Originally posted by ENGELJ:
quote:
Why do you think the title "captain" is misleading? And you think it distorts leadership? In what way?
Good question.
First and foremost, captains of Auxiliary divisions are not "Captains" at all. That is to say it is clearly defined in the Auxiliary manual that a division captain is not to be addressed or referred to in correspondence as "Captain Smith". The correct designation is "Mr. Smith, division xx captain."
And the spelling of captain is to be always to be uncapitalized. That's also on purpose, to prevent confusion with a "real Captain as in the military."
But the most important reason is to prevent a misuse through misunderstanding of the a perception of authority that the honorific "captain" combined with three silver stripes that ARE NOT an indication of rank or authority, can cause.
The division captain has no authority over the members of a division. The position is voluntary and division captains serve at the pleasure of the division members. Members can, at any time, disregard the personal wishes of a division captain without sanction.
Authority in the sense that he/she can compel a member to do anything. Nor can a division captain impose sanctions, or punishment, or impose their own local rules or policies, unless you consider being relieved of a division SO position a punishment. Division captains who forget these limitations are operating outside of Auxiliary policy.
The good leaders understand and thrive under these guidelines. The bad ones corrupt their office and their honor by operating in that "I'll get even with you" mode. If a division captain ever tries to insist you call him/her captain, run away! <BG> They're wrong and have a distorted view of their position.
The division captain's primary job is to motivate, support and encourage his/her members through the his/her staff officers, the flotilla commanders (also uncapitalized and also not "Commanders" in any sense of the authoratative concept) and interaction with the member.
Interestingly, I have found that flotilla commanders seem to understand their position and work in that environment better than division captains. So in some cases something happens to that perception when FC's get elected to division captain.
