Leadership
I have spent a total of 377 days at sea during my shipboard training phase. During this time I have had experienced many instances of people exhibiting the qualities expected of a leader. It well seen in the senior members of the hierarchy. Lesser so with the juniors, including myself. However most of the people on board have certain qualities that are synonymous with leadership.
For starters, the Chief Mate. I was always close with my ‘Chimet’ on board. My first Chief Mate was Chief Li. He had just been promoted and I was his first cadet. He struggled initially when he first took on the role as Chief but always made time to guide me in my learning and familiarization. I also did my part by causing as little trouble as possible. He showed me that being the head of the deck department was no easy task and take lots of effort. He was always fair when handling disputes and put the safety of the crew first when dealing with difficult jobs.Chief Li taught me to never be afraid to ask questions and to not be afraid to wrong. My last Chief mate that I sailed with was Chief Vijay. He was a very well experienced sailor with over 10 years sailing as a Chief Mate and experienced many kinds of vessels doing different operations. His Chief was often times friendly and calm. However, whenever there was an operation going on, he would be a totally different person. On duty he was stern and stoic, expecting the very best from the crew and takes no excuses. This being said, he was also mindful of the crew and treated them well. This Chief Mate taught me the importance of being strict when you have to. He also taught me to be decisive when faced with challenged.
On board, all the Masters I have sailed with were about the same in leadership qualities and management. Being the the overall in charge, the Master bears a heavy weight on his shoulders. He must have the safety of the crew and the safety of the ship in mind whenever carrying out jobs. Generally, all the Masters I have met were very disciplined men with very particular schedules. Seeing the power and authority a Master has on board is really something else. I once witnessed a Master refuse to pickup a company representative because the service boat that was delivering him was causing a hazard to navigation. He was given a lot of backlash from the company but his actions were justifiable. Seeing this made me realize the difficulty of being a leader and the decisions you may face on a daily basis. It made me see that one day I will be in that position and I must be prepared to face come what may.
While on board, I learned many things. The most important of which is that with great power comes great responsibility. Sailing with so many great men and leaders helped to nurture my skills as a leader. I will continue to strive to be a good leader.
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