It's Your Ship: Management Techniques

ReaderStrength™

Resources for Leaders

Vol. #1 1/31/03, Deanne G. Bryce, editor

ReaderStrength™ is published monthly

©LeaderStrength Systems, Inc. 2003

Type the word “leader” or “leadership” in Amazon.com and discover that there are more than 12,000 books that show up with the words in the title. With that much information about leadership how can you decide which books to read? We want to help. There is probably no one right leadership book or recipe for everyone so each month we bring you a leadership book review or an interview with a leader. Reading inspiring stories or ideas will help you stay motivated on your own personal leadership journey.

Send us your favorite leadership book and we'll tell others about it.

leaders@leaderstrength.com

The premier issue includes an interview held with author and leader D. Michael Abrashoff. The interview was completed in August of 2002. It was set up after hearing a presentation Mike delivered to the Company of Friends networking group in Philadelphia.

Is it possible for one person, a middle manager, in a large organization to make a difference as a leader?

Michael Abrashoff's personal leadership journey and the results he achieved in just 21 months as the captain of the USS Benfold is chronicled in his book, "It's Your Ship: Management Techniques from the Best Damn Ship in the Navy." His tale is proof that a middle manager can ignore the circumstances of being just one person in a complex multi-layered organization, run by rules and regulations, and create a new working environment that brings new results. His story speaks volumes about the importance of listening as the primary action a leader can take once they have a vision.

If you appreciate real stories that inspire you to overcome some of the obstacles middle managers face when trying new ways of leading others, this book is for you. Beyond the book lie some unanswered questions about Michael's experiences and about his new work in promoting something he calls, "grassroots leadership”.

ReaderStrength: What is grassroots leadership?

MA: Grassroots leadership is creating a climate where everyone at every level feels like they own the organization. A climate where if someone sees something that needs to be done they will do it and they will take responsibility and accountability.

ReaderStrength: What can be done to promote this grassroots kind of leadership in the military, government, or in business?

MA: Telling the story, getting people to think differently, to think about their own leadership journey. I ask people who their role models are and challenge them to be a role model. For some, they are hearing this for the first time. Everyone has their own leadership story, they just need time to think about it. Today, we get so caught up with work, and cell phones, and faxes, and e-mails, that we don't take time to think about our leadership journey.

ReaderStrength: Can anyone be a leader?

MA: Some people don't want to be and that's ok. You have to want to be a leader. Sometimes people want to be a leader because the job pays more. I have a dear friend who took a leadership position at a university because it paid more. In the end, she realized that she missed what she liked the most about her job, working with the students.

ReaderStrength: So what does it mean to "want" to be a leader?

MA: It means you want to bring people together to accomplish something together. A team, to produce results.

ReaderStrength: What is more important in leadership, position or performance?

MA: Performance. I often said that I was looking for results not salutes. I didn't get caught up in titles and when I took command of the Benfold I was driven by something larger. In that business, performance is not about profit and loss it is about making sure everyone comes home alive. When I looked at our results (US. Navy's) I knew I had to try something different."

ReaderStrength: In your book you mention that you could have just slid by for two years and still got a promotion. What really made you try a new approach?

MA: I was driven by something larger than myself. I wish CEO's (of Enron and other companies) had thought about their actions and how they would impact employees and shareholders. When I was Captain I would encourage my crew to evaluate the decisions we made by asking if the decision showed up on the front page of the Washington Post, would we be proud or embarrassed?

ReaderStrength: Did you have obstacles right away and consider going to the "slide by" approach and rely on your position?

MA: The old way would have led to poor results. I never wavered from my pursuit because the old way didn't work. You have to take the good with the bad. I tried to feel no more excited about my successes than my failures. It was not easy.

ReaderStrength: What kept you going?

MA: I realized how many people depended on me. And, ego, we all have an ego, it is just a matter of where you get it satisfied. Mine is satisfied by results, but I am happy to give credit to others and I did want us to be the best ship in the Navy.

ReaderStrength: When you say people depended on you, do you mean the 310 crewmembers?

MA: Yes, and the US taxpayers.

ReaderStrength: Did anyone provide any external support to keep you going?

MA: I had a circle of friends outside my industry. I didn't socialize with anyone from the ship so this group of friends, that I could have a drink and shoot pool with, was important. I had little self-confidence, a lot of commanders fail, and you don't know if you have the 'right stuff' until you do it. I found myself asking, 'what if everything went right?'

ReaderStrength: It sounds like you are an optimist, is that correct and if so, have you always been one?

MA: Yes, I am able to see how it is possible for things to work out. I think I have always been that way.

ReaderStrength: What advice do you have about training?

MA: Training can work or not work. I've seen a lot of half-assed and ineffective training exercises in my career. It must have involvement from the person at the top. They must be physically there. When the training is over that is when you do an AAR-after action review. You've got to have a thick skin and get them to tell you the truth.

ReaderStrength: Finally, toward the end of the book you write about being arrogantly naïve in regard to the other commanders in your battle group. You suggest that you should have been more supportive of your colleagues. Do you think your crew would have risen so high if it weren't for the competition you created with the other ships? Wasn't the competition, trying, to beat the other guy, something that helped to drive them?

MA: I don't know. The story that was in the news about the miners in Pennsylvania and how they tied themselves together to survive makes me think it is the right approach. If the other ships had been tied more closely through sharing best practices we all could have been great. It wasn't really my job though. The Admiral should have done it.

ReaderStrength: Looking back is there anything you could have done?

MA: Yes, I could have gone to the Admiral privately and asked for support to do that. I think I had the kind of relationship where he might have listened to me.

After the conclusion of the interview I was pleased. Michael Abrashoff responded to the questions with the same honest approach that came across in his speaking engagement that I had attended in Philadelphia. The answer to the final question was refreshingly candid. His example points out the quandary of leadership. When people choose to lead, they don't know all the answers, they can't rely on past experience alone, and if they are honest, in the end, they realize they could have even been better.

For information about Mike or his book check http://grassrootsleadership.com

http://www.fastcompany.com/cof/minutes.html?m=1140&c=64

About ReaderStrength™

We humans have been writing about leadership for more than 2000 years. Is there anything new and exciting to be said about the subject? Perhaps not, but still we hunger for information and inspiration. ReaderStrength is an e-publication that adds value to your busy life as a leader by pointing you toward books to fuel your inspiration as you lead yourself and others. Send us your ideas and favorite leadership books so that we can share them with others.

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dbryce@leaderstrength.com • Leader Strength Systems