A Hard Lesson in Agile Leadership from the U.S.S. Roosevelt

Agile leadership comes in all shapes and sizes.

The current pandemic and stay at home order continues to linger.  For those of us with careers which give us the privilege to work at home it has been a strange experience. I confess I feel like a grounded teenager stuck at home.  The reality is that many of us are stuck at home.  Plenty of others are less fortunate because they lack adequate shelter, or they are performing essential jobs risking increase exposure from the disease.  I have made a point of keeping informed but not wallowing in the 24-hour news cycle.  One news story did catch my attention, and that was the tale of the U.S.S Theodore Roosevelt.

Theodore Roosevelt is a Nimitz class aircraft carrier.  It is a floating airbase and city which can travel around the world.  It served in Desert Storm and provided continuous support for America’s ongoing efforts to fight the war on terror in the aftermath of the September 11th attacks.  It is a symbol of American power.  It also became an example of how that power is vulnerable.  The ship and its sailors had an outbreak of the COVID-19 virus.

Navy and Marine officers have two significant responsibilities; they accomplish their missions, and they look after the safety of the people under their command.  Everything else is a distraction to sailors and marines.  The commander of the ship Capt. Brett Crozier sent pleas for help and supplies via e-mail up the chain of command.  The navy did not answer those requests but they leaked to the press.  One hundred sailors contracted the disease, and the ship’s commander was asking for the evacuation of the sick to prevent more people from getting ill.

The chain of command exposed for its slow action began a medical evacuation of the ship.  It then relieved Captain Crozier of his command, effectively firing him.  The acting secretary of the navy said he had lost confidence in Crozier’s leadership.  As he left the ship, his sailors cheered and supported him.  We can gather plenty of lessons from this experience.  As an agile coach and scrum master, you should apply them to your practice.

First, look after the wellbeing of the people you lead and serve.  An aircraft carrier is a floating city powered by two nuclear reactors and has a fully functioning airport.  Over six-thousand people live in close quarters on the ship, and it operates night and day.  An outbreak of one-hundred sick people can quickly become a thousand in a matter of weeks.  If the carrier was going to remain combat effective, the sick had to relocate to a naval hospital.  The commander was acting in the best interest of his crew, the United States Navy, and America.  The thought of six thousand sailors sick and dying in the middle of the ocean is the stuff of nightmares—a plague ship that runs on nukes.

In the next lesson, do the right thing even if it is not popular.  Captain Crozier knew he would cause trouble if his messages became public.  He sent the messages anyway because the lives of his sailors and combat effectiveness of his ship were more important than his career.  When senior leadership relieved him of his command, Crozier accepted the decision and stepped aside rather than protest the injustice of his treatment.  He even took the time to make sure his second in command was ready to take over.

Finally, leadership means being with the people doing the work and making you successful.  Captain Crozier has COVID-19, so he had contact with the sailors and marines under his command.  Instead of sequestering himself on the bridge and giving orders, he met with the sick crew members and learned first hand from his ship’s doctor what was happening.  He put the health of his crew above his own.

I think the navy has made a grave mistake in relieving Captain Crozier of his command.  Acting Secretary of the Navy is showing poor leadership in his actions because it is more about keeping appearances to the commander and chief than looking after the safety of sailors and marines.  Being a leader means dealing with bad news, and it means accepting responsibility.  Thomas B. Modly, the current acting secretary of the navy, could have acknowledged the situation on the U.S.S. Roosevelt and admitted the navy was slow to act.  Instead, he fired Crozier sending a clear signal to other officers not to make the navy and the Commander-in-Chief look terrible.  It is a self-interested policy that will cost the lives of sailors and marines.

Being relieved of command effectively ends the career of an officer.  Crozier, if he survives his COVID-19 infection, will be passed over for a promotion and then asked to retire.  If you are a corporation, having someone like Captain Crozier on your leadership team will make your organization better because he will practice servant leadership and look after the people he serves.  He will do the right thing when circumstances require it.  Finally, he will get involved and get his hands dirty in times of crisis.  He may not be commanding an aircraft carrier, but to this agile coach and scrum master, he has shown exceptional leadership.  We need more leaders like Captain Crozier in our organizations.

Until next time.