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

by D. Michael Abrashoff

Getting somewhere is important. How you get there is equally important.

There is nothing wrong with trying to offer a better way to meet a requirement that has been imposed on

SEE THE SHIP THROUGH THE CREW’S EYES.

They were conditioned to promulgate orders from above, not to welcome suggestions from

But it worked, because confidence is infectious. If we weren’t actually the best just yet, we were certainly on our way there.

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.

wanted them to have as much fun from nine to five every day at work as they did from five to nine every night at home.

After all, we dedicate 60 to 70 percent of our waking hours to this thing called work. It would be terrible if we didn’t believe that what we were doing made a difference.

Keep talking. Tell everyone personally what’s in store for him or her—new goals, new work descriptions, new organizational structure, and yes, job losses, if that’s the case.

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.

direct relationship between how much the crew knew about a plan and how well they carried it out.

John’s story proves that no matter how fantastic your message is, if no one is receiving it, you aren’t communicating.

I was causing unnecessary work, then I wanted to know about it. If the crew had a problem with what I was doing, I wanted them to tell me so I could fix it or explain why I had to do things that way, thus expanding my crew’s knowledge of limitations or requirements imposed on me.

give the troops all the responsibility they can handle and then stand back.

Internal bickering and posturing does nothing for the bottom line.

Another wonderful aspect of great leadership is that you leave a legacy, and your heirs, like John Wade, continue affecting others as they spread throughout the organization.

As the department heads called off their war and focused on purpose, their people started trusting one another more and stopped questioning motives.

Trust is like a bank account—you have got to keep making deposits if you want it to grow.

Leaders and managers need to understand that their employees are keenly attuned to their actions and reactions.

If they see you intervene to help someone who is worth your effort, they will be reassured.

isn’t hyperbole to say that it can be a matter of life and death to create a climate of trust in which people are not afraid to deliver news that they know you don’t want to hear.

You should never bring petty problems to the attention of your boss if you can solve them yourself.

Bad news does not improve with age.

When do you break the rules?

In today’s fast-paced world, rules should be treated as guidelines, not as immutable laws, unless they truly are critical. If the rules weren’t critical, I

The gray areas, in fact, are one reason we need mid-level managers. If everything were black and white, organizations would need only chief executives to make the rules and workers to carry them out without questions.

Mid-level managers should be the ones to survey the gray areas and provide direction.

when a leader is down the whole organization takes the cue.

Quite simply, we are the best. And being the best carries with it responsibility. Thank you for hanging in there.”

In times of peril, people always turn to the guy at the top and look for guidance.

Helping your boss when he or she needs you badly is a pretty good investment.

Rigidity gets in the way of creativity. Instead of salutes, I wanted results, which

I wanted sailors to open their minds, use their imaginations, and find better ways of doing everything.

And I wanted everyone on the ship to see one another as people and shipmates.

I had to be in on any decision that could kill someone, injure someone, waste taxpayers’ money, or damage the ship. But short of that, anyone on my ship should try to solve any problem that came up. Trying takes grit, builds skills, breeds courage.

Every leader needs big ears and zero tolerance for stereotypes.

men and women with untapped talent, untested spirit, and unlimited potential. I was determined to be the captain these sailors deserved.

You will seldom get in trouble for following standard operating procedure.

On the other hand, you will rarely get outstanding results. And all too often,

it distracts people from what’s really important. In my t...

Innovation and progress are achieved only by those who venture beyond standard operating procedure.

I had blatantly disregarded the admiral’s directive, I could have been fired. More important, my actions would have sent a message to my crew that it was all right to ignore policies you don’t agree with. But if I could not change a stupid rule, I could use it for my own purposes. I could

LEADERSHIP, AS I HAVE SAID, IS MOSTLY THE ART OF doing simple things very well.

I focused on building self-esteem. I know that most of us carry around an invisible backpack full of childhood insecurities, and that many sailors often struggled under the load of past insults, including being scorned at home or squashed at school.

I could make the load either heavier or lighter, and the right choice was obvious. Instead of tearing people down to make them into robots, I tried to show them that I trusted and believed in them.

Show me a manager who ignores the power of praise, and I will show...

If you want to achieve anything in a large bureaucracy, get inside the bosses’ heads. Anticipate what they want before they know they want it. Take on their problems; make them look so good that you become indispensable. When they can’t get along without you, they will support nearly anything you seek to accomplish.

mainly, we were attentive to people’s feelings and potential. A lot of seemingly small gestures added up to a friendly and supportive atmosphere.

Those conversations were the highlight of my day, and they didn’t cost me or the Navy a dime. The more I went around meeting sailors, the more they talked to me openly and intelligently. The more I thanked them for hard work, the harder they worked.

I’m absolutely convinced that positive, personal reinforcement is the essence of effective leadership.