I don't know if it's still the case or not, but back when I was a Navy Chief and later a Warrant, sailors would ask how to get promoted. They wanted to know how to make Chief, which was (and probably still is) the single most difficult advancement in the military.
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It is easier for a Captain to make Admiral than it is for a Petty Officer to make Chief. The number of Flag positions is limited by Congress and politics. The number of Chiefs is largely determined by skill, education, experience, and demonstrated leadership ability.
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We always had one answer: sustained superior performance.

In other words, do your job to the best of your ability, every minute of every day. No exceptions.

See, as a warfighter, your job is far more than just technical ability. You have to be the best technician ...
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... but you ALSO -- and more importantly -- have to be a leader, a teacher, a mentor. It's not enough to be the best at what you do, you also have to guide others to be the best as well.

It's not about you.

It's about the mission, it's about the ship, it's about duty.
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And so, that deceptively simple bit of advice, sustained superior performance, well, there were those who got it, really got it, and went on to become Chiefs, and those who just never did.
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There was always one thing in common with that second category, those who never got it. See, they always thought there must be a trick. Yeah, yeah, they'd say, I hear you. Sure, but whats the REAL secret?

They never wanted to believe that it was them who had to change.
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They never wanted to do the grunt work. They never put in the time or effort to learn their rating, their field of supposed expertise. More, they never could put others above themselves. It was always, "how do *I* get advanced?" not "how can I help *others* get ahead?"
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When I was studying for the Chief's test for my second time, another 1st Class laughed at my efforts and said study didn't matter. He said "I've taken the test 8 times, I think I know what I'm talking about."

That year was his 9th try. He didn't make it.

I did.
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He didn't make it because he always thought there was a trick. He thought the Chiefs were lying to him when they said, "sustained superior performance." If he just sucked up enough, he thought, if he just did this or did that.

He never listened. And he never made it.
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He always thought there was a trick.

I ran into him a few years back, he STILL thinks there must have been a trick. Whose dick did you suck, he asked?

You don't make Chief by sucking dick. And you sure as hell don't make Chief Warrant Officer on your knees either.
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The fact that he thought you did, well, that defines his whole life. He's always looking for the trick. The easy way up and out. He'll NEVER put in the work, mentally or physically, and the Navy was right to deny him advancement. He wasn't a leader and will never be.
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Now, the thing is even the very best sometimes don't make it. The competition is fierce in a manner you can't understand unless you've been there. Sometimes very, very good people, who do the work, who do everything right, don't make it. It's not fair, but that's how it is.
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But you don't even get considered for that advancement unless you do the work, unless you display leadership over self, unless you LISTEN.

Unless you GET it,

There's no trick. It's tedious and hard and takes years, but you have to do the work to even be in the running.
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Which takes us to the present.

2008, 2010, 2012, 2014, 2016, 2018, any number of folks asked, "What do we have to do?"

I told you. Others told you. We wrote millions upon millions of words about it. Many of you listened. But many of you didn't.
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You come to me now and you say, yeah, I know what you said, but what's the trick?

HOW do we fix this? How do we restore America? How do we salvage this mess.

My answer is the same as it has ever been: sustained superior performance.
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What's the trick? You hang your hopes on impeachment or revolution or divine intervention or some other unicorn.

But, there's no trick.

There isn't going to be any easy salvation. Not this time.
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We have to do the work.

It's tedious and it's painful and there's no glory in it and there's a whole lot more of it today than a year ago.

There is NO assurance that you'll win. None at all.

But you're not even in the running if you don't show up and do the work.
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Now, you can resent that all you like.

You can snarl at me, you can demand "whose dick did you suck, huh?"

You tell me "I told you so" isn't helpful. Of course not, not if you didn't listen THEN and you still won't listen NOW.
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But there's no trick.

You have to do the work, especially if you don't want to. That's duty.

Educate yourself. Help others. Lead. It's not about you, it's about doing the grunt work of citizenship, it's about the future of the Republic.
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If you don't want to know the answer, then don't ask.

If the answer makes you mad, then don't ask.

If you're not going to listen, then don't ask.

If you want a better nation ... well, then you know what has to be done.
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