Another year goes by and another performance report drops. In this episode, I give you a debrief on my latest officer performance report and the associated feedback session with my supervisor. The summary is a great example of how a feedback session that covers both the professional and personal goals of a person can leave you motivated to remain a team player and keep working hard.
Summary
Review of OPR
- Duty title – Deputy Division Chief. Appropriate for an O-5 staff officer. Even though I’ve been the acting Division Chief for five months, it is important to not set a precedent that isn’t sustainable with three new O-6s inbound. If I have one OPR as a Division Chief and my next OPR is anything at a lower level of responsibility, that can be perceived as a negative to any board I’m meeting
- Push line (Directorate): #X/7 Jt O-5s; positively aggressive leader that forges Jt teams and delivers multi-domain results–Gp/CC after SDE
- Push line (HQ/Senior Rater): #X/12 Jt O-5s; visionary leader shaping adversary engagement ops to protect global DoD msn sets–SDE then Gp/CC
- Both push lines indicate I’m still on the path for increased responsibility as an O-6
- If you want to know what stratification I earned, hit me up at gaberock@constantelevation.co and I’ll share w/you
Plan for the next year
- Wants me to continue to lead J34 for the foreseeable future. Our team will be dedicated to what needs to be done in the long-term while others focus on the near-term
- Will potentially establish a new Ops Assessment Division that directly reports to J3. He understands the benefit of someone providing critical feedback and analysis so we can be better
- Will re-evaluate if I get picked up for school this winter
Fitness
- Still coaching, not something to be worried about
Self-improvement Plan
- No immediate PME or IT certification plans. Perhaps PMP like my friends Drew and Stella. Focusing on finishing my book on Sq/CC and continuing my podcast platform
Family
- Discussed plans for our teenage kids and potential for family split ops if I get picked up for school next year. Selection for school will determine what our family does next
- He also hopes that I’ll be in AZ soon once the military leave policy gets updated…but I’m not so optimistic it will happen
Final Takeaway
- Continue to lead my team and empower them to help define the future. We have passionate teammates, they just need someone to organize their ideas and win leadership understanding and buy-in
- I thanked him for leading by listening. It can be easy to just dismiss the ideas of others because you don’t want to have to go back to the drawing board. But if your teammates are trying to make things better, you as a leader need to listen