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Summary: It's more than just the military
Review: This book has insightful meaning for other than just military leadership. Its principles are applicable, in particular, to school site administrators. Besides the military, what other group of leaders deals with such a massive beauracracy? It is a thoughtful book about leadership that everyone who holds or aspires to a management role should read.
Captain Abrashoff captures the ideals of a good leader and demonstrates how you can bring them to reality, even under difficult circumstances. It is most inspirational.
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Summary: Transformation through "Grassroots Leadership"
Review: What is the essence of leadership? What is success? How do you inspire people to follow you? As Captain Mike Abrashoff points out, the Navy can award the command of a ship to somebody, and give that person the power to force obedience, but that will not make the crew eager, loyal followers who will do whatever it takes so that the team can succeed. So, how did Captain Abrashoff take a ship with certainly no better than average morale and turn them into the "Best Damn Ship in the Navy?" Abrashoff calls his approach "Grassroots Leadership." It answers the age-old question that has plagued the military: Which is more important, the mission or the people? As Abrashoff shows, caring for the people is the only way to succeed in the mission. ITS YOUR SHIP organizes his Benfold tenure into ten lessons about Grassroots Leadership, which showcase the willingness to lead, listen, honor, and challenge as the keys to successful leadership. An important point Abrashoff stresses throughout ITS YOUR SHIP is that he didn't go about breaking the rules or changing the system in order to achieve his success. Instead, he worked within the system, but was also very willing to exercise the discretion granted him as the commanding officer of a ship. In other words, just as he expected his subordinates to exercise all the power available to them to accomplish their jobs, he did the same, creating an incredible climate of trust and unity. ITS YOUR SHIP will not tell you how to put these principles to work in your organization, but if a Navy Captain can work within a well-known hierarchical, top-down command structure and achieve these results, then with a bit of imagination and the courage to take a few risks, you should be able to use these principles to inspire you and your team to achieve better results.
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Summary: YOU Can Make a Difference!
Review: Michael Abrashoff is an excellent storyteller. You are amazed at what he was able to accomplish in the Navy, of all places. Michael shows that you CAN make a difference in your organization. There is power in one....I highly recommend this book to any manager. It is an inspiring story.
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Summary: It's Your Ship: Management Techniques from the Best Damn Shi
Review: With the world struggling to find effective leaders and managers, this book could revolutionize leadership and management techniques. The examples that Mike uses throughout the book essentially make this a "how to" book...a much needed asset in any managers briefcase. This easy reading book should be a must read by any and all managers...I'm buying several copies for my managers. Thanks, Mike!!
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Summary: Best Damn Book on Management
Review: If you really want to learn leadership principles that you can apply on the job tomorrow morning -- not just some academic concepts -- read this. It's the Best Damn Book on Management you will find on the bookshelves today. Michael Abrashoff distills an entire management course into a concise, entertaining, 256 pages packed with case study examples that go behind the scenes of a warship in battle. Yet you will see the relevance to your company, whether it be large or small, or your vantage is from the water cooler or the boardroom.
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Summary: At Great Leader - A Great Story
Review: Whether you are looking for new insights in to your leadership style, trying to improve your workplace, or if you want a book to read on the beach - It's Your Ship is for you. This is not a leadership textbook. It is the amazing story of how one man and his inspired crew changed the United States Navy. This is a 21st Century fable of how excellent leadership manifests itself - how it can do so in each of us. Read it. You won't be disappointed.
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Summary: Outstanding
Review: Mike Abrashoff hits the nail on the head with this entertaining and educational story of his time on USS Benfold. Once he changed the way a warship "does business," the Navy took notice and began implementing his leadership philosophy throughout. A great read, and worth reading twice for anyone in any leadership role: CEO, teacher, parent. Mike Abrashoff's message has the ability to change any organization. I highly recommend it!
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Summary: It's Your Ship
Review: Outstanding book on leadership. Should be mandatory for all naval officers and managers alike. Works on the wise old navy tenet, Take care of your people!
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Summary: Comments from a former Marine and current academic
Review: I just read Abrashoff's "It's Your Ship" and strongly recommend the book to managers at all levels and academics that teach Management, Organizational Behavior and Leadership. The author, Captain D. Michael Abrashoff - former commander of the USS Benfold, write in an engaging, easy to read style. The information he conveys is priceless. If you are concerned about productivity, profitability and opportunities for growth, the book is a handbook for success. Having spent many years in the "old Corps (USMC)", heavy industry and higher education, I, too, have come to reject the old fashioned and dysfunctional command and control approach to leadership. There is a much better model and it is well described and richly illustrated in this book.
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Summary: Best Damn Book on Leadership Ever Written
Review: As a long-time Air Force Instructor who specializes in teaching leadership courses, I was stunned at the simplicity and wildly effective techniques described in this book. Captain Abrashoff simply followed his heart, and in the process, not only nearly transformed the Navy but created allegiances so herculean that you'd think you were reading Greek mythology. Nothing fancy here--a committed leader, determined to do what makes sense and what makes his people feel most empowered and personally satisfied. His eager crew knocked the socks off every existing comparable ship in the fleet, but that wasn't his best legacy. His greatest gift as a leader was his willingness to learn and to change as needed--and that, as uncomplicated as it sounds, created physical and emotional miracles. More than once, I reached for the tissue box, and more than once, I asked Providence to bless him and anyone else who was determined to lead as he did and does. Easy to read, brief, and magnetically compelling, this is a magnificent primer for every person who leads or who aspires to do so one day. I have read many dozens of books on leadership for my profession, but this one blows every single one of them "out of the water". Read and heed, and your abilities as a great inspiration and guide will multiply exponentially. Extraordinary!
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