YoungFeds.Org > Features > Book Shelf
Ship Happens: Mike Abrashoff's Command Performance
In the sea of leadership and management gurus, one guy really stands out.
Former Navy commander D. Michael Abrashoff -- author of
It's Your Ship: Management Techniques from the Best Damn Ship in the Navy and Get Your Ship Together -- is an expert at turning teams around. His practical strategies transform “order-takers” into “result-makers.”
Both his books are worth a read. In It's Your Ship , Captain Mike -- through frontline, firsthand experiences and fascinating and sometimes humorous anecdotes -- provides real world advice on how to motivate teams and improve performance. His simple mantra to “envision the ship through the eyes of the crew” is solid advice. Leaders need to solicit suggestions from others, listen and collect ideas, give credit where credit is do and look at problems from a variety of lens. That's simple and effective management. It's not really hard to do, but amazingly, few people do it well. Abrashoff doesn't tell you how. He's a model to follow and you get the sense reading his story that sailing on his ship is a journey that you are taking together.
In his follow up book, he profiles great -- but mostly unknown -- leaders from the private and public sector... and again, he demonstrates the value of practical, common sense leadership. For Capt. Mike -- and the leaders he shines a deserving spotlight on -- it's not about management theories. It's about practical principles that create tangible results.
Now a much in demand speaker and business consultant, Capt. Mike shares some of his best leadership advice -- from the youth advantage to when the “ship hits the fan” with horrible roommates -- in this exclusive YoungFeds.org interview.
Before taking command of the USS Benfold, you attended the U.S. Naval Academy and served as military assistant to U.S. Defense Secretary William Perry. That's a pretty impressive leadership “boot camp.” What are the best lessons you took to the Benfold from your time at Annapolis and the Pentagon?
The military certainly is a great breeding ground for leadership development-- but it can also stunt your development if you have bad role models.
At the Academy, we were taught a lot of "theoretical" leadership and then saw none of the best theories put into practice. I chafed at all the seemingly silly rules and how we were never treated like adults. However, there was one series of lectures that made a lifelong impression on me: During Plebe Summer, we would have lectures from former Vietnam Prisoners of War... guys like Richard Stratton, Jeremiah Denton (the only Navy enlisted POW), Douglas Brent Hegdahl... and a guy by the name of John McCain. As I listened to their tales of bravery and heroism, I hoped that I had the "right stuff" if ever called upon.
I think the fear of not measuring up to their standards haunted me. When standing a boring mid-watch (midnight to 4am) on a ship, I would always play through scenarios that we could possibly see and engage in mental "what if" drills. What if this happened? How would I handle it? That way, I would be prepared if the time came. While preparing my scenarios, I would always hold myself up to the same ethical standards that those guest lecturers espoused and lived. I would try to respond with the same honor and courage and integrity. That mental preparation, I believe, enabled me to see ethical situations more clearly as I became the Commanding Officer (CO) of USS Benfold. When faced with challenges, I would always say to my officers and crew that you never go wrong if you just do the right thing.
As for working with Secretary of Defense Perry... that was a life changing experience. I got to see good government in action. I saw how great leadership can cause people to become loyal, dedicated and committed to you. Secretary Perry was -- and is -- a very genuine and authentic leader. He was technically very competent, but what was most of all inspirational to me was his humility... it had an effect not only within our own government, but also on our allies and would-be allies around the world. Because he was so respected, the U.S. Military's standing in the world increased and made our difficult jobs easier. Allies jumped at the chance to work with us. I think it was President Reagan who said that he wanted the U.S. to be feared and revered. I think Secretary Perry achieved that. I learned tons of lessons from him. My goal was to be like him.
You were only 36 years old when you took command of the Benfold. Is youth an advantage or a disadvantage when it comes to leading and creating change?
When I took command of USS Benfold, I was the youngest and most junior Commanding Officer in the Pacific Fleet at the time. I often wondered if the Navy knew what a terrific mistake they made in making me a CO!
