Guardians:
Our senior leadership team relies on input from councils that are comprised of members from across the Coast Guard to address specific issues. Two such councils are the Leadership Advisory Council (LAC) and Diversity Advisory Council (DAC). In anticipation of our Diversity Summit held this week, the two Councils attended a joint meeting on Monday and Tuesday. This unique session provided an opportunity to pool resources, share ideas, and discuss issues of concern to both groups.
On Tuesday, I met with both Councils to discuss their working topics and to hear their feedback from a recent survey they conducted. The survey was sent out to the field to gauge our workforce on leadership and diversity issues. Nearly 900 responses from members of the active duty, reserve, civilian and auxiliarist communities were received. From the field input, it was clear that command climate issues impacted every facet of mission performance and ultimately, retention. Master Chief Skip Bowen, MCPO-CG, and Master Chief Jeff Smith, MCPOCG-Reserve Forces, joined me in meeting with the Councils. Some of the topics discussed included:
Barriers to retention and promotion;
Command climate as a leadership and diversity concern;
How we communicate internally and externally; and how
Diversity includes diversity of thought and is a critical component of leadership.
We also discussed the critical concept of "guardians taking care of guardians". To successfully help others in the best way possible, we have to take care of our fellow guardians first. We discussed the need to involve and solicit input from all levels of the Coast Guard. We also need to look at predictive indicators to spot trends, if any, in order to address command climate issues before they result in a negative impact to the unit.
Many of the same issues were highlighted throughout the Diversity Summit in innovative ways that included engagement, creative thinking exercises, and exposure to new ideas. The presentations were fresh, fast-paced and forward thinking and were great opportunities for networking and sharing of ideas to move us forward as an organization.
At the end of every meeting with the LAC and DAC, they submit a summary of their discussions and specific recommendations for senior leadership consideration. Both Councils will continue their hard work over this next year and I greatly appreciate their dedication and service.
