Leadership at Sea and in War

Decatur Boarding the Tripolitan Gunboat by Denis Malone Carter

I've thought about the people that I write about, how their personality affects the style of their leadership. The protagonist in my novel, the fictional Robert Marshal, is a young man, a ship's captain and skilled mariner, but introverted in nature. In writing his story, I thought about those leaders that I've served under in the military, while sailing, or in my civilian life. Most have been good, a few have been great and thankfully only one or two have been disasters. But the styles of leadership have all been different.

One of the characters that I wrote about was actually the commanding officer of the British squadron on Lake Ontario from 1755-56. Housman Broadley’s correspondence from this time survives and in reading it, I get the feeling that he was a mediocre leader. I've had one boss in the past that I considered a truly horrible human being, but Broadley wasn't that. I think he made poor decisions, moderately abused his authority and ultimately cost other people their lives because he was shy of combat. In my story I may be doing the man an injustice in portraying him as I do, because I don’t know more than what he wrote in official correspondence. However, my sense of him is that he was overconfident in public, but harbored deep doubts of his ability privately.

Everyone that I've met who hasn't been in the military, thinks that we must have great leaders in the US military. But that's just not the case, any more than it is in the rest of society. I think mediocre leadership is the norm everywhere, especially in roles where the consequence of poor leadership is low. During the Seven Years War, North America was the backwater of the conflict and I think the men that initially led the battles exhibited that. Only one of the three campaigns of 1755 was led by a career military General and he was killed in combat. I think I see that today, as the wartime military of the United States gives way to a garrison military. More mediocre leaders are allowed to rise to high command, people who never commanded ships at sea. While those that are war fighters get out because as lieutenants their skill set didn't set them above the rest for promotion. They couldn't make a good powerpoint...

Captain Donald Taube (1942-2007)

I’ve also experienced leaders who are characters in every sense of the word. When I sailed on the schooner Pioneer, one of the relief captains was man that was larger than life, but in a strange, almost comical way. If any person can be termed a character, Captain Don Taube was that man. A short, chubby, balding man, with a scraggly beard and a rough demeanor, he had seen more and done more than most people and didn't suffer fools gladly. He was a pacifist and I was in the military, so he had no reason to help me, but he did. He took the time to explain to me not just what he was doing on the Pioneer, but why he was doing it. Don died in 2007 and I was in training for my first tour in Iraq, so I was unable to make his memorial service. I still miss him and still remember what he taught me about sailing and seamanship.

I see Robert as different than those above, a competent sailor first, focused on navigation and seamanship, and using that competency to enhance his authority over the crew on a ship. A quote from the novel describing him:

“Ballard had seen young men become Tartars in their first command, their pride overcoming their senses. However, that had not been the case with Robert Marshal, who would often defer to Ballard or the first officer, James Healey, when it came to issues of discipline with the crew. He never deferred on points of seamanship or navigation though, which Ballard had found to be rarely at fault. Ballard thought the young captain to be a natural sailor, to have the sea in his blood as it were. A rare gift for one so young.” 

His reticent nature doesn’t allow the easy familiarity with the crew the way I learned in sailing, or even the military, yet he imparts wisdom of a sort nonetheless. I can’t see such a man giving rousing speeches, but can see him surprising them while walking among them, remembering their names and details of their lives. And that I think is real leadership, to take the time to know the people your lead. I should also say that none of Robert’s traits in leadership reflect my own, except perhaps in his relentless pursuit of what he thinks is right.

REF:

Portrait of Samuel Linley by Thomas Gainsborough ca. 1778. The Collection of the Dulwich Picture Gallery, London, UK

Decatur Boarding a Tripolitan Gunboat by Dennis Malone Carter ca. 1853