Leading and Speaking Up: Assertiveness and Leadership on the Bridge

The Idea

Leadership on a bridge is not volume. It is making the plan clear, making it safe to question and deciding when it counts. Assertiveness is the junior’s half: saying what you see, plainly and in time. The tool is the graded model: Probe, Alert, Challenge, Emergency. See the PACE guide and the guide on the authority gradient.

The Case

IMCA SF 17/26. During a materials transfer between two vessels moored alongside, weather and sea worsened. One vessel lost heading and position and drifted into the other, with the cargo sling still connected so neither could move away. IMCA names neither master using their authority to suspend operations, poor shared situational awareness and slow joint decisions between the two bridges, and a risk assessment with no measurable weather limits. It recommends making explicit before work begins that everyone from Masters to deck crew can stop unsafe operations.

IMCA SF 24/20. A Master challenged a sailing order that conflicted with dangerous goods rules. The client rejected it, he escalated, and management backed him. See who can say stop?

Why This Principle Exists

Every bridge has an authority gradient: the difference in rank, age, experience or confidence between the people on it. A steep gradient can be useful when quick decisions are needed. It becomes dangerous when it stops people saying what they see. Two things have to be true for a team to be safe: the person in charge must be approachable, and the person who sees the problem must be willing to say it plainly. The principle covers both halves, which is why it pairs leadership with assertiveness.

What Good Leadership Looks Like On A Bridge

• A clear plan, briefed. People cannot challenge what they have not been told.
• Defined limits. The plan comes with numbers or triggers (a distance, a depth, a wind speed, a time), not feelings.
• An invitation to challenge, said out loud. “If you think I am wrong, tell me. If I say I know, tell me again.”
• A response that rewards speaking up. The first time someone challenges you, say thank you, even if you were right.
• A decision. Inviting challenge is not abdicating. After listening, the Master decides and says so.
• Ownership. When it goes wrong, the leader says what they would do differently, not whose fault it was.

Assertive Is Not Aggressive

Many people avoid challenging a senior because they think the only alternative to silence is a row. There is a middle path:

An assertive statement has four parts: name or address, what I see, what I am worried about, what I propose. It is spoken at normal volume, in time, and repeated if not acknowledged.

The Graded Ladder: Probe, Alert, Challenge, Emergency

Use the lowest level that will work, and climb quickly if it does not. Do not stay at one level because the next feels rude.

At each level the content gets shorter and more direct. If your ship has a rule on when a junior may take action, know it before you need it.

When Your Challenge Is Not Heard

• Repeat it, with more specifics and the same calm tone. People often hear a challenge the second time.
• Move up one level on the ladder. Do not drop back down because the other person looked annoyed.
• Ask someone else on the bridge to confirm what they see: “Pilot, do you see the same bearing?”
• Call the Master, if you are the OOW and it is not them you are challenging. A call is not a failure.
• Use the stop-work authority your company gave you, in the same words as the procedure. Write down what happened afterwards.
• After the event, speak to the person calmly and in private. Most people want to know.

The Leader’s Half: Making It Safe

Telling a team “speak up if you see anything” is not enough. People watch what happens the first time someone does. A sarcastic reply, a sigh, or a long silence teaches the whole bridge not to try again. Specific habits matter:

• Ask a question first: “What do you see that I do not?”
• Thank people for challenging, in front of the others.
• When you were wrong, say so promptly.
• Make a point of asking the quietest and most junior person for their view before you decide.
• Never respond to a challenge with rank.

Pause and decide at each step before reading on:

1. Do you speak? At which level do you begin, and what are your exact words?
2. The pilot says, “It is fine, I do this every day.” What is your next level, and to whom do you speak?
3. The Master has not said anything. Do you ask the Master directly? What do you say?
4. The ferry is now at 0.3 miles. What is the Emergency level and who is authorised to take it on your ship?

Debrief. The strongest bridge teams do not rely on one person speaking up. The pre-arrival brief names each person’s right and duty to speak, the Master hears the concern at the Alert level and either acts or explains, and the plan includes a point at which the Master retakes the con. The earlier the Probe, the less needs to be done at Challenge.

Check Your Own Bridge

Answer honestly. Any ‘no’ or ‘not sure’ is something to fix, not something to hide.

• In my briefings, do I say how I want to be challenged?
• What did I do the last time someone challenged me?
• Can the newest cadet on this ship say “stop”, and do they know they can?
• Do I know the words I would use at each level?
• Does our procedure say when a junior may act without waiting for permission?

Questions For A Team Discussion

Use these in a pre-departure brief, at a safety meeting, or over a coffee in the middle of the night watch.

1. Describe a time you saw a problem and did not speak. What stopped you?
2. What is the most senior person on your bridge likely to do the first time someone challenges them?
3. Which of the four parts of an assertive statement do you tend to leave out?

Key Takeaways

• Leadership is making the plan clear and making it safe to question.
• Assertive means clear and respectful, not loud.
• Name, what I see, my concern, my proposal.
• Climb the ladder quickly. Do not stay at Probe because the next level feels rude.
• Decide in advance who may stop the job and say so in the brief.

Try This On Your Next Watch

Write three sentences for your own ship, at the Probe, Alert and Challenge levels, for the situation you would find hardest: a close crossing, a pilot’s order, an alarm being silenced. Say them aloud once. Then, as Master or senior, write the one sentence you will use in your next brief to invite challenge.

Test Your Knowledge

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Related Reading

• Authority gradient
• Who can say stop?

← Module 2: Say It, Repeat It, Confirm It   Module 4: Keep the Picture →