First Thing First – On Maritime Manning

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Having spent over two decades with seafarers, ship managers and ship owners, I have had hands-on experience in understanding the industry closely, especially the maritime manning side of the industry. In my book ‘The Art of Maritime Manning – My Insights‘, I have shared some of my insights, which encapsulates two decades of learnings and experiences, in a structured manner. I intend to inspire and motivate more people all over the world towards positivity to join this wonderful and rewarding industry for a career that promises satisfaction and success.

In my blog today, I will share and explore the tenets of the first rule that all people, including myself, must follow to ensure an impeccable reputation as s hip manning personnel or agency or company.

Managing men means first managing ourselves.”

How could we manage anyone else if we are unable to manage ourselves? We need to be skilled enough to manage ourselves first, only then we can manage others. We should possess emotional intelligence i.e. awareness about ourselves, self-regulation, self-motivations, only then we can expect these characteristics from others. Here are a few points which I found to be useful for me.<

  1. Be humble and honest – If a person isn’t humble and honest with himself, can he handle others? One should gauge his ability and concentrate. You have to put your strength to get the results. You should compete with yourself prior to competing with anyone else. You should deal well with yourself before dealing with others. Managing relationships with others requires taking credibility. Firstly, we should accept the fact other people are as much humans as we are. To make the relationship effective we should understand them well so that we can use their abilities, their ways of working and their values in fruitful manner.
  2. Be clear in your communication – We should communicate in a right manner with others. Companies are not built by force but by trust. We can trust others only if we trust ourselves enough. Our ability of understanding others plays a major role. Nowadays, we have choices, but with choice comes accountability. To improve your or your company’s performance, you should study what it requires. You should see how you can contribute to growth based on your strengths, working style, integrity and values.
  3. Be punctual – If I am not punctual, accountable, hard-working, honest and committed, how I can ingrain such vitality in my staff? A person must possess the qualities in him first, which he wants to see in other. You can manage your team’s time successfully once you learn to manage your time well.
  4. Perform based on your strengths – Teams need to be managed as per their interests, for example if your colleague is interested in talking to people and is skilled in good communication, such person should be in your sourcing team. If your colleague is good in writing emails and is good at negotiating, he could deal well with ship owners and managers. If someone possesses good leadership skills and could lead a team, such executive should be the head of department or leader of team. It’s possible to train a person to manage his or her responsibility well but one requires to have a fair discussion and should be open to change scope of job if needed.
  5. Have a high Emotional Quotient – It’s very important to have emotional intelligence, which includes being self-aware, being self-controlled and being self-motivated. Most of all, having empathy for others, having social skills could be an added advantage.
  1. Have robust Core Values – Team members should have a good conduct, character, integrity, good values and over and above a positive attitude in whichever level of hierarchy they are. A good company is not measured by wages alone but more by relationships.

In my book ‘The Art of Maritime Manning – My Insights’, I have shared structures and anecdotes that aspiring young people can benefit from by inculcating within them the habits and the tools which I believe to have helped me.

Know more about the art of maritime manning and how to be more positive, productive and efficient in Dr Binay Singh’s book ‘The Art of Maritime Manning – My Insights’
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