Good advice above. You will get assigned many collateral duties which will put you in front of others around the ship outside your immediate chain of command. Wardroom mess treasurer, PFT officer, assistant CDO, etc., or seasonal ones such as Combined Federal Campaign or Navy and Marine Corps Relief Society officer, transportation coordinator for some special ceremony or Mr./Ms. Vice at a foreign port call Dining In. Do them well with a cheerful attitude. If you wonder how junior officers get racked and stacked, it's because department heads other than your own see you do a job well and place you above your peer ensign in their department.
Listen to your chief. Listen to your chief. Listen to your chief. If you disagree, don't do it in front of your sailors. Work it out privately and present a united front.
Do not p-off the CMC. Consult them as a professional resource. They have raised many JOs.
You are not a civilian after 1700 or whenever you leave the ship or are on leave or on social media. Ever. Bad impulses tank careers at every rank.
Don't get behind on your sailors' admin, their leave papers, special requests, training, evals. They will notice. No special request chit ever sat overnight in my inbox or mail. If you need more info, ask for it. But act on it.
And with regard to special request chits... Evaluate them from perspectives of what's right by the regs, what's right for the ship (are you consistent with ship's practice), what's right for them (good sailor? problem sailor?), and critically, what precedent does it set. This last trips up many a JO.
You will make lots of decisions every day. You will never have 100% of the info you think you need, so you may have to proceed with 80% or less. You will make mistakes. Own them and fix them. You will make more and more decisions, and more important ones, as you rise in rank. Not making a decision and procrastinating is a decision.
You will do well to earn the respect of your sailors. If they like you, that's great, but respect for your fairness, professionalism and consistency of thought and deed will carry you far on their hardworking shoulders.
Look at the pay charts for enlisted personnel and appreciate they may have challenges you don't. Ensure you and your enlisted leaders have open lines of communication flowing upward and awareness of how to get a sailor help for personal problems before safety or other issues are exacerbated. Don't assume they will know this; this should be a regular theme of your leadership communications. Respect them for their roles. Officer and enlisted make an amazing team when both sides appreciate the other and work with one mind.
Emails and texts are fine. F2f and phone calls are even better to hear early about problems and get you out of your stateroom to where your sailors work and live at sea.
Do not shoot the messenger. Flaming people is short-sighted and will eventually ensure your people will avoid telling you bad news unless they absolutely have to or very late in the game. There are ways to express grave disappointment and encourage team solutions. It will take practice to clamp down on that first reaction while your brain is silently yelling "S_ _ T."
Pay attention to your written work, whether emails, memos, JAGMAN investigations, point papers. All successful senior officers are good writers.
Take advantage of every chance to do fun things in the far-flung corners of the world.
Praise as often as you criticize. Thank your sailors. Smile at them - see them and know them. Don't party with them or have inappropriate personal conversations. It's your responsibility to keep professional distance and set the tone of the workplace.
In addition to your primary and collateral duties, professional quals and watch standing, work some professional reading in. I always recommend ADM James Stavridis' books - a wealth of knowledge and insight from a master SWO, operational leader and philosopher. And for fun, read "Leadership Secrets of Attila the Hun," by Wess Roberts.
https://archive.org/stream/Leadersh...crets-of-attila-the-hun-wess-roberts_djvu.txt
Understand the CO/XO goals, policies and philosophy. Do not question or critique those things in front of your troops, even with tone of voice or expression. If something bothers you, sit down with your immediate superior.
You are not God's gift to your troops. They are God's gift to you. It will be your challenge, your burden, your joy and your honor to lead them.
Ok - wow - not sure where all this came from. Years of mentoring junior officers and our USNA midshipmen and alumni sponsor family. Much of my advice comes from things my seniors told me.
Good on you for asking this kind of question - excellent start. Good luck to you as you start this journey.
Oh - if you get a nickname from your troops, and your chief tells you about it, it's probably a good thing. If you don't hear about it, or the XO pulls you aside, unsmiling, and asks you why he/she is hearing you are called "The Ax Man", this is probably not good.