Analysis of It's Your Ship by Capt. D. Michael Abrashoff
Capt. D. Michael Abrashoff
Warner Books, 2002
Executive Summary
It’s Your Ship, by Capt. D. Michael Abrashoff is good read on understanding the basics of what he calls grassroots leadership he developed while a Commander in the Navy. He takes the reader through the journey of having a cutting-edge ship handed over him, while finding his own leadership lacking his expectations. While defying conventional Navy leadership tactics, Abrashoff created “a crew of confident and inspired problem-solvers eager to take the initiative and responsibility for their actions.” He ultimately succeeded in turning the USS Benfold into the “best damn ship in the Navy” in a matter of months. Within two years his ship became legendary inside and outside the Navy.
Abrashoff shares the valuable management skills he developed and effectively illustrates examples of how one can translate the same success in today’s businesses. Highlighting key concepts such as: see the ship through the eyes of the crew, communicate purpose and meaning, lead by example, and build up your people. The vivid examples he uses from his naval history make the reading interesting while educational. It’s Your Ship is a great book for any manager wanting to learn more on effective ways to better manage his employees.
Introduction
Abrashoff begins the book by informing the reader of how his story begins; when he is given command of the USS Benfold. The Benfold was the Navy’s most advanced guided missile destroyer the Navy had in 1997 and its command was to be one of the Navy’s top innovators. Unfortunately, Abrashoff points out some flaws with the Navy’s personnel management that I found to be shocking. First, was that “nearly 35 percent of the people who joined the military annually, wouldn’t complete their enlistment contracts.” (p.2) Such turnover can be understood by many business managers in the service industry, but unlike the quick and cheap training process for them, the cost for the military (taxpayers) is astounding. Abrashoff estimates that it cost roughly “$35,000 to recruit a trainee and tens of thousands more in additional training costs to get new personnel to the basic level of proficiency.” (p.2) Curbing this trend on his own ship and eventually helping to achieve a decrease overall in the mil...
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...l the problems confronting Abrashoff are the same problems that managers outside the military are dealing with. By using vivid examples taken from his years in the naval service, he is able to put a fresh new spin on these management principals. Many believe that these new leadership tactics will not work in many of the old established corporate climates, but if anyone is resistant to change it is the military. By showing the steps in how he challenge the conventional wisdom in a job in which reprimand is quick and harsh, should give motivation for any manager to try.
I personally found this book to be an excellent read, and while I haven’t read to many business management books. I can feel safe to say that I think this one does an excellent job in conveying key management principals for today’s workplace. It also appealed to me due to my fascination with the way in which our military operates. I believe he did a great job of staying clear of getting too detailed in either is leadership model and military jargon. I would recommend this book to anyone who feels intimidated by management books that read more like a textbook, who want to learn but also enjoy the reading too.
...states there are three powerful external factors that cloud the Marines’ horizon. The first being the oppressive influence of threat. That threat is rooted in the attitudes or aspirations of the Army, the Navy, or various chief executives. Its nature has varied-threat to the Corps’s repute, to its right to fight, to its very survival. Secondly, the recurrent military affliction called austerity. At worst, they linger in active service and are a hazard to all around them. The third is the dead hand of bureaucracy that lies over the entire military establishment. While the larger services may be able to handle the pressures of bureaucracy, the Marine Corps has neither the instinct nor the time for it. The Marines are an assemblage of warriors, nothing more. Paper massaging and computer competitions do not kill the enemy, which is what the Marines are supposed to do.
Leadership can come in many forms and from many perspectives. In the heat of combat, the leadership from a Navy Seal is much different than that of a leader in a high school dorm. Through reading Extreme Ownership I found how leadership completely changes depending on the perspective. Leadership in combat is completely dependent on quick, decisive execution, whereas leadership in the dorm is more dependent on taking time to work with everyone before arriving at a solution.
Leadership at the tactical level is built on personal interaction. This type of leadership is face to face and encourages adherence to policy and procedures. This leadership also takes into account the human element of command. In the LW course, we studied numerous leaders that exhibited this type of leadership style. Robin Olds was a leader that transformed the squadron they led. Three keys to their leadership were mission success, people focus, and espirt de corps.
For years, Lord of the Flies by William Golding, has been a staple in college, high school, and even middle school classes. The eloquent story follows a group of young boys stranded on a jungle island. They are left thousands of miles away from civilization and are left to survive by themselves. Throughout the story, many insights in leadership are seen through the power struggle between Ralph and Jack. Both have extremely different styles of leadership with varying levels of success. Lord of the Flies teaches me about leadership in the initial selection of the leader, how they solve problems, and how they motivate others.
