Leadership in Its Your Ship by Captain D Michael Abrashoff - Book Report/Review Example

It’s Your Ship” by Captain D. Michael Abrashoff Management and Supervision Captain D. Michael Abrashoff book ‘It’s Your Ship’ is an important document about practical leadership. The slogan title of the book indicates that there must be whole-hearted personal involvement in professional world. Workplace is like your child that needs to be taken care of. A professional needs to take a proactive role to ensure success for his company. Proactive role becomes a must for team leaders and managers because they have to guide a bunch of people in their work. This book provides all valuable suggestions and advice in this context. The book, which is a ready reckoner of management techniques is a must read for leaders and managers. The author happens to be one of the youngest captains in Navy’s Pacific fleet. ‘It’s Your Ship’ by Abrashoff is an inspiring story of a man who was at the helm of high-tech missile fighter ship, USS Benfold. He has penned down his unique management techniques that made his ship the best in the world of navy. The documented techniques, which made Benfold become a model of naval efficiency, has made the author a legend and his book a legendary piece of non-fictional writing well recognized by Navy and non-Navy readers. When Captain Abrashoff took over the charge of the ship and crew, he noticed that several productive aspects were missing even though the fighter ship had the advantage of cutting-edge technology. The ship showed a sad picture in respect to performance and he wished to make radical changes so that productivity could be boost up. Captain Abrashoff turned his fleet into a model by tapping on the productive potential of the personnel and the technology. Increase profit and cut costs-should be the aim of any person who has donned the cap of leadership. Captain Abrashoff was an expert in this as he viewed the fleet from the eyes of the crew; he could feel their pulse. Disciplined sailors should be made to enjoy the tedious of jobs. His management techniques were based in common sense. The previous commander had left the crewmembers in the state of utter confusion- there was no faith, no trust and no mutual respect for each other. First and foremost he needed to change the attitude and mindset of the sailors He has to gain back the lost confidence and trust. He wanted to arm the fighter fleet with a passionate bunch of crewmembers. His aims flagged of USS Benfold’s success journey. His slogan “It’s your ship” motivated the sailors to undertake personal responsibility and collective responsibility for their work and efforts towards improvement of the ship. The techniques he undertook are reflected in the names of the chapters. The first chapter named ‘Take Command’ made him the commander of a “tough crew who didn’t exactly adore their captain” in the under performing fleet. (Abrashoff, 12) He had fear that he would be disliked but he believed that “being likable is not high among a ship captain’s job requirements”. (Abrashoff, 12) He created a new model of leadership that would suit the requirements of the sailors. There has been a paradigm shift in the work attitude of employees in civilian and military life. The employees of modern era come up with frank comments about the boss and they hop over from one job to another, if they do not find conducive job environment. His principle was to see his role as a skipper from the eyes of the crewmembers. Besides him the crewmembers should be independent enough to make their own judgment. ‘Lead by example’ is the second chapter, which tells us about the concept of real leadership. One should be able to answer three questions- a) has the common goal been clearly articulated, b) is there sufficient time and resource to accomplish the task and c) has proper training been imparted to the persons who will carry out the work. The leader must show an enthusiastic spirit till the end. Ego and petty politics should not hamper one’s professional attitude. True leadership lies in respecting even a person who belongs to a lower rank. ‘Listen Aggressively’, the third chapter of the book stresses that listening is key to understanding the general mood and sentiment of people. On the basis of people’s words the leader can come up with his plan of action. The fourth chapter titled ‘Communicate Purpose and Meaning’ is self-explanatory in saying that articulation precedes top class performance. The employees should be briefed about the vision and mission of the work. As a ship captain Abrashoff followed this principle and kept the Benfold sailors updated about every detail about the ship. As a leader one should open him or her to self-criticism. This will help others open up with their thoughts and feelings. They should be allowed freedom; freedom strengthens discipline if the leader has conveyed the right message. The fifth chapter of the book is ‘Create a Climate of Trust’ emphasizes that it is the foundation of any human organization, association or company. Faith and trust of human talent can do wonders. The lesson of life teaches us to get trust, trust other whole-heartedly. ‘Look for Results, not Salutes’ is the sixth chapter says that mere respect earning is not the key to earn success for one’s company. Leaders should look for positive results rather than salutes fro juniors. The juniors should feel free to speak up to the leader. For performance people should be empowered but they should maintain certain code of official conduct. Taking business risks is essential to foster success and this is the theme of the seventh chapter titles ‘Take Calculated Risks’. As part of the fighter ship, the crewmembers need to be daring risk-takers even if they have failed in their first attempt. The leaders should take the risk of breaking a rule if it is found to make no sense. ‘Go Beyond Standard Procedure’, the eight chapter comments that something extraordinary needs to be undertaken to ensure outstanding result. In both naval and non-naval world, SOP (or Standard Operating Procedure) is considered to be safe and effective. New measures and focus on priorities can enhance the productive output. The desire to stay ahead in the competition is equally important. ‘Build Up Your People’ the ninth chapter of Abrashoff’s book states that molding people with self-esteem can improve the quality of work. Leaders should consider that people are not robots. New talent should be treated with due respect because it gives a lift to their morale. Compositeness of a team is discussed in the tenth chapter ‘Generate Unity’. Its not just picking up smart individuals for a specific task; existing members can be united and motivated to achieve a common mission. Unity is the fundamental concept of the ship captain’s new leadership model. ‘Improve Your People’s Quality of Life’, the eleventh chapter of the book makes us understand the significance of good food and good play in betterment of an employee’s life. An informal environment would bring out optimum output. Difference with other organizational behaviors Sometimes you may not agree with the commands of the leader; but it is the responsibility of an employee to enforce his policies. You can let him know about your thoughts at a free time. The boss or team leaders fail to instill confidence and ignite optimism among their staff, because all of them do not happen to be good communicators or articulators. Knowledge about organizational structure and company changes should be properly articulated; silence frightens employees in case of changes. They should not be deceived or arrogantly treated at any stage. Business employees of any company should be made to believe “we can do anything”. (Tomlinson, 4) In the hierarchical order of a company it is good to protect your junior from the scolding of ill-tempered bosses; otherwise it is tantamount to moral cowardice. But in modern world people hesitate from taking such an action. Conclusion The fleet with its highest gunnery score in comparison to other Pacific fleet and highly efficient crew members came to be recognized all over the world. The captain can be considered as one of the expert management gurus whose successful management techniques could easily transferred from the domain of the ship to the boardroom of any corporate organization. He radically changed the old concept of do-as-I-say leadership into a new kind of leadership that works on the principle of mutual help, mutual trusts and mutual goals. The vision of the Captain was an efficient management and an effective supervision and this should be the vision of any other leader like him. This navy business book has assumed a biblical stature among management books of the world. The phenomenal Captain Abrashoff steered the guided missile destroyer to its success story. At a time when everything seemed to fail, Abrashoff’s efforts made it count among the best vessels during the time when America was facing conflicting situations in Persian Gulf in the last decade of 20th century. As Captain Abrashoff lifted his fleet, every other leader should be the ‘rising tide that lift all boats’ (Tomlinson, 8) Works Cited 1. Abrashoff, D Michael It’s Your Ship: Management Techniques from the Best Damn Ship in the Navy. USA: Warner Books (2002) 2. Tomlinson, Gary. “A Book Report on It’s Your Ship by Captain D. Michael Abrashoff”. Available at http://www.gary-tomlinson.com/media/Book_Report_-_Its_Your_Ship.pdf (Accessed on 8th January, 2010) Read More