MIKE’S GUIDE TO EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATION – PART ONE

February 22, 2023 by Mike Manazir – (4-5 minutes)

Communication is HUGE for high performing teams! I tell the story in my book Learn How to Lead to Win that as the Captain of the USS Nimitz, I was concerned about the morale of my crew, all my crew.

How do you communicate effectively with a crew of 5,000 people? I imagined an enlisted sailor way down below decks, homesick, uncertain and maybe a little fearful of life at sea. They were who I needed to reach. Each night at the end of day operations, I would have the boatswain (pronounced “Bos’n”) pipe the signal for the Captain’s announcement.

The boatswains, whom I grew close to, would compete for the longest whistle. It made me grin while it drove the crew crazy. After that long whistle, I would grab the mic and exclaim, “Thanks, Boats! Good evening, Nimitz warriors. This is Old Salt.”

I would then proceed to tell them in a highly energized voice what we had done that day, what the weather looked like outside, how good it was to be at sea and what they could expect in the coming evening and the next day. I would highlight the escapades of well performing sailors and call them out by name. I would tell them how pleased I was with their performance.

I was the energizer bunny. I kept my tone positive and upbeat. I wanted that sad sailor working way down below the decks to raise their eyes to the speaker and wonder, “If that idiot is all that happy maybe there’s something for me to be happy about too.”

The crew responded to my tone. One evening, after making my normal evening announcement, I was walking down on the second deck on my way to the Command Master Chief’s office. I was tired. We were at the end of the third day where I had to be on the bridge.

We had conducted flight operations in the South China Sea three days ago and immediately transited the Strait of Malacca, which itself takes 24 hours. After the transit, we commenced day light operations and were preparing for the night schedule in the Bay of Bengal. I was spent. My batteries were drained. That evening, my voice betrayed me. I was not my usual buoyant self.

As I hurried down the ladders to see the Master Chief and got to the mess decks, one of my sailors stopped me and asked, “Captain, are you okay?” There was clear concern written on his face.

I was surprised a bit and stopped to look him in the face and said, “Sure. Why?” “Well you sounded down on the announcements.”

That’s when I knew that my tone was motivating the crew and made me muster up the energy to remain positive. I did that throughout my tour and to this day get reminded of the intro, “Good evening warriors, this is Old Salt…”

The Leadership Lesson I unwrap in the book is that as the leader, you set the tone. This is huge, because your tone sets the culture.

“As the Leader, you set the tone for your entire team.” – Colin Powell

What does it mean to set the tone? It means to establish a feeling, or an attitude by a manner in which you speak or write to the people on your team. For me, my target was all 5,000 people on the Nimitz and I wanted the tone to be upbeat and positive. I wanted it to feel inclusive, that they mattered and I cared about what happened to each and every one of them. I wanted them to know they could trust me. I learned the leader has to –

• Communicate with their team members and communicate often. Especially when in crisis.
• Communicate more, not less. Hold town halls, always tell the truth, tell it from the heart.
• Connect with your employees and build trust. Absent clear and consistent communication from the leader, human nature takes over. Unanswered questions emerge and people make up their own answers.
• Communicate a positive vibe. Your communications have to be positive and my demeanor had to be energized. When I walked on the bridge, the team mirrored my tone. If I was upbeat, they would be upbeat. If I was downbeat, they would be downbeat. Teams function better when they are positive and energized
• Communicate a clear message. People are more positive when they know what’s going on, why it’s happening and what we’re doing with it.
• Be the leader people feel free to approach with questions or different ideas that might not be popular or that you might not agree with.
• They need to know their voice matters and they will be heard.
• Be the leader people want to follow and want to go to work with.

Lead from your heart. Lead to Win.

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