His trip included visits to Naval Surface Forces, Naval Air Forces, Naval Special Warfare Command, and Naval Information Warfare Systems Command, where he met with leaders, spoke with Sailors and Navy civilians, and heard ideas on how to best accelerate adoption of the Chief of Naval Operation’s (CNO) call to action for the Navy to Get Real and Get Better.
“We had strong conversations about the opportunities to reduce variability in Navy performance by bringing alive more consistent use of Navy-best leadership behavior and problem-solving tools… the rigorously self-assessing and self-correcting behavior of our highest performing leaders, units and organizations” said Lescher.
CNO Adm. Mike Gilday first announced the Get Real, Get Better (GRGB) initiative at the Surface Navy Association symposium held in Washington D.C. January 2022.
“We need to institutionalize the GRGB skills and discipline that our strongest units demonstrate, and then scale it across the Navy to unleash the power of our people,” said Gilday while delivering remarks virtually Jan. 11. “The critical imperative here is that the self-assessment culture and tools must be widely adapted across our Navy.”
Lescher echoed the call to action while discussing Navy’s Charge of Command and GRGB principles during listening sessions with command triads and Major Commanders from different warfare communities. He will incorporate feedback from front-line leaders in fleet concentration areas as the Navy refines the next steps for rolling out GRGB support elements spanning leadership education, talent management and organizational changes such as the Naval Safety Command.
The Navy’s GRGB movement will be executed by investing more deeply in Navy leaders, and by rewarding them not only the outcomes they lead, but for the teams they build and the culture they establish in achieving these outcomes. Navy leaders will be supported by deployment of a more effective Safety Management System and learning on Navy-proven behaviors and problem solving skills, each serving to close the gap between the service’s best and worst performers.
Lescher met one-on-one with commander, Naval Air Forces, Vice Adm. Kenneth Whitesell and commander, Naval Surface Forces, Vice Adm. Roy Kitchener to discuss how they plan to apply proven tools and best practices to better their teams and solve the hardest problems within the Navy’s two largest type communities.
During the sessions with command triad leaders Lescher answered questions about GRGB and learned about where these leaders saw both risk and opportunity. In doing so, he highlighted a number of organizational changes already made to support the GRGB imperative, to include the Learning to Action Board, the Naval Safety Command, and the NAVPLAN Implementation Framework.
“The primary goal of the GRGB movement is to develop leaders who build and empower teams that think, learn and solve problems better than any potential adversary,” said Lescher.
Lescher plans to meet with the leaders of the remainder of Navy’s 17 communities over the next few weeks to hear feedback on how the fleet can reduce variability in performance to sharpen the Navy’s maritime edge against pacing threats.
To learn more about Get Real, Get Better click here.