It's Your Ship Management Techniques from the Best Damn Ship in the Navy

by Abrashoff, Captain D. Michael

• ISBN13: 9780446529112
• ISBN10: 0446529117
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2002-05-22
• Publisher: Grand Central Publishing

Summary

Other than the sobering fact that real lives are regularly at stake, running a navy ship is a lot like running a business: leaders of both must get the most out of their crews to operate at peak efficiency and complete the tasks at hand. As commander of the highly acclaimed USS Benfold, Captain D. Michael Abrashoff irrefutably demonstrated how progressive management can succeed at sea; in It's Your Ship, he translates his methods into an approach that can also be applied by land-bound captains of commerce and industry. Describing "the ideas and techniques that I used to win my sailors' trust and, eventually, their enthusiastic commitment to our joint goal of making our ship the best in the fleet," Abrashoff cites embarrassing failures along with subsequent triumphs to illuminate the keys to his accomplished 20-month tenure aboard the guided missile destroyer. His suggestions: 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 your people; generate unity; and improve your people's quality of life. While hardly original on the surface, Abrashoff's course should provide practical direction and inspiration for any leader hoping for similarly positive results in similarly rigid organizations. --Howard Rothman

Author Biography

CAPTAIN D. MICHAEL ABRASHOFF is a graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, MD, and was a military assistant to the former secretary of defense, the Honorable Dr. William J. Perry. Abrashoff left the Navy in 2001 and became the founder and CEO of Grassroots Leadership, Inc., in Boston. You can visit his website at www.grassrootsleadership.com.

Table of Contents

Introduction	1	(10)
Take Command	11	(21)
Lead by Example	32	(11)
Listen Aggressively	43	(9)
Communicate Purpose and Meaning	52	(11)
Create a Climate of Trust	63	(19)
Look for Results, not Salutes	82	(22)
Take Calculated Risks	104	(14)
Go Beyond Standard Procedure	118	(22)
Build Up Your People	140	(28)
Generate Unity	168	(18)
Improve Your People's Quality of Life	186	(13)
Life after Benfold	199	(9)
Epilogue Beyond Benfold	208	(3)
Acknowledgments	211