It's Your Ship

Management Techniques from the Best Damn Ship in the Navy

By: D. Michael Abrashoff

Narrated by: D. Michael Abrashoff

The story of Captain D. Michael Abrashoff and his command of USS Benfold has become legendary inside and outside the Navy. Now Abrashoff offers this fascinating tale of top-down change for anyone trying to navigate today's uncertain business seas. When Captain Abrashoff took over as commander of the Benfold, a ship armed with every cutting-edge system available, it was like a business that had all the latest technology but only some of the productivity.

Knowing that responsibility for improving performance rested with him, he realized he had to improve his own leadership skills before he could improve his ship. Within months he created a crew of confident and inspired problem-solvers eager to take the initiative and take responsibility for their actions. The slogan on board became "It's your ship," and Benfold was soon recognized far and wide as a model of naval efficiency. How did Abrashoff do it?

Against the backdrop of today's United States Navy - Benfold was a key player in our Persian Gulf fleet - Abrashoff shares his secrets of successful management including:

• See the ship through the eyes of the crew: By soliciting a sailor's suggestions, Abrashoff drastically reduced tedious chores that provided little additional value.
• Communicate, communicate, communicate: The more Abrashoff communicated the plan, the better the crew's performance. His crew would eventually call him "Megaphone Mike", since they heard from him so often.
• Create discipline by focusing on purpose: Discipline skyrocketed when Abrashoff's crew believed that what they were doing was important.
• Listen aggressively: After learning that many sailors wanted to use the GI Bill, Abrashoff brought a test official aboard the ship-and held the SATs forty miles off the Iraqi coast.

From achieving amazing cost savings to winning the highest gunnery score in the Pacific Fleet, Captain Abrashoff's extraordinary campaign sent shock waves through the U.S. Navy. It can help you change the course of your ship, no matter where your business battles are fought.

©2006 D. Michael Abrashoff; 2012 Hachette Audio

Exceptional

I have enjoyed this book so much. Great stories and leadership lessons that I forget about with time and career growth. Take notes, observe what you do and make changes. This book is not only change some of my approaches, it's going to help make a difference in other people lives. Definitely worth reading.

Awesome & Inspiring

This book truly breakdowns the basic concepts of leadership! The tips obtained in the first 3 chapters were put to immediate use at work.

Listen aggressively

"It’s your ship" by Captain D. Michael Abrashoff describes the transformation of USS Benfold, and the leadership decisions he took to steer the ship into greatness. One of the biggest takeaways - listen aggressively

This is definitely thinking outside the box.

Mike Abrashoff is technical and his descriptions in his stories are somewhat hard to understand if you're not in the navy but in spite of that he keeps you on the edge of your seat waiting for the punchline.

It's Your Ship

This book exceeded my expectation. I'm a police officer and this was a mandatory read by our chief. I took away valuable lessons from every chapter. I highly recommend it to anyone in all types of business. The narrator is the author himself and it was delivered flawlessly.

Leadership

This book details great principals of leadership and how strong leadership affected the crew of USS Benfold and made it into the best crew in the Navy. This book doesn't touch on real world business practices, but gives you perspective for you to apply to your business.

Must read!

This is one of the best books on Leadership and management! Easy to understand concepts, which are incredibly simple. I wish I read this year's ago!

Common sense, yet not the norm.

The right way to do the right things. Easy to understand and very motivating book.

great book what every person needs

this was an excellent book something that every business person and leader should read really helps you understand how to inspire and change the monotony at work.

Fantastic book

It's definitely worth your time! I don't have much time to read, but I have a 30 minute drive to and from work each day. I looked forward to the drive and listening to this book.