In any discussion of leadership, thoughts immediately begin to turn to examples of leadership gone wrong. These may include leaders who bully, threaten, or allow their mood to affect the environment of the agency (Reed, 2004, p. 67). The reason we focus upon these examples is the destructive impact they have upon the agency as a whole, as well as the individual officers unfortunate enough to serve under that type of leader. Leaders such as these foster an environment of backbiting and belittling as a method of control, resulting in an untenable environment for those officers who choose not to engage in such behavior and, as often as not, promotion of those that do. This kind of management gives way to:
Kouzes and Posner remark that leadership experiences are ?voyages of discovery and adventures of a lifetime?[and] they are challenging explorations under rigorous conditions? (174). While this may be true, it is often in an extreme crisis situation that leadership is ultimately tested. This is the circumstance that Shackleton faced with his crew of twenty-seven, while stranded in the ice floes off the Antarctic Continent. Credit is due to the leadership of Ernest Shackleton; every member aboard the Endurance survived, and was finally rescued after six hundred and thirty-four days. Shackleton said of leadership, ?If you?re a leader, a fellow that other fellows look to, you?ve got to keep going? (qtd. in Morrell and Capparell 215).
There is an every growing need for college graduates that need government benefits. There are a surplus of able body men and woman looking for a career or a chance to better their life’s using the benefits provide by the Mandatory Military Services Act as a catalyst to improve the standard of living for each citizen. By having experience that will transience to the job market, with the job market being flooded with highly train workers with military background the overall productivity will greatly improve. (Ruschmann
Simon Sinek’s idea and concepts of leadership are very similar to ones used by the Marine Corps. The Marines are one of the most successful military organizations around the world. They have achieved success by accomplishing missions and winning battles. Battles fought in difficult terrains, climates and circumstances. They have thrived in times when other military branches are better funded and equipped and never lost sight of their purpose and goal. Marines always seem to defy assumptions. They appear to have something special and different when compared to the other military branches. Extract young man and woman from a broad society filled with different cultural backgrounds and make them a Marine. Furthermore, they prepare these young individuals to fight for this country and give their life if necessary defending it. Marines have no problem standing out. The Marine Corps and Simon Sinek’s ideas and concepts for successful leadership are related because both know “why” they do what they do,
This passage defines the character of the narrators’ father as an intelligent man who wants a better life for his children, as well as establishes the narrators’ mothers’ stubbornness and strong opposition to change as key elements of the plot.
Captain Aubrey exhibits and demonstrates leadership characteristics that inspire his crew to be the best that they can be. One of the most important leadership traits that Captain Jack has is a single-minded focus on his purpose. All of his decisions are held up against the g...
Snider, D. M. (2008). Dissent and strategic leadership of the military professions. Carlisle Barracks, PA: Strategic Studies Institute, U.S. Army War College.
The Radiant Spirit is one of the largest cruise ships under the Spirit Cruise line. The cruise ship’s staff is rather small, consisting of only five staff members of whom two are female and three are male. The Radiant’s management operates under bureaucratic control, meaning that the organization and its individuals are subject to systematic rules. Included in this military styled structure is the directive for the Radiant’s employees to ask questions or file complaints directly to their cruise ship director, who, in turn will contact headquarters regarding these concerns. Although this hierarchical structure is suitable for many organizations, it isn’t fitting for the Radiant’s team-based structured organization.
Unlike Salvucci, who focused efforts on the actors to transform associations, Rear Admiral William Moffett focused on transforming the system to accept his artifact. In 1921, Moffett was chosen as the first chief of the navy’s Bureau of Aeronautics. Moffett believed that carriers should no longer be adjuncts to battleships, but should replace them. This would require a fundamental shift in navy thinking and doctrine. The basic entities in this network are: Moffett (heterogeneous engineer), the carrier (artifact), non-aviators, naval aviators, the promotion system, and naval doctrine. Rather than changing his artifact to meet the interests of the other actors, he used the promotion system to alter the associations of the artifact to the aviators, non-aviators, and the doctrine. We will examine those three relationships for this
Regardless of the career you choose in your life, whether it be an accountant or a Soldier in the United States Army, someone, somewhere most likely had an influence to bring you to that decision. The Army defines leadership as the process of influencing people by providing purpose, direction, and motivation while operating to accomplish the mission and improve the organization (JP, p. 1). Now imagine you are a young Private, in one of the most dangerous places in Iraq and you have constant leadership changes, and not much support from your direct leadership. I am sure at this point you can imagine, it is not the best scenario to be in. Throughout the duration of this essay you will read about Sergeant First Class Rob Gallagher and Sergeant First Class Jeff Fenlason, their leadership abilities, and the techniques they attempted to use to resolve the issues in this Platoon that was in a downward spiral after losing many leaders to the hell of war.
Demystify the myths of leadership and understand how the system around you works, what is real important, why people do what they do and what strategy or a tactic will help you take your game to the next level. After reading the book, I personally learned the strategy to secure an early win, tactics that would align the goals up and down the chain, unique way to anticipate surprises, building coalitions, staying balanced and the best way to avoid vicious downward spiral… even you will learn it.