United States Coast Guard Auxiliary 7th District Breeze - USCGAUX ...

Volume LVIII Issue 1 Spring 2012 3
John Tyson
District Chief of Staff
From the Bridge
Is Our District Making Progress
The answer to that question depends upon whom you
ask. Most of us would like to believe that the Seventh
District Auxiliary is making progress every day. After
all, doesn’t the District Gold Side leadership tell us that
we do an outstanding job of serving our two primary
customers, the Coast Guard and the recreational
boating public But do we really know we are “making
progress”
Commodore Jaskiewicz and members of the District
Executive Committee addressed that question early
last year. After carefully reviewing Auxdata entries
for missions during the previous several years, the
Executive Committee concluded that our district is in
danger of “standing still.” And as many of us know,
organizations that “stand still” are really falling behind.
Commodore Jaskiewicz responded quickly to that
assessment, however, by forming an Organizational
Performance Team (OPT) to consider ways to improve
the district’s performance and to recommend specific
actions for improvement.
He also directed the use of the “Are We Making Progress
as Leaders”(AWMPAL) survey tool to get input from
district and division leaders. The AWMPAL survey
is used by many organizations ons to measure workforce
perception of criteria impacting the organization’s
performance. Those criteria include leadership,
strategic planning, customer focus, measurement,
analysis, knowledge management, workforce focus,
operations focus, and results achieved. The Coast
Guard uses the AWMPAL survey to ensure its resources
are aligned correctly; to improve communication,
productivity and effectiveness; to achieve strategic
goals and to determine the winning units for the
Alexander Hamilton Award. Like the Seventh District
Auxiliary Commodore’s Cup, the Hamilton Award
recognizes the best performing Coast Guard units.
The tabulation of data from the district’s AWMPAL
survey confirmed the Executive Committee’s earlier
assessment that District Seven was in danger of
“standing still.” It also highlighted areas that require
urgent attention, including training unit leaders in
action planning skills, and greater use of measurement
and analysis to help units
evaluate progress against
goals.
To emphasize the
importance of leadership
practices in improving
the district’s performance,
Commodore Jaskiewicz is
presently leading a series
of workshops to help unit leaders develop skills in
strategic and action planning, team building, and
performance measurement. Workshops for officers in
Divisions 1, 7, 11, 15 and 17
were held in early February,
and six more workshops are scheduled for the coming
weeks. Although these workshops focus on the needs
of flotilla and division officers, they are, when space
permits, open to any members who aspire to hold
an elected or staff office in the future. Any member
who feels they can benefit from learning these skills
should contact their Flotilla Commander or Division
Commander for the date
and location of the nearest
workshop.
Although data from future AWMPAL surveys,
along with “dashboard data” provided to units in
measurement charts will
certainly help flotillas and
divisions to achieve effectiveness, the Seventh District
Auxiliary has a long way to
go to achieve a sustainable,
high level of leadership practices. Like the active duty
Coast Guard, our district’s objective is to ensure our
sustained dedication to performance excellence in all
our mission activities. So stay tuned; you will hear
lots more about these matters in the months and years
ahead. At the least, you will hear more about them
until we can say without hesitation, “Our district is
really making progress.”
Semper Paratus Ω