
  up with a seven year plan-types of jobs, schools
  they should go to, etc.
• Door is always open
• Ask any time for vector check

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Email- Guidance

• Do not lead from behind the computer - loose the
  human dimension
• If it is hot, pick up the phone or walk down the
  hall
• If sense negative vibes or frustration- call!
• Send only to those who need the information
• Do not do a reply to all unless others need to
  see your comments

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Email- Guidance

• If you expect a comment back- state that
• Place primary audience in the to block and
  those you want to keep aware, in the cc block
• Be terse- put bottom line up front state action
  you need someone to take, if required
• If I think the comments are appropriate for all,
  I will reply to all if not, I will reply to only
  the sender and anyone I ask a question of.

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Leadership Style

• ESTJ- (Extrovert- Sensing- Thinking-Judgment)
• I like structure, details, practical, matter of
  fact, organization, efficient and effective
  organization, base decisions on logic and
  objective analysis, focus on outer world of
  people and things, focus on the present, concrete
  information gained from senses
• I like short, to the point meetings, emails and 3
  by 5 cards
• I am a people person
• I manage by walking around I take lots of notes
  and ask lots of questions

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Leadership Style

• Calm friendly dialogue- not a yeller or a
  screamer- I rarely cuss
• Small problems I will fix on site, big ones, I
  will call you
• Understand systems determine if mistakes are
  due to a systematic error or a mere bleep on the
  screen
• Customer oriented approach
• Like to accentuate the positive and minimize the
  negative
• I like to have fun- I love the Army and what I do

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Leadership Style
Comments?