As the fallout from George Floyd’s murder continued to disrupt society, the coronavirus also continued its rampage seemingly unabated. At times, it seemed useless to try and talk with people as the subject inevitably turned to the political tones of social justice and public health policy. Trying to keep folks focused on our mission, while acknowledging the turmoil in the world around us, was proving difficult at best.
Being in command is the most challenging and rewarding tour of a military career. My last US Coast Guard tour was as both Commander, Sector Columbia River and Commanding Officer, Air Station Astoria. I was in command from June 2018 to August 2021 and it was during this tour that the Covid-19 pandemic struck. As we all know it changed our lives in the most fundamental of ways.
While many companies were able to adopt a remote work strategy, the Armed Forces were required to continue to provide in-person response services while moving non-mission critical activities to a remote environment. While we continued to operate in siloed teams, the unit could no longer meet all together, in person. I recognized I would need to find another way to connect with my over 500 unit members.
I would need to find a new way to communicate. Leading without meeting, establishing a connection and creating a common bond with each of the over 500 members, was my new challenge. How was I going to lead without being able to meet in person? I took to the written word to not only communicate professional updates but also to connect with members on a personal level.
These thoughts were on my mind when I wrote the following to my unit.
June 9, 2020: I’m Baaaaaack
I’m Baaaaaack!
Say that, like Jack Nicholson through the door in The Shining … because that is how I think many are reading this email. While some (ok, most if we’re being honest) either didn’t notice, or were relieved, that perhaps this torture of my Friday ramblings had come to an inglorious end I am here to disappoint you. I am, however, confident that email is better than a PowerPoint. And you all know how to use the delete function.
Regardless, I am back after ending my streak. Kyle keeps scheduling me for Friday flights. I feel this is his attempt to give me writer’s block. I don’t know if it is effective, but it was successful in ending my streak. Which, I will offer, can be a good thing. There is a lot of pressure once a streak really builds. I routinely feel this pressure with my Apple watch. I have a 100% streak with my Stand goal- 90 straight weeks of perfection. I had a pretty good streak going with Move, to the point where it was actually bordering on unhealthy. Did you know you can sit on the couch, binge watching Homeland, while simultaneously having your Apple watch tracking a Yoga exercise session? It is a quite effective strategy to close your Exercise and Move rings while enjoying Tillamook Mudslide straight from the container. I had to question my motivation at that point. Sometimes it is good to end a streak.
Streaks inform perception. For example, apparently there is a streak thing in SnapChat. I know this because my kids were quite concerned with their streaks. I couldn’t understand why; of course that changed when I got that watch. They were under a lot of pressure to keep their streak numbers. Their perception was their streak was somehow tied into their value. Of course that seems ridiculous, we all know we’re more than our streaks. Of course, I had to be reminded of that as I logged exercise while enjoying ice cream. From my streaks, you could get the perception I’m doing quite well on the fitness front. My son has a different perception. I may have mumbled to myself, “Man, I might be getting fat,” and while washing dishes my I hear my son mutter, “might” with just enough inflection I knew it was a rhetorical question. A swift kick to the rear elicited a, “Hey, I said might” like he was in disagreement with my observation. Liar.
We also know the dangers inherent in perception. For example, my daughter doesn’t like the way Astoria water tastes. So I bought her a Brita filter water pitcher because I care. My boys don’t like the way water in general tastes so I buy them La Croix. Because I care. My daughter doesn’t like La Croix. So, she drinks the Brita water and my boys drink the La Croix water. Sometimes she forgets to fill the Brita … and my boys can be very kind to their sister and will fill the pitcher if she asks. Did you know La Croix comes in coconut flavor? Yes, it is as terrible tasting as it sounds. If you’ve ever purchased the La Croix with the coconut flavor you’ll appreciate what happened next. Being the helpful younger brothers they are, when she asked them to fill the pitcher they used the extra coconut flavored La Croix. They were more than pleased with the result and didn’t mind cleaning up after she discovered she was double skunked by coconut flavored La Croix. She no longer asks them to fill the Brita pitcher.
Tomorrow is World Environment Day and my Apple Watch challenge is to move for 1 minute every hour for 12 hours. Easy day.
With admiration, gratitude, optimism x2, slightly more grey hair, a renewed sense of well-being, unyielding faith in the problem solving ability duct tape, an appreciation for air frying, and streaking,
Your Sector Commander
PS Call your Dad. And your Mom, too.