It was sheer coincidence newly hired Tyler Ashworth was able to connect quickly with Newport News Shipbuilding’s Quality Division through a mutual acquaintance and start building coaching relationships.

Jared Smiddy, director of Quality Assurance, partnered with Ashworth, an organizational development representative, and Andrew Raymond, manager of Quality Assurance, on a development plan for mid-level managers. Using customized leadership assessments, Ashworth helped individual leaders understand their pain points, strengths and team struggles. Both manager 2 and 3 levels were expected to work with Ashworth to close the gaps, setting off a formidable exercise in knowledge sharing, performance transparency, and role clarity in the Quality organization.

“It started right when I was starting in my role, and helped bridge the gap between manager 2s and 3s in a way that I haven’t seen; I felt invested in it right away,” said Ben Bradley (O31), who attributes improved performance to coaching. “I am starting to understand why items in our backlog are so old and what we can do about it. I was able to burn down significantly the backlog of requests that were waiting on my approval.”

Coaching helps leaders not only understand expectations for themselves and set them for teams, but also opens up doors for sharing knowledge with peers who feel the same pain points.

Stacy Allmond (K23) said the opportunity to share has enhanced her leadership. “Coaching opened up the door that I can always go and talk to the other manager 2s and even the manager 3s. I am more comfortable doing this now and it makes it easier for me to ask for help. Together, we have all learned to better run our business utilizing KPIs and better understanding how our performance improves the enterprise,” she said.

Brandon Hinson (O68) said coaching provided role clarity. “The mission has always been clear, but in better understanding my role, I want to build a well-oiled machine that can thrive without me. I now realize that I have to give away ownership and responsibility and set the expectation for others to lead and to own. This has changed my thought process,” he said.

Michael Nava, recently completed his first year in O31 and sees value in the coaching effort. “I see my upper management trying to provide role clarity, and I feel we have created a welcoming environment all the way from the director to the levels below,” he said.

The coaching program capstone resulted in each team creating customized onboarding packages for new team members from learning and collaboration throughout the year. Ashworth said every leader who participated experienced measureable growth in leadership and performance.

This year, he is working with Quality directors Gary Zimak and Tim Sivertson to create a similar program customized to grow and enhance leadership practices and improve performance.