It’s Your Ship!

Mike Abrashoff, Author and former Naval Commander

When he took command of the USS Benfold, one of the most technologically advanced ships in the U.S. Navy’ arsenal, Commander Mike Abrashoff inherited a demoralized crew of “order takers.” Abrashoff quickly figured out that he needed to communicate differently with the young adults that made up the crew of U.S.S. Benford. The crew was demoralized, as indicated by the 8% retention rate. 

Immediately after taking command, he instituted a culture of respect and asked each member of the crew for ideas on how to improve performance or save money. Acknowledging and implementing those ideas got the crew engaged and established an attitude of ownership.

One of the crew member’s ideas was to replace metal components on the top deck that rusted and required the ship to be repainted continuously. He suggested replacing those components with stainless steel—an improvement that not only saved time and money but was later implemented on every U.S. Navy vessel.          

Abrashoff notes that he did not stay in his office but spent as much time talking to crew members as possible. “Regardless of rank, I challenged each crew member to be a leader. And I made it a point to recognize excellent performance.”

He noted that most members of a crew or a staff do not show up with leadership skills. They need to see examples of good leadership and they need to be trained. “If you want someone to be fully engaged, you need to be able to effectively communicate the goal, why it’s important and why it is their best interest to do everything possible to help the entire team succeed. It’s also important to understand your employees’ career plans and help them find a way to achieve their individual career objectives as well.”