Yesterday’s note included a comment by the great but flawed conductor John Eliot Gardiner about orchestras. They are undemocratic, he said. Someone has to be in charge.
I grew up in the Navy and am familiar with that ethos. If you are on a submarine that is being attacked with depth charges, you can’t really form a committee, break out Robert’s Rules, and find consensus on the best course of action.
Someone must make a split-second decision, issue clear orders — and the crew must leap to carry them out.
It’s more complicated than it sounds. Crews that don’t trust don’t leap. Crews that have doubts about their leaders perform badly.
In my view, the former president who was recently indicted in Atlanta was a terrible president. But he would have been worse as a naval commander. What would you do if you had a commander who had unwavering support — but only if you counted less than half the crew? What if it were obvious that most of the crew just didn't trust him? Would you risk a billion-dollar boat carrying nuclear weapons on a hunch that everything might turn out all right?
I heard some fascinating arguments about leadership.
The officers hoping to command a submarine were weeded out ruthlessly. Some got close. Some who did well as executive officers, second in command, just could not perform as commanders.
The tradition then was to give the poor fellow — they were all men then — a bottle of whisky with orders to a shore station to await retirement.
No comments:
Post a Comment