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

by D. Michael Abrashoff

leadership is earned, not designated.

Organizations should reward risk-takers, even if they fall short once in a while. Let them know that promotions and glory go to innovators and pioneers, not to stand-patters who fear controversy and avoid trying to improve anything.

Empowering means defining the parameters in which people are allowed to operate, and then setting them free.

The difference between thinking as a top performer and thinking like your boss is the difference between individual contribution and real leadership.

Whenever I could not get the results I wanted, I swallowed my temper and turned inward to see if I was part of the problem. I asked myself three questions: Did I clearly articulate the goals? Did I give people enough time and resources to accomplish the task? Did I give them enough training? I discovered that 90 percent of the time, I was at least as much a part of the problem as my people were.

Leaders need to understand how profoundly they affect people, how their optimism and pessimism are equally infectious, how directly they set the tone and spirit of everyone around them.

People can absorb anything if they are not deceived or treated arrogantly. Lies and arrogance create an us-versus-them atmosphere that poisons productivity.

If all you give are orders, then all you will get are order-takers.

One-size-fits-all programs tend to fit none.

Leadership is not a paycheck. Leadership is a calling.