Command of a ship is a very lonely job. When you are at sea, there is nobody you can turn to for guidance. Everyone is turning to you!!! You have to be on your game 24/7 and you have to have a passion for the job. Being CO is a requirement for promotion and there were many who just viewed it as a necessary ticket to be punched on their way to the top... and truth be told... most hate being a CO. That was obvious in their demeanors... and obvious in the performance of their ships.
I always wanted to enjoy my job and I told myself that if it stopped being fun, then I would get out. You don't do anybody any favors (especially yourself) if you are miserable. I wanted my crew to know that I loved every day of being a CO. I wanted to provide my junior Officers a reason to want to stay in the Navy and become a CO themselves someday.
Initially, I felt a little awkward being younger than most of my Officers and many of my Chief Petty Officers and being their boss. It was something that was always in the back of my mind and knew that I had to earn their respect and that I couldn't just demand it because of my position. So I wanted to show that I respected them. Now respect is a two way street, and I wanted to show them that I was technically competent and that our relationships were not going to be based on age, but rather respect for each other.
But you know what? My age was never a problem... either for them or me. I believe that age is never a problem in leading change if you have the technical competence to carry it out and show respect for those you are leading. If you lead from a position of arrogance, it's a recipe for disaster.
In your first book, “It's Your Ship” you detail how you turned the USS Benfold into the “best damn ship in the Navy.” But to do it, you had to break some rules and challenge some long-held Navy traditions. How do good leaders calculate what risks are worth taking to achieve desired results?
I always used what I call the “ Washington Post test” -- if what you were doing appeared on the front page of the newspaper tomorrow, would you be embarrassed or proud? For young leaders in government, it doesn't have to be any more difficult than that.
Those of us in government don't suffer from a lack of rules, regulations, hierarchy or bureaucracy. Yet often times, we hide behind custom and tradition as reasons why we don't try anything new. When I first took command of the ship, I would walk around every day trying to engage sailors and I would ask them why we did things s certain way. And I always heard: "Because that's the way we've always done it". And I would always reply..."No, that's not the reason why we do things." I would challenge them to make sure they understood that rational for the rules and regulations and would then ask them if there was a better way to do it. I wanted them to engage their brains (our people in the military today are extraordinarily intelligent). When they engaged their brains, you could see the results. What you also saw was them taking ownership and responsibility. They turned their own ship around because they knew they could challenge every rule and regulation and custom and procedure and if their ideas for doing things better made sense, we implemented it.
Some experts suggest distancing yourself from the people you lead to create a little mystery and authority... but you did the opposite. As a matter of fact, your crew nicknamed you “Megaphone Mike” because they heard from you so often. Can leaders ever become too accessible? Can leaders ever over communicate?
Prior to going becoming a CO, you have to take a leadership course in Newport, RI. The instructors were Captains who had already had command and they were there to mentor us. I will never forget one of the Captains saying that as CO, you had to remain "aloof and mysterious" to the crew. My first question was: Why? I could never get a satisfactory answer. I knew I wasn't going to be best pals with any of my crew (or officers, for that matter), but I decided I wanted my crew to know how I thought and where I was coming from so that they knew what was expected of them.
Most of the ships I had served on throughout my career seemed to be in business for one reason....to get the CO promoted. Well, that's not why we have warships. So I wanted my crew to know what really drove me. It wasn't about the promotion -- I could live just fine if I never got promoted again. What I wanted was to never have to write the parents of any of my sailors telling that their sons or daughters weren't coming home because we didn't give it our best. I wanted there to be no mystery about that. I wanted them to know that I wasn't into dates of rank. I wasn't into pomp and circumstance. I wasn't into salutes. I was into... and wanted... results.
