Robert Roncska will be in the north county early next month.
“Navy Bob” is sailing home, new book in tow.
Dunkirk native Robert Roncska commanded a nuclear submarine and carried nuke codes for President George W. Bush while in the Navy. His new mission, outlined in his book “Beyond the Sea,” is what he calls “leading with love.”
Roncska will be in Dunkirk and Fredonia from Aug. 7 to 9. A book signing is set for Aug. 7 from 5 to 7 p.m. at the Dunkirk Library. On Thursday, Aug. 8, Roncska will do a 5:30 p.m. signing at Shorewood Country Club and an 8 p.m. social at Demetri’s. He heads to Fredonia’s Opera House Aug. 9 for a book signing from 6 to 8 p.m.
The homecoming run is a grand finale for his book tour, which will hit naval bases with submariner presence in Georgia, Virginia, Connecticut and Washington, D.C.
“It’s called ‘Beyond the Sea’ because I went into health care for five years” after leaving the Navy, Roncska said in a recent phone interview.
The book uses examples from Roncska’s career, in chronological order, to show how leadership with care and thoughtfulness for underlings gets better results than more detached and brutal methods. He said his local upbringing set the foundation for his philosophy.
“I went around the world, I saw so many different countries,” he said. “There’s no doubt some of the greatest people who ever existed live in Dunkirk-Fredonia. They are so caring. That’s what I grew up with.”
Roncska related the story of what he called a “toxic leader.” Ronscka served under him on a Navy ship. The warcraft occasionally ran into buoys under the man’s leadership.
Navy Bob was about to quit the Navy, but then he met a captain “who taught me how to lead with love, that it can be done in the workplace. He wasn’t the best tactician or technical guy. He cared for people.”
Roncska eventually took over the USS Texas. “There were so many problems it was like a game of Whac-a-Mole,” where more problems would come up every time something was taken care of. “This is not safe in the nuclear Navy. It’s the culture that was causing this.”
With morale aboard abysmal, the Texas nearly failed an inspection. “I got to the root cause for this,” Roncska said. “The crew didn’t care for the ship because the ship didn’t care for them.”
After his “leading with love” style of leadership, the Texas became the highest ranked ship in its squadron. “There’s no doubt in my mind that that style of leadership caused that,” Roncska said.
He wants his book to help spread the word about his successful style. “I want to make this world a better place by teaching leaders to lead with love. A lot of people have been taught to lead by fear. It doesn’t work.”
Roncska closed by restating his attraction to Dunkirk-Fredonia (his wife is a Fredonia native).
“They are the best people I’ve ever lived with and met,” he said. “I wanted to pay back and appreciate the culture that’s there.”
