WEBVTT 00:00.670 --> 00:05.670 - So, the CPO creed defines without definition, 00:06.390 --> 00:08.140 and I know that sounds kinda weird, 00:08.330 --> 00:12.850 but it lays out what it means to be a chief petty officer, 00:13.350 --> 00:17.660 and it's 400 words of something 00:17.660 --> 00:18.813 that unless you go through seas, 00:18.813 --> 00:20.580 and unless you've donned the anchor, 00:20.580 --> 00:23.840 you wouldn't understand what it's talking about 00:23.840 --> 00:25.210 until you actually live it. 00:26.070 --> 00:28.930 And for me, the meaning of it changes 00:28.930 --> 00:30.680 with every year that I'm a chief. 00:32.590 --> 00:35.190 I think the part that, two parts actually... 00:35.190 --> 00:37.600 The whole thing does, but two parts stand out, 00:38.610 --> 00:41.830 the first being you're not merely putting 00:41.830 --> 00:45.380 on another rank tab, you're not assuming 00:45.380 --> 00:47.200 authority simply because you're an E7, 00:47.200 --> 00:48.930 you're now a chief petty officer, 00:49.270 --> 00:51.740 and separating that... 00:51.900 --> 00:54.030 As you come up through an E1 through an E6, 00:54.030 --> 00:55.700 you always refer to yourself as, 00:55.700 --> 00:57.590 "I'm an E6 or I'm an E something." 00:57.890 --> 01:01.250 When you become a chief, you are now a chief, 01:01.250 --> 01:04.550 and it just has a rank associated with it. 01:04.550 --> 01:07.200 The term chief means something entirely different 01:07.200 --> 01:08.980 than the rank specifically. 01:10.410 --> 01:11.880 Well, three things... 01:12.200 --> 01:15.780 There's service, the fact that they were servant leaders, 01:15.990 --> 01:17.760 and I could think of a lot... 01:17.760 --> 01:19.150 I've met a lot of good chiefs, 01:19.150 --> 01:20.750 senior chiefs and master chiefs. 01:20.780 --> 01:23.450 So, the first characteristic I would talk about 01:23.450 --> 01:27.320 is their service, just their selflessness 01:28.300 --> 01:30.480 in the way that they conduct themselves, 01:30.550 --> 01:33.510 and then the way that treat their subordinates and seniors. 01:34.130 --> 01:35.750 The second one would be trust. 01:36.240 --> 01:37.730 The chiefs that meant the most to me 01:37.730 --> 01:39.530 earned their trust every single day, 01:40.380 --> 01:42.190 and they earned their anchor every day. 01:42.190 --> 01:44.050 So, it wasn't after it was put on that, 01:44.050 --> 01:45.620 "Now, I have to stop." 01:45.870 --> 01:48.640 They continued to develop themselves 01:49.010 --> 01:51.210 and to build trust up and down 01:51.210 --> 01:53.110 the chain of command every single day. 01:53.470 --> 01:55.160 And the third is standards. 01:55.420 --> 01:58.450 The chiefs that mean the most to me or I take the most from, 01:58.640 --> 02:00.870 they hold standards, they live standards, 02:00.970 --> 02:03.800 and they recognize that there's no separate standards 02:03.800 --> 02:07.000 for chiefs than there are for E6 and below. 02:07.000 --> 02:08.620 We all have the same standards. 02:09.830 --> 02:14.830 The biggest part: standards, policies, procedures. 02:15.010 --> 02:18.440 Know them and know a little bit about a lot. 02:18.440 --> 02:21.920 When you make chief, everything now becomes your field 02:21.920 --> 02:23.370 because you never know what a sailor 02:23.370 --> 02:26.200 or a senior person is gonna ask you, 02:26.520 --> 02:30.520 and when a crisis occurs is not the time to be looking it up 02:30.520 --> 02:32.430 and trying to figure out how it goes, 02:32.980 --> 02:36.120 and that's one of the most important things, 02:36.120 --> 02:39.070 I think, for our charge is to know a little bit about a lot 02:39.280 --> 02:40.830 and to be able to use the mess. 02:40.860 --> 02:44.100 So, educate yourself. Be smart. 02:46.010 --> 02:47.940 It would depend on who I'm talking to. 02:48.120 --> 02:52.370 So, if I'm talking to a teenager or a very young adult, 02:52.370 --> 02:54.130 I would equate the rule of a chief 02:54.500 --> 02:57.500 to a very stern parent, right? 02:57.500 --> 03:01.810 So, it's very paternal, and I would also, 03:01.810 --> 03:03.680 if I was talking to a... 03:03.680 --> 03:05.720 Just depending on middle age or an older person, 03:05.720 --> 03:08.330 I would equate it to that grandparent 03:08.330 --> 03:11.460 that was tough on you, but at the same time, 03:11.550 --> 03:12.930 it was tough love. 03:13.800 --> 03:15.460 So, even though that they held you 03:15.460 --> 03:17.220 to a certain accountability, 03:17.390 --> 03:20.190 you knew that they would walk through fire for you, 03:20.950 --> 03:23.950 and there's always that thing that says, 03:24.250 --> 03:27.350 "I know you're gonna be hard on me, but I also know why." 03:28.580 --> 03:30.050 It's kinda tough to explain it 03:30.050 --> 03:35.050 without saying words like parent or sort of a guardian, 03:36.929 --> 03:39.450 and definitely somebody that you can go to 03:39.860 --> 03:43.220 to seek advice or mentorship, 03:43.220 --> 03:45.120 or sometimes just blow off some steam. 03:46.010 --> 03:47.840 You really don't understand what it means 03:47.840 --> 03:50.030 to be a chief until you've made chief, 03:50.350 --> 03:52.540 and every year after that, 03:52.980 --> 03:55.160 you learn something completely new. 03:55.470 --> 03:57.380 You would think you'd get smarter as you go up, 03:57.380 --> 03:59.610 but it turns out, with humility and going, 03:59.610 --> 04:02.280 "Wow, I still have a lot to learn." 04:02.420 --> 04:03.760 And be open-minded to it. 04:03.870 --> 04:06.500 You don't always know what's happening behind 04:06.500 --> 04:08.700 the chief's mess walls or doors. 04:10.220 --> 04:14.540 But strive for it, it's absolutely the most humbling 04:14.540 --> 04:18.370 and amazing experience I've had, so...