My goal was for the crew to know me so well that they knew how I'd respond to certain situations and what set me off. Trying to hide bad news from me was a surefire way to incur my wrath!!! Any good leader knows that stuff is going to go wrong. I never wanted them to fear bringing the bad news to me right away so that I could be a part of the solution. I had a saying "bad news does not improve with age." You are not being loyal to your boss if you try to hide bad news. As you see first-hand in government, the cover-up is always what gets you into trouble.
There's a moving section in your book when you say: “Recall how you feel when your own boss tells you, “Good job.” Do your people and yourself a favor: Say it in person. Press the flesh. Open yourself. Coldness congeals. Warmth heals.” Many people are probably shocked to hear this from a military guy. Tell us about some times where you really had to let the hammer down and be tough.
It actually had to do with hiding bad news.
My biggest letdown came, ironically, from my best officer. We were getting ready for a major commitment and right before we went out to sea, my best Department Head came to me and said "Captain, we can't participate. We have a broken piece of equipment.” My officers always knew what the first question from me always was: "How long have you known about it?" His answer was two weeks! For two weeks, he knew we had a showstopper and never bothered to tell me about it? During those two weeks, I could have been part of the solution... by making phone calls and trying to get help.
I amazed myself with my response. This was going to be one of my biggest embarrassments to the rest of the Battle Group. I didn't blow up. I didn't yell. I didn't throw things. I looked him right in the eye and said: "John, I don't think I have ever been more disappointed in anyone in my life as I am with you right now. You took away all of my options to help, and now I have no options but to tell the Admiral that we are going to miss our first commitment, ever." It was a devastating response for him and I am sure he wanted to jump overboard. But, no one ever tried to hide bad news from me again.
I was professionally embarrassed by his performance, but I had another yardstick to measure calamities by -- I would always ask: "Did anybody get killed or injured?" If the answer was no, then we could always pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off and prepare to fight another day. The moral of the story is always keep things in proper perspective.
Q. In your second book, ”Get Your Ship Together” you profile some amazing private sector leaders . . . but you also highlight some terrific public servants like Buddy Gengler from the Army, Al Collins from the Navy and even Ward Clapham of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. Do see any unique challenges—or can you offer some specific advice—for those leading in government?
I have been in the private sector now for almost five years. Those of us in government always think that the grass is greener in the corporate world. I am here to tell you with firsthand experience that we don't give ourselves enough credit. We have a lot of great things going for us. I think the corporate world admires the public sector for our integrity, dedication and selflessness. However, many times we obsess over that which we have no influence over. In the Navy, we don't get to choose our crew -- they are assigned by the Navy. Often times, we despair and think that maybe things would be better if we were just given a better hand. Well, we weren't. So get over it. But there's nothing keeping us from making that hand stronger. We can certainly influence that.
My advice to our leaders in government: Stop obsessing over that which you have no influence and focus on what you can influence. I think you will find that you have more authority and influence than what you gave yourself credit for.
As the commander of a Navy ship, you're also an expert on cramped living situations. Any advice for young Feds living with roommates from hell?
I learned about cramped living situations long before I joined the Navy! I come from a large family that had seven kids, two parents and my mother's aunt who lived with us till she died at age 96. The ten of us lived in a 1200 sq foot home with ONE bathroom. To this day, I am traumatized at the fights we used to have over the bathroom! When I bought my home several years, one of the major selling points was that it had four bathrooms!!!! And I use them all every day just because I can.
I don't have any flashes of brilliance on how to deal with the roommates from hell. However, when someone did something that irritated me on the ship, I would always say to that person "Come alongside, Shipmate, and let me share my frustrations with you." Or better still: "let's do an NFL instant replay of what you just did." And then, matter of factly and non-adversarialy or non-confrontationally, we would discuss the issue as adults. No feelings ever were hurt, but yet we were able to air out what the issues were get then try to do better.
If you have roommates from hell, have them read this article and then suggest that whenever there is an issue, ask for an instant replay or ask them to come alongside for a chat. That way, you don't let things blow up and descend into a shouting match.
