Yours Aye
By RADM David Ledson, Chief of Navy
This is my final column for Navy Today – I leave the Navy on 30 April and like so many Sailors before me, walk away from a life of Sailors, ships and the sea. I won’t write about my 42 years or so in the Navy. What I will write about are some things I’ve had time to reflect on over the last few days – things that I have experienced mainly over the last five years.
What you can achieve is to a large degree bounded by the goals you set yourself – and by the quality of the people you have working for you. I have been very fortunate to have high quality people working for me and with me. They have come principally from the Navy – but the Army and Air Force personnel I have worked with have been very good too.
It is almost impossible – I won’t say always because I’ve learned there is always an exception – to achieve big things and good things by yourself.
Ultimately the Navy has to come first – but must do so within an NZDF context. Sometimes, though, I have found there are circumstances in which the margin between the Navy ‘interest’ and the Defence Force ‘interest’ has been very, very small. No matter the circumstances, though, it is always important to steer away from a ‘zero sum game’ and to adopt a ‘win-win’ strategy.
What I have come to realize is that two key responsibilities of the CN are to be a guardian of the Navy’s reputation and a ‘steward’ of its heritage. As I have often said, our reputation depends fundamentally on how all of us behave and how we perform.
Our heritage is, in a sense, the gift of reputation that those who have served in the ‘past Navy’ have passed on to those of us in ‘today’s Navy’ – and a gift we have a responsibility to pass on to those who will serve in ‘Tomorrow’s Navy’.
Our Core Values are real – they are much more than words on a bumper sticker. I find them a useful reference point for many of my actions and important decisions. I believe they are very effective tools for creating a ‘unity of purpose, behaviour and performance’ inside the Navy. As I’ve said before, they are not negotiable and are key factors in determining who is in the Navy – and who is not in the Navy.
While the Navy has provided a constant and important ‘sense of purpose’ throughout much of my life, I realize it’s important to have a compelling ‘sense of purpose’ outside the Navy. This is generated by a number of things – but at the centre for most of us is the family.
Management books devote lots of pages talking about the need for an appropriate ‘work-life’ balance. I have found that concept easier to think about than it is to achieve – particularly since it often seems that I walk through days populated by engagements determined by my Executive Assistant. To use a quote I hear regularly, ‘Ah, but it’s just an aspiration.’ I would urge you to cast that quote to one side and make it a reality – but make sure the balance you get is the right balance - most of the weight cannot be on just one side of the scales.
The Navy’s Vision is achievable – it may take some time to get there but I have no doubt that we are moving in the right direction. Not only are we doing this but we are, more often than not, doing the right things the right way and for the right reasons.
Importantly, too, the numbers of people in the Navy who are committed to our Values and our Vision are increasing – and doing so at various rank levels. This seems to me, to be indicative of what the Naval Excellence programme has been fundamentally about – not structural or process change, but cultural change.
My connection with the Navy is an emotional one. So, leaving will be an ‘interesting’ experience – to employ a euphemistic approach! In fact, the farewells I’m currently going through make it all feel a bit like a funeral. On the upside, though, any negative comments are not given much air time.
However, this moment arrives for each of us, and we each reach it with a chest full of memories; many happy – some sad. I will certainly carry some very strong memories – some of them especially emotional ones.
In my particular case the career I have chosen was the right one; for five years I have been very lucky and privileged to be your CN. Someone once said to me that many aspire to be CN, but only a very few are chosen.
As I walk off the PHILOMEL parade ground with my wife on 30 April the Navy will ‘march on’ without a pause – and as we board the plane to fly to Wellington the new CN, (who will be CDRE Tony Parr), will have his hands on the helm. And, so, my wife and I wish him and his wife Carol every success as he takes up his new responsibilities – and as she gains some new ones too.
"No te moana me oku roimata te kai o te tote kei oku ngutu."
"The taste of salt on my lips comes from the sea and from my tears."
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