 On December 4, the Chief of Naval Operations, Admiral Mike Gilday, released his guidance to the fleet. CNO lays out a coherent and comprehensive approach on how we are to provide a mission-ready Navy. The entire document is a leadership imperative. An important lesson to take from the document is not just what it says, but how it is said. When you take out the conjunctions and articles, some words stand out. Navy appears 42 times, fleet appears 37. But the two most prevalent words are we, which shows up 87 times, and will 106 times. Leaders are inclusive, which often means using we, not I. Leaders set an aspirational vision for the future when using will. When the two words are combined, which happens 51 times in this document, the synergy is powerful and unifying. What is said matters, how something is said matters more. And for those curious, the word I appears only three times. The entire documents available at Navy.mil lead well this week.