The Chief Petty Officer advancement board has convened.
Especially those candidates in small or overcrowded ratings, we always wonder if we've done enough to be selected. Enough in leading our divisions, enough outside the division, even enough off the ship in civic involvement and off-duty education. Perhaps most importantly, we wonder if we've played the game well enough.
Here's the problem with advancement at this level, though. It isn't up to us anymore. Even more than before, it becomes someone else's judgment of you that determines if you move up or not.
Perhaps it's naïve of me to think that there should be some sort of objective criteria for advancement. The so-called experts say there is, but really it all comes down to whether or not the club wants to let you in. Getting a degree, running successful divisions and programs are all well and good, but if they don't want you in, you're not getting in.
So what do you do about it? That depends on what you want and what's more important to you, and what you're willing to give up to get it. If it's having the rank and power, and being part of the club, then play the game, be political, be seen by the members of the club, even if you're not really doing much.
If it's more important to you to do the jobs you want to do, and to be known for that, then work hard, get the job done, and then find something new to do after that. It's the hard work and accomplishment that will make you feel better about yourself, regardless of whether or not you are promoted because of it.
Whatever you do, do the best you can at it, learn from it, and chances are good that you will succeed at it. After that, whatever someone thinks about you or the job you do is strictly up to them, and out of your control.
The late Vice Admiral James Stockdale said that the stoic philosophy of men like Epictetus helped him through his long captivity in Vietnam. One of the first tenets of that philosophy can be summed up this way: Worry about the things that are under your control, and deal as best you can with the things that are not in your control, but don't worry about them.
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