Leadership Lessons From a Cruise Captain (Part 2)

I learned some amazing leadership lessons from a Carnival cruise ship Captain! 

In part 1, I talk about the three phases of leadership: 1) leading yourself 2) leading individuals 3) leading leaders/teams. You can read that here. 

Today let’s dive into phase 2 and some of the lessons I learned listening to and interacting with Captain Crescenzo “Enzo” Palomba  who helms the Carnival Firenze. 

First off, you might be curious what Captain Enzo’s top talent themes are:

1. Positivity®

2. Includer®

3. Strategic®

4. Restorative™

5. Learner®

Let’s see if you can “strengths spot” his talent themes in action. 

Captain Enzo and I sat down for breakfast and started chatting. Shortly after, we saw a guest wandering around in the area when Captain Enzo asked how he could help. The guest explained their situation that they were lost and looking for their family who were all eating together. 

While Captain Enzo was still talking with the guest, one of his senior leaders, Milind Sathe (Food & Beverage Director) was already on the phone with the restaurant describing the “large party” and figuring out if they were indeed in that restaurant. 

My first lesson was that great leadership looks effortless. It was obvious they had spent enough time together that Director Milind did not need to ask for permission or to be told what to do. Captain Enzo had raised up another leader who was acting as a leader in authority. 

As Captain Enzo used his Restorative™ to help solve the guest’s problem, Director Milind had already verified where the missing party. For our breakfast, we had a dedicated waiter with us who had been serving us. Captain Enzo called them over and asked them to escort the guest down to the Main Dining Restaurant (MDR) and handed him a small card (more on that soon).

My second lesson was partially around customer service but also effective delegation. Captain Enzo’s Strategic® could see that this guest was lost after four days already on the ship so they were not likely to find their way. Without a doubt, I know that had it not been for our breakfast, Captain Enzo would have personally escorted this guest to the restaurant. However, because he was with me he had to delegate. 

Great leaders and managers delegate so that they can do only what they can do. But in order to do this effectively, leaders know that barking orders and commanding from authority rarely produces the best results. Instead of yelling and forcing this waiter to “do their job,” Captain Enzo approached the situation almost like asking a friend for a favor. 

Although the waiter was more than happy to comply, Captain Enzo sealed the leadership deal by giving him something many crew members long for. A small business card granting them some precious Internet time. 

In less than 5 minutes, I realized that this Captain was a master leader and I was excited to learn many more lessons from him. 

Stay tuned to next week where I rewind a little to give us the backstory on how I landed this exclusive sit-down with the Captain and the leadership lesson embedded there. 

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