The Shipyard, the Trusted Team, and Achieving ANY Goal

“Yes, I‘ll be at the Philadelphia Shipyard Tuesday.” Saying that “Yes” to one of the biggest challenges I faced in my career started an incredible journey for me – both professionally and personally. But I wasn’t alone…and this is the Team’s story…

It was all-hands-on-deck when my employer fired the Philadelphia Shipyard CEO on Monday and I arrived and took the reins the next day. Being parachuted in at the same time was an international dream-team of strangers made up of Norwegian, German, Finnish, Scottish, and a few American shipbuilding experts to augment this coal-mining, steel mill building of a CEO with no shipbuilding experience and trying hard to remember which end was the bow and which the stern.

Early that first morning, the yard’s 33-year-old VP of Production from Norway walked in 10 minutes late to our first management team meeting. My introductory words to this young man, who would grow into one of the finest leaders I’ve ever known, were “Hi…I’m Dave Meehan….I’m your new boss….don’t ever be late for a team meeting again.” It was not a good start.

That same Tuesday, our only client, whose first vessel had been delivered one year late and represented an annual loss for the yard of some $75M, walked into my office and asked, “When are you going to deliver the second ship?” I had no idea, but said, “Give me two weeks and we’ll let you know.” Welcome to Philadelphia.

By the end of two weeks of team building, bonding, and blooming, I reported back to the client that our team promised to deliver the second ship in nine month’s time. The client laughed at me. They’d heard this before. Maybe those laughs were deserved…nothing was easy….in fact, pretty much everything was an enormous struggle.

Five months before our promised date, our internal schedule tracked about a month late. It didn’t look as if we would meet our deadline – our promise to our client – and as important, it looked like we would be letting down the U.S. marine industry. These men and women made their livelihoods sailing U.S. merchant ships and looked to this fledgling shipyard as a means to revitalize the merchant fleet they crewed.

These large ocean going ships are virtual islands in the sea – housing and keeping its crew safe – the Yard’s promise to deliver was not only a commitment to time, but also a commitment to those sailors to build the highest quality, safest vessel on the sea.

“Together, let’s speak with our actions…and deliver on our promises.”

I penned a memo to the Yard – telling them that I trusted in their ability to achieve their goals – and that I wanted them to trust themselves. “Together, let’s speak with our actions…and deliver on our promises.”

By then, our management Team (with a capital T) had developed a strong enough bond to handle the brutal facts we faced. Our German Project Manager stood at the white board during a particularly intense meeting, listing missed milestone after missed milestone and asking the Team after he wrote each of them – with emphasis added by pounding pen against board, “Are we achieving this goal?” After a long few seconds of no response – he would slowly turn to face the Team, his passion needed no translation – and through his heavy accent gave his opinion, “I. Think. Not!”

Intimidating? Demotivating? Threatening? I. Think. Not.

Rather – holding everyone accountable – making clear the expectations – and TRUSTING that everyone in that room would rise to the challenge.

As we neared our deadline, the pressure only built to a crescendo. When things looked the gloomiest about a month out – during another contentious Team meeting where we sparred about the deadline, that same late-to-the-first-meeting Norwegian VP of Production rose from his seat and said the words I’ll remember always: “We will make the schedule because we MUST make the schedule.”

Willed on by this rallying cry, and trusting that each department would follow through on its own commitments, the Team successfully completed and turned over the ship to the very day we had told the client we would nine months earlier.

We trusted each other; we trusted ourselves. We spoke with our actions. We delivered on our promises.

We achieved a near impossible goal by willing it to happen – certainly through really hard work, but in large part, by pulling together as a Team in an environment of trust that supported openness, and respect – all delivered with a healthy dose of candor.

The Power of The Trusted Team

In the deepest part of my being – I believe, if you build the right Team, and that Team says the collective YES to the reality you face together – you can achieve ANY goal.

My experience during my early days at the Shipyard only steeled that belief in me. But it also established the first building block of my Core Values – Trust. I discovered that trust was not an adjective but rather a verb – a call to action – and a key element that must be at the foundation of every relationship in every team.

Trust is the foundational value of our Vistage group.

In Vistage, members may well join my group because of a connection they have with me as Chair, but they stay because of the support, candor, accountability, and TRUST of their peers – their Team.

Do you want to make better decisions, and be held accountable for making them by a Team of your own trusted peers? Let’s talk.

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About the Author: I’m an Executive Coach, Vistage Chair, and founder of DEMEE Consulting who brings 20+ years of hands-on C-level experience to inspire growth in others and raise the bar in all aspects of leadership. Contact me: Dave.Meehan@VistageChair.com.