A n ancient Arabian proverb goes something like this…."An army of sheep led by a lion would defeat an army of lions led by a sheep". That leadership is key to the outcome of a battle has been a recognised fact probably since the time the first argument broke out between bands of men. One of the key functions of the Indian Navy too is to identify and groom leaders among men. In the Navy this job is “managed” by the Personnel branch or the HR department as it has started to call itself over the last few decades, to give it a more “corporate” and contemporaneous look & feel. The HR functions devolve from the central control of Naval Headquarters (NHQ) at Delhi through the different administrative command headquarters to the units at sea level. A record of the activities each officer has indulged in every year is prepared confidentially at unit level and forwarded through ...