Despite being the first male Chief Stew in Below Deck history, Fraser Olender can still learn a thing or two.
At least that's what Captain Sandy Yawn thinks after working with Fraser on season 10 of the hit Bravo series—specifically when it comes to his managing style.
"In my opinion, I think Fraser has a lot to learn on how to separate friendship and leadership," she exclusively told E! News. "He's great. It's his first time as Chief Stew, he's admitted that."
Having already confronted Fraser this season once about being more stern with his crew members—specifically Stew Camille Lamb before she was fired for slacking on the job on the Jan. 16 episode—Sandy added, "The leader has to really weave between the personalities and have this fine line in the sand. You can't cross friendship and leadership and that's hard."
That may come in the future, as she noted, "You don't learn that in one season—you probably don't learn that in your second season as chief—but you do learn it over time."
Yet, the recently released midseason trailer teases drama between Sandy and Fraser that leads to her sitting him down for a serious one-on-one talk.
"Fraser was joining the gossip," Sandy revealed of their upcoming discord. "When you lead a team, you have to shut it down. It becomes the cancer of the boat. It starts permeating for the boat and it takes the morale down and if you're not happy with your captain, well, that's something you need to work through."
"Fraser wants to do a good job, he wants to be perfect, he wants to please everyone," she continued. "He's doing his very best. Again, this is his first season as Chief Stew ever in his life. He's figuring it out. I don't take it personal, but what I had to do was shut it down. You will never gain the respect of your peers if there's no fine line. People need to be led."
Fraser previously admitted to facing a "learning curve" during his first season as Chief Stew, adding of Sandy, "I needed her to sort of kick me up the booty and tell me that I need to stop being such a nice guy and get the job done."
Below Deck airs Mondays at 8 p.m. on Bravo.
(E! and Bravo are both part of the NBCUniversal family)