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

It's Your Ship: Management Techniques from the Best Damn Ship in the Navy | Michael Abrashoff | ***A MUST READ BOOK***

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It's Your Ship: Ma...

	It's Your Ship: Management Techniques from the Best Damn Ship in the Navy Michael Abrashoff Business Plus, 2002 - 256 pages average customer review:based on 113 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

Other than the sobering fact that real lives are regularly at stake, running a navy ship is a lot like running a business: leaders of both must get the most out of their crews to operate at peak efficiency and complete the tasks at hand. As commander of the highly acclaimed USS Benfold, Captain D. Michael Abrashoff irrefutably demonstrated how progressive management can succeed at sea; in It's Your Ship, he translates his methods into an approach that can also be applied by land-bound captains of commerce and industry. Describing "the ideas and techniques that I used to win my sailors' trust and, eventually, their enthusiastic commitment to our joint goal of making our ship the best in the fleet," Abrashoff cites embarrassing failures along with subsequent triumphs to illuminate the keys to his accomplished 20-month tenure aboard the guided missile destroyer. His suggestions: lead by example; listen aggressively; communicate purpose and meaning; create a climate of trust; look for results, not salutes; take calculated risks; go beyond standard procedure; build up your people; generate unity; and improve your people's quality of life. While hardly original on the surface, Abrashoff's course should provide practical direction and inspiration for any leader hoping for similarly positive results in similarly rigid organizations. --Howard Rothman

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Superior leadership tips for government leaders and managers

On my bookshelf sit a wide variety and number of tomes on leadership and management, some of them provided to me as a result of my current job as a junior executive, while I purchased others myself based upon either recommendations from fellow executives or informal leaders within federal government whom I know and respect.

Mike Abrashoff's book kind of "snuck up" on me, for while I had heard others mention it in passing, and noticed the cover on forays to the bookstore, I had believed - incorrectly - it was not in the league of "Good to Great," "First Break All the Rules," or other perhaps better known efforts.

What I found was a leadership book that was not only a legitimate page turner, but something that I actually enjoyed well enough to read twice, which is almost unheard of for me given my schedule.

Although I served in the U.S. military for almost a decade (sorry Captain, I was in the Army!), the bulk of my leadership training and experience has come from my work in the federal government, where targeted leadership texts are hard to come by and largely unfocused; that is, until now.

I found Captain Abrashoff's writing to be succinct and to the point, his stories spot-on examples of problems with non-military applicability and his insights keen and consistently self-deprecating. The world in which I work (law enforcement) has a paramilitary structure, and contains many highly educated and intelligent "type-A" folks with matching assertive personalities. These in turn are mixed with a smaller number of people ranging from the unmotivated and unenthusiastic, to self-starting and virtually brilliant folks who are un-empowered and who therefore are not contributing as they could. Worse still, since law enforcement is hierarchical, the impact of a bad leader at the helm is even more damaging than you might imagine.

When I found myself in a position of suddenly having control over a segment of our agency, one of the very first things I did was to provide all of my dozen or so subordinate supervisors and other key people with a gift of Captain Abrashoff's book at a staff meeting, along with the simple suggestion that they enjoy the gift and see what lessons they found within.

Although this book is, in my opinion, best suited to organizations which are more structured or hierarchical, I think Captain Abrashoff's efforts have broad applicability if you are interested in trying some non-traditional, but surprisingly simple techniques, chief among them empowering your subordinates to excel by trusting and challenging them, sadly a rarity in a world where leaders are often ego-centric and/or authoritarian. I have rarely encountered such a readable and even inspiring book when it comes to pondering "what would I do if I were in charge?

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***A MUST READ BOOK***

I am both a Pastor, as well as a Critical Care Paramedic for a hospital in a nearby city where I live. This book, "It's Your Ship", contains a MUCH NEEDED MESSAGE that should be REQUIRED READING for ALL managers, CEOs, Presidents, Pastors, Administrators, Leaders, etc. in any and all organizations no matter their size. Too many of those, who are listed above, are still trying to "micro-manage" their employees, ignore the vast resources and ideas of their employees and personnel, as well as operate out of a system that is no longer relevant for today's generations, etc. The sad part is that they are doing it either out of ignorance, stubbornness, pride, refusal to change / adapt, or just plain stupidity which is 'destroying' organizations, companies, churches, by ignoring THE BEST RESOURCES they have available. Those who they are to lead and manage.

I would HIGHLY recommend this book coupled alongside another book by Graeme Codrintgton entitled, "Mind The Gap". This book discusses the reality of generational differences (how they differ, why, etc.) in an easy to understand, well-researched manner that is both much needed and well-written book that would give anyone in leadership the foundation and principles that they need in understanding the 'WHY' they NEED to CHANGE and to APPLY those same principles that are mentioned in the book "It's Your Ship".

Sadly, those in 'leadership' who "fail to do so", will, if not already finding themselves on a 'sinking ship' in their organization, and it is only a matter of time before they destroy the very company they want to succeed; by failing to change and adapt, by failing to make the necessary changes, by failing to 'grow themselves' "outside the box" they have placed themselves in, and by ignoring the awesome resources at their disposal which is found in the very employees they are supposed to "lead" instead of "drive and walk over".

Again, this book is a very practical MUST READING for ANYONE who is in a leadership position, wants to improve their organization, grow themselves, etc. AND it could be a resource to bring about the very change needed in your organization. We could only PRAY & HOPE that in your or my situations we could have a leader who would become and embrace those principles and examples found in "It's Your Ship".

However, be warned, IF you work for a boss who 'refuses to change', listen to others, and is determined to operate in a system that is no longer relevant from 20+ years ago, you WILL become frustrated. Even so, it may open your eyes, and the eyes of those around you how things "should be" as well as perhaps "ideas" on how things need to change, perhaps can change, motivating you to be the catalyst in brining about the change, or to seeing the hopelessness of the situation you are in until a new "admiral / captain" heads up 'your ship'.

(Here is my suggestion: Leave a copy of this book for your boss. You might want to do it annonymously though. For in an abusive situation, "those that aren't the problem, who point out the problem, sadly, become the scapegoat or the problem they will focus on ignoring what the actual problem really is)

Get this book and read it today!! :o)

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A proven guide to successful leadership...

ISBN: 978-0-446-19966-4
Reviewed by Debra Gaynor for ReviewYourBook.com 5/08

Captain D. Michael Abrashoff brings his vast experience and expertise from the Benfold to business leaders. The Benfold went from "a dysfunctional guided missile destroyer to the best damn ship in the Navy."
With experience comes maturity. Abrashoff has learned that it takes teamwork to achieve success. A good leader will inspire, challenge, and demonstrate excellence in those he leads. He will cultivate truth, trust, and respect. Positive results will come from example. Abrashoff offers readers advice through stories. His methods are practical and proven successful. He presents the information in a simple easy-to-understand form. Regardless of whether it is a large or small business, persons in all positions of leadership will find It's Our Ship a priceless tool.

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Excellent Read

It's Your Ship: Management Techniques from the Best Damn Ship in the Navy
Excellent Read! One of the easiest books that I have read in a while. Although this was mostly his experiences, it has great insight to the qualities of a great leader. I couldn't put the book down!

Common sense... not a common book

As a ten year Navy veteran, I was riveted to this book for it's common sense approach to leadership. There are many books available today about management but damn few that focus on great leadership. That's where this book's niche is. It's a quick and very interesting read. As I was going through the book I kept thinking "why don't more leaders act this way"? The answer, unfortunately, is that to be a great leader you must set your course and then get out of your own troops way.

I loved the book and highly recommend it to anyone who wants a quick course in leadership.

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