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| Get a copy of the book here |
Captain D. Michael Abrashoff was
the former commander of the guided missile destroyer, the USS Benfold, during the late 1990s. During his tenure as Captain of the ship, Abrashoff
led the ship to achieve the highest performance scores in the Navy, slashed operational
costs, and improved crew morale. How he accomplished this is the subject of the
book, It’s Your Ship: Management
Techniques from the Best Damn Ship in the Navy, written by Abrashoff himself.
When Captain Abrashoff took
command of the Benfold in 1997, the
prior commander was not well-liked by his crew, the ship was among the worst
performers of any in the Navy (as evidenced by its poor “readiness indicators”),
and the ship’s retention rate was at a dismal 28% - that is to say almost ¾ of
its sailors were so disenfranchised with the assignment, they chose not to
reenlist for a second tour. By the end of his command, the Benfold was
operating on a budget surplus; its readiness indicators soared to the point it
became the Navy’s go-to ship of the Gulf Fleet during the Iraqi Crisis; it held
the Navy’s highest gunnery scores of any ship in the Pacific Fleet; it set new
records of deployment training (from a fleet average of 52 days to down to 19
days); and increased retention to 100% - all sailors reenlisted under
Abrashoff.
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| The USS Benfold in port in San Diego |
How he accomplished these feats reads
like a textbook on leadership. Take the chapters of his book:
- Lead by Example
- Listen Aggressively
- Communicate Purpose and Meaning
- Create a Climate of Trust
- Look for Results, Not Salutes
- Build Up Your People
- Generate Unity
In each one of these chapters are
lessons for the modern leader – regardless of public or private sector
affiliation – to apply in the pursuit of effective and efficient leadership. All
of Abrashoff’s techniques are important to novice and seasoned leaders and I
definitely recommend reading the entire book, but a couple of things are worth specifically
noting.
In Chapter Four (“Communicate
Purpose and Meaning”), Abrashoff states, “The whole secret of leading a ship or
managing a company is to articulate a common goal that inspires a diverse group
of people to work hard together” (p. 52). This agrees with Northouse’s (2015) definition
of leadership as a “process whereby an individual influences a group of
individuals to achieve a common goal” (p. 6). Early in his command, Abrashoff realized
the problems he inherited on the Benfold
were because his crew did not have a compelling vision – common goal they could
get behind. Abrashoff set about to change this.
He spent weeks talking to every one
of the 300 men and women aboard the ship (Chapter 3: Listen Aggressively) in
order to see the ship through their eyes. He learned there were many smart,
aspiring, and dedicated people under his command, but they lacked enthusiasm
because no one had ever listened to them before. From his interviews, he also
learned the crew had not felt “in the loop” with what was happening aboard the
ship. Abrashoff vowed to listen to his people, implement their ideas, give them
autonomy, and most of all: communicate clearly what they were doing and why
they were doing it. According to Abrashoff:
“Some leaders feel that by keeping people in
the dark, they maintain a measure of control… But secrecy spawns isolation, not
success. Knowledge is power, yes, but what leaders need is collective power,
and that requires collective knowledge. I
found that the more people knew what the goals were, the better buy-in I got –
and the better results we achieved together [emphasis added]” (p. 55).
This is indicative of Abrashoff’s
participative management style. This style is best when tasks are ambiguous
(i.e., preparing for war when no war is imminent) but the follower has
autonomy, but needs greater clarity on how certain tasks lead to specific goals
(Northouse, 2015, p. 121). Northouse further asserts participative leadership
is best because this type of follower responds favorably when he or she is
involved in the decision making of the work. Abrashoff said he “drew a line in
the sand” to give his people autonomy by training them to make independent
decisions and use appropriate judgement. He says, “When the consequences of a
decision had the potential to kill or injure someone, or damage the ship, I had
to be consulted. Short of those contingencies, the crew was authorized to make
their own decisions” (Abrashoff, 2002, p. 30). In fact, this is the name of the book, "It's Your Ship" comes from Abrashoff's constant reminder to his crew to take ownership of their decisions because it was their ship.
Upon reading his book, perhaps
Abrashoff’s most obvious leadership trait is that of a transformational leader.
Northouse (2015) defines transformational leadership as a process whereby a leader
creates a connection with his followers that raises motivation and morality in
both the leader and follower so they can reach their fullest potential (p.
162). The Captain definitely changes and transforms his crew as well as the culture
of the organization (the Benfold). He
built a crew of motivated and engaged members who truly accomplished more than
they ever thought possible of themselves.
As public sector leaders, we can
learn from Abrashoff and others who have transformed their organizations. Our
followers can give us much more than they think is possible, but it is up to us
to motivate them towards those goals. We must give them missions they can
understand and embrace. We must communicate with them regularly and not keep
them in the dark. We need to involve them in decision making and give them
autonomy where possible. And we must understand them as individuals so we can provide
appropriate rewards for their behavior (hint: it usually is not money).
Lastly, effective leaders are
more concerned with the needs of their followers and the achievement of mission
objectives than with accolades personally attained. As leaders we strive to meet
the satisfaction levels of our followers in order to motivate them toward the
best. Our satisfaction should stem from that.
We all feel
satisfaction in a job well done, but the greatest satisfaction transcends
personal achievement - it comes from helping others reach their potential.
-
Captain D. Michael Abrashoff
See Captain Abrashoff speak about
Empowering Employees (approx. 3 min).
Want to learn more about Captain Mike Abrashoff? Here is a partial transcript of an interview he did with Karen Elmherst of HR.com.
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