| Editors Note:
This issue of NotaBene is devoted to Captain D. Michael Abrashoff, former commander of the USS Benfold and author of “It’s Your Ship,” which has been on the New York Times’ list of Hardcover Business Bestsellers. Abrashoff will be speaking as part of the Webster University School of Business & Technology Lecture Series, co-sponsored by Edward Jones. The event will be held at the Edward Jones Auditorium, 12555 Manchester Road, Monday September 30, at 7:30 a.m. If you are in the St. Louis area and would like to hear Abrashoff speak, send an e-mail to boden@webster.edu by Thursday, September 26, at 5 p.m. |
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“It’s Your Ship” Spirited and inspirational, “It’s Your Ship” imparts actionable, results-driven leadership practices, as well as theory. By Nancy S. Mack
Creating the right environment is what Abrashoff and his crew achieved during the 20 months he commanded the USS Benfold. Whether leading a military unit, a company, a department within a company, a project team or a group of volunteers, Abrashoff’s leadership principles have universal applicability. The antithesis of command and control (“barking orders and micromanaging everything”), Abrashoff teaches that effective, empowering leaders “lead by example; listen aggressively; communicate purpose and meaning; create a climate of trust; look for results, not salutes; take calculated risks; go beyond standard procedure; build up people’s confidence; generate unity; and improve people’s quality of life as much as possible.” Through 12 clear-cut chapters, Abrashoff details each of his leadership principles, how he and his Benfold crew implemented them and the dramatic successes they generated. “I began with the idea that there is always a better way to do things,” Abrashoff writes, and “my second assumption was that the secret to lasting change is to implement processes that people will enjoy carrying out.” To those ends, he authorized his crew to make their own decisions on anything and everything as long as the consequences of the decision wouldn’t kill or injure someone, damage the ship or waste taxpayers’ money. “I didn’t have to go through a management committee—the turnaround time for launching a good idea was about five minutes,” writes Abrashoff. The crew’s good ideas and decisions worked. Cost savings. Reduced accidents and workmen’s compensation claims. Significant increases in crew retention rates. Earning the Spokane trophy (awarded to the most combat-ready ship in the Pacific fleet). Numerous innovations that have subsequently been adopted by the Navy as a whole. These kinds of new ways of doing things, ways of doing things that the crew enjoyed, are dramatic results that cannot be debated. If you’re looking for actionable management techniques to put to work tomorrow, "It’s Your Ship" is a must-read. You’ll have a damn good time doing it, too. Nancy S. Mack is a free-lance writer in St. Louis. |
To Abrashoff, leadership begins when we let go of our own agendas and career goals and embrace behaviors and attitudes that motivate people to work with passion, energy and enthusiasm. He writes that, “real leadership must be done by example, not precept” and that “given the right environment, there are few limits to what people can achieve.”NB: You’ve said that you divide the world into two camps—believers and nonbelievers—and that there are far more of the latter. What’s the best way to change those numbers?
MA: I think people need to take time out of their hectic lives and think about where they’re headed and what it is they want to create and what their legacy’s going to be. I don’t think people do that enough—sit down and reassess where they are. I think as a result of all the scandals going on now, people are going to really sit back and reassess, and I think there’s going to be a premium put on honesty and ethical behavior. Those who are honest and ethical are going to be rewarded for it, and bad behavior’s going to get punished. I don’t know how long that’ll last, but I’m hopeful that the discussion can now take place, and it has to take place, otherwise we’re going to continue to have problems with our businesses and the economy.
NB: There seem to be a number of similarities between a university’s structure and the military—both are highly defined institutions filled with young people trying to define themselves. Can your advice be applied to higher education, as well?
MA: Absolutely. Grassroots leadership can work for anyone, anywhere, regardless of personal style. They just have to be authentic and genuine in their approach.
NB: Unlike a CEO of a company, you knew that your command of the USS Benfold would be two years—no more, no less. Do you think such a compressed timeframe affected your willingness to take risks and aggressively make changes?
MA: I don’t think your length of tenure should have any impact in the way you lead. From the git-go, you should set high standards and stick to them. You can’t say, well, I’m here for five years, I’m going to wait for two years, let things slide, and then start working on my plan. You can’t squander any time because that’s one thing you never get back. When you squander leadership opportunities, they’re gone forever, and I didn’t want to waste any of those opportunities.
NB: You asked each of your sailors on the USS Benfold two simple questions: what do you like most about the Benfold and what do you like least? Looking back, how would you answer those questions?
MA: Nobody’s ever asked me that! What I liked most was the spirit and the camaraderie of that ship. It was unlike anything that I have ever been associated with in my life or even seen. What I liked least was having to go on six-month deployments away from home. It’s probably one of the main reasons why I left the Navy.
NB: It appears that your post-naval push is helping to cultivate authentic leaders in your grassroots leadership style. How will you know if you’ve been successful in this endeavor?
MA: People send me e-mails every day relating the changes they’ve made in their professional lives as a result of reading the book. They apply it to their family situations, too. I’ve gotten e-mails from people saying, I can be a better parent as a result of reading your book. But is a company going to be able to increase its profits 15 percent because of this? You’ll never be able to prove it.
NB: One of your “big little” changes—little changes that made a big difference on the ship—was the cuisine. Is the way to a sailor’s heart through his stomach?
MA: Food actually was my No. 1 priority. I figure I like good food, the people who work for me deserve good food, too. That’s when you know you’ve got a grassroots organization—when no matter whether you’re at the top or the bottom, you get treated the same way.
NB: If someone who is not in a position of power reads your book and sees similar signs of an unhealthy organization where they work, how should they go about making changes?
MA: If you’ve got one person working for you, or you’ve got one project or one team that you lead, you command your own ship. So what I tell people is, don’t worry about changing the rest of the organization, take charge of your own ship and you’ll be far happier.
NB: What’s next for you?
MA: I want to write another book and call it, “Get your Ship Together.” My third book will be called “Ship Happens.”
NB: Would you ever consider running for political office?
MA: I would, but not just yet.
NB: But you’re not ruling it out?
MA: I’m not ruling it out, no. I’m a public policy fanatic and working for Dr. William Perry, I was at the seat of power observing, so I think I could do pretty well. The problem is, I would never spend one minute of my life grubbing for money the way politicians do. So that would be the thing that kept me from running for public office.
NB: You could run a grassroots campaign.
MA: That would be the only way to do it.