Grappling with leadership skills
Are leaders born or can they be made? What are the characteristics of a good leader? What aspects of leadership style does Horatio Nelson share with Nelson Mandela? Are leadership and managerial skills the same? Can you become a good leader by reading a book about it?
These are the sort of questions which students and trainers will be grappling with as they respond to the new revisions to the STCW Code as agreed in Manila in June 2010. Evidence of a lack of leadership in some recent casualties has caused concern within the industry, and the revisions are intended to provide a framework for the development of the set of skills which make up leadership.
Up until now, the STCW Code has tended to focus on technical skills, but the Manila Amendments, as they are known, will introduce competence requirements for leadership and managerial skills at both the operational and management levels, ie this is for both junior and senior officers. Competence may be assessed in a number of ways, including approved training, in-service experience or simulator training. Whichever mode of assessment is used, the criteria for evaluating these competences are the same and are included in the relevant tables within Part A of the Code, for example:
- Communication is clearly and unambiguously given and received
- Effective leadership behaviours are demonstrated
- Decisions are the most effective for the situation.
So what will seafarers need to learn, and how will they learn? At the operational level, junior officers need to understand the principles of leadership and how different styles of leadership can be effective in different situations. They also need to understand the principles of good communication. Perhaps most importantly at this level, junior officers need to develop practical strategies for assertiveness and good team working.
There have been casualties in the past where junior officers, for one reason or another, have been reluctant to point out impending dangers to their seniors. There are practical techniques which officers can learn to be assertive without being insubordinate. Senior officers will need to actually demonstrate effective leadership behaviours. There are computer-based tests available which will assess leadership potential by placing individuals in a set of scenarios with a number of different leadership options.
Participants can analyse and select the most appropriate solutions. Of course, such tests only reveal what an individual thinks they might do – to have some confidence that a student is displaying real behaviour, other forms of assessment might be needed. This can be done through role-playing or other forms of simulation, as well as through real experiences on board. At this level, leaders will need to be able to control their own emotions effectively, but also manage others, sometimes in novel and dangerous situations
Leadership is a complex mix of personality and skill, but there is something we can all learn to become more effective in our interactions with other personnel. The new revisions give seafarers an opportunity to develop practical strategies and techniques to achieve this goal.