Master Chief Petty Officer of the Navy Steven S. Giordano is hosting the 2017 MCPON Leadership Mess Symposium May 23-26 at the National Conference Center in Virginia.

More than 100 master chief petty officers from around the Navy, along with several previous MCPONS, converged upon the site as part of an annual exchange of ideas, series of lectures and speakers promoting enlisted leadership development.

This year's theme for the symposium is authentic, competent and courageous leadership.

"This is a great opportunity for us as the Senior Enlisted Leaders of the Navy to spend some time together, share best practices and ideas and see what the best way forward for our Navy is regarding several topics," Giordano said. "We have some products we'll be turning out this week that will shape our enlisted leadership development going forward."

Among items to be discussed this week are CPO 365 Guidance for this year's upcoming annual Chief Petty Officer promotion season, the Leadership Development Framework and the principles behind authentic, competent and courageous leadership.

"My hope is that every Sailor across the Fleet will embrace these principles as a way of not only doing business but living their lives each day," Giordano said. "Only by knowing ourselves can we become effective leaders for our Sailors to follow and mold into the leaders of the future."

The MCPON Leadership Mess consists of Fleet, Force and Command level master chief petty officers assigned to various billets and commands. It represents the highest levels of enlisted leadership in the United States Navy.

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