One of the important things Steve Torres learned about leadership came from playing high school football. Growing up near Atlantic City, N.J., the Torres family was known locally for its athletic ability and football skills. “My older cousins and brother all played really good football. So in my junior year when I felt I wasn’t getting enough playing time, I started to withdraw,” said Torres. “I thought, ‘Why put that level of effort in if you’re not going to play?’” The coach noticed and pulled him aside. “He told me, ‘When you don’t show up and put in 100 percent, the rest of the team doesn’t work as hard. Since you started not putting in the effort, the rest of the team started changing,’” said Torres. “I didn’t realize I was having that effect on the players. The coach helped me understand that even when you don’t play, you still have an important role on the team. Learning that I was leading by example really stuck with me.” Torres, who was the second-shift production foreman in the Pipe Hanger Shop until last September, led his team to be one of the most engaged at Newport News Shipbuilding (NNS). In September, he received the 2013 Model of Excellence Award for Leadership. After graduating high school in 1998, Torres and his brother Joseph Torres enrolled in The Apprentice School. Steve was recruited to be a linebacker and lineman on the Builders football team. However, once he got started, he found the academic program challenging and chose not to play. “I decided to focus on the academics, learn my trade, and become a better individual,” explained Torres. Before graduating The Apprentice School in 2002, Torres worked new construction on the USS Ronald Reagan (CVN 76) and overhaul and
refueling of the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower (CVN 69). “It was nothing that I had seen before. Our crew was doing some good things and I was taking it all in.” Torres, who became a foreman in 2004, said he took the best parts of what he learned and tried to apply it. Although working with pipe while he was an apprentice helped to prepare him for his job in the Pipe Hanger Shop, developing good communication and people skills was something he had to cultivate and learn on the job. “Sincerity has to be at the center of all your actions and conversations. Lip service doesn’t go over well, and people need to know that you always have their best interest in mind,” he said. Craftsman Henry Rice agreed. “This gang, both young and old, enjoys each other and works well together. This is the best gang I have worked with during my 48 years at NNS.” Steve’s former Hanger Shop General Foreman Jason Roach added,“ Under Steve’s leadership, in addition to going 32 months accident free, the Hanger Shop team has helped deliver superior business results by improving cost performance by more than 10 percent and schedule performance in the electrical hanger process lane by 95 percent.” Torres is now the foreman for Bay 4 in the Sheet Metal Shop. “I enjoy working with people, especially our newer hires. I’d like to leave my stamp on them, just like my high school coach, my Apprentice School teachers and other leaders did for me.” | By Gina Chew-Holman
Steve Torres (left) discusses a work package with Ronnie Diggs while Justin Wilkinson works on a pipe structure. Torres, who was the second-shift production foreman in the Pipe Hanger Shop until last September, received the 2013 Model of Excellence Award for Leadership. Photo By John Whalen