Correct subordinates privately, not publicly

A senior Royal Navy officer noticed his young steward becoming nervous and quietly investigated rather than waiting for a formal complaint. He found a junior officer berating the steward in language he considered bullying and inappropriate. The steward went on to a successful career, while the junior officer was removed from the ship within a day. The wider command lesson is that immediate subordinates should be corrected in private and officers should not publicly undermine their superiors. Firm intervention can protect people without destroying the authority relationships on which the unit depends.