Get Your Ship Together: How Great Leaders Inspire Ownership from the Keel 
asked by anton584 on November 24, 2006 8:44 PM
Former U.S. Navy Commander Michael Abrashoff attracted worldwide media attention for his success in turning around a struggling ship, the USS Benfold—the subject of his acclaimed bestseller, It's Your Ship. Since then, he's been a fixture on the business lecture circuit, spreading an empowering message that any organization can be turned around with compassionate but firm leadership. He is now nearly as popular a speaker as Rudy Giuliani, Jack Welch, or Jim Collins.
Abrashoff never claimed to have all the answers. He also knew that there were plenty of other creative leaders in the navy, army, air force, marine corps, and even the coast guard who could teach businesspeople how to motivate, inspire, and get great results under pressure. So he asked around, found some fascinating people in every branch of the U.S. military and the business world, and interviewed them about leadership and teambuilding. The result is Get Your Ship Together—a book that will be just as valuable as It's Your Ship.
For example, Abrashoff introduces us to a working-class enlisted man who rose rapidly in the navy for his creative leadership under fire; an army platoon leader who fought in Afghanistan; the first woman to fly an Apache helicopter in combat; a former commander of the air force's elite Blue Angels; and many other unsung heroes. Abrashoff distills their stories into fresh lessons that can be applied in the business world, such as:
• Make a contract with your people and honor it
• Develop your subordinates better so you can buy back a little quality of life
• Conduct the battle on your terms, not those of your adversary
Reviews
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Since leaving the Navy, Mike Abrashoff has set sail on a second career that includes leadership consulting, speaking and writing - helping those in the world of commerce to navigate the tricky currents of competition, change, and corporate complacency. His latest book follows in the wake of his best seller that I reviewed yesterday, and chronicles heroes from business and the military as they demonstrate the practical wisdom of leading through building teams of committed employees. "Get Your Ship Together - How Great Leaders Inspire Ownership from the Keel Up," offers six portraits of leaders who "get everyone to buy into the cause and accept personal responsibility for the organization."
I found this book to be both inspiring and full of practical wisdom. The six leaders whose leadership stories Abrashoff shares are different enough in temperament, context and in the specific challenges they face that it becomes clear that the book's leadership principles truly are universal in their application.
ý First Lieutenant Gabriel "Buddy" Gengler was faced with transforming a platoon of soldiers trained to launch rockets into a band of street-fighting urban guerillas.
ý Trish Karter of Dancing Deer Bakery in Roxbury, MA had to find a recipe for building a team that shared her vision of delivering a balanced diet of world-class cakes and cookies, healthy profits and community involvement as the icing on the cake!
ý Roger Valine is CEO of Vision Service Plan in Rancho Cordova, CA. Roger has been able to see his way clear to build an enterprise that has cornered the market on eye-care benefit plans while creating an atmosphere that focuses on giving his employees a healthy lifestyle balance between work and family.
ý Al Collins rose from the backwater of Warner Robins, GA to sail the seas as Captain of the USS Fitzgerald. During his voyage to his role as a naval officer and inspiring leader, he learned to apply his mother's words of advice spoken as he prepared to leave the Deep South: "You'll never be a great leader until you're a great follower."
ý Laura Folse leads a team of 700 scientists and engineers at BP - a rare female leader in the male dominated world of oil exploration. Laura has fueled her success at BP with an unshakable determination to use her staff as consultative partners who share accountability for the success of each project. Her approach has tapped a deep reservoir of trust and loyalty among her team members.
ý Ward Clapham of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police has pioneered "smart policing" across Canada. In the course of learning to work alongside community leaders to refine police priorities and procedures, Mountie Ward was forced to mount several challenges against the entrenched bureaucracy of those above him in the RCP chain of command.
The overarching impression I have after having read and absorbed the stories of these six very different leaders is that great leadership can happen anywhere - in any setting, in any context, in any company - as long as the leader is willing to share the vision, the responsibility and the credit with her team.
I trust you will enjoy this book as much as I did. Anchors aweigh!
Al
I found this book to be both inspiring and full of practical wisdom. The six leaders whose leadership stories Abrashoff shares are different enough in temperament, context and in the specific challenges they face that it becomes clear that the book's leadership principles truly are universal in their application.
ý First Lieutenant Gabriel "Buddy" Gengler was faced with transforming a platoon of soldiers trained to launch rockets into a band of street-fighting urban guerillas.
ý Trish Karter of Dancing Deer Bakery in Roxbury, MA had to find a recipe for building a team that shared her vision of delivering a balanced diet of world-class cakes and cookies, healthy profits and community involvement as the icing on the cake!
ý Roger Valine is CEO of Vision Service Plan in Rancho Cordova, CA. Roger has been able to see his way clear to build an enterprise that has cornered the market on eye-care benefit plans while creating an atmosphere that focuses on giving his employees a healthy lifestyle balance between work and family.
ý Al Collins rose from the backwater of Warner Robins, GA to sail the seas as Captain of the USS Fitzgerald. During his voyage to his role as a naval officer and inspiring leader, he learned to apply his mother's words of advice spoken as he prepared to leave the Deep South: "You'll never be a great leader until you're a great follower."
ý Laura Folse leads a team of 700 scientists and engineers at BP - a rare female leader in the male dominated world of oil exploration. Laura has fueled her success at BP with an unshakable determination to use her staff as consultative partners who share accountability for the success of each project. Her approach has tapped a deep reservoir of trust and loyalty among her team members.
ý Ward Clapham of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police has pioneered "smart policing" across Canada. In the course of learning to work alongside community leaders to refine police priorities and procedures, Mountie Ward was forced to mount several challenges against the entrenched bureaucracy of those above him in the RCP chain of command.
The overarching impression I have after having read and absorbed the stories of these six very different leaders is that great leadership can happen anywhere - in any setting, in any context, in any company - as long as the leader is willing to share the vision, the responsibility and the credit with her team.
I trust you will enjoy this book as much as I did. Anchors aweigh!
Al
reviewed by theriver on November 25, 2006 11:37 AM
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If you read Commander Abrashoff's first book, save yourself some time -- skip this one. My own experience as a Navy officer made the Commander's first book uniquely appealing. If I had served under a commanding officer like him, I would still be in uniform.
Instead showcasing new leaders and new ideas, every chapter of the sequel informs us how the subject of the story brilliantly implemented the Commander's ideas - and giving us a new story or two about HIS ship to prove it. Instead of a cast of inspiring lead characters, the "Great Leaders" of the title are reduced to minor supporting roles.
While his first book gave a memorable presentation of management and leadership ideas, he didn't invent them. I have read the same principles in various forms in dozens of other books and articles over the years. Commander Abrashoff missed an opportunity to make waves with these tales, instead sailing back through the same waters that he covered before.
Instead showcasing new leaders and new ideas, every chapter of the sequel informs us how the subject of the story brilliantly implemented the Commander's ideas - and giving us a new story or two about HIS ship to prove it. Instead of a cast of inspiring lead characters, the "Great Leaders" of the title are reduced to minor supporting roles.
While his first book gave a memorable presentation of management and leadership ideas, he didn't invent them. I have read the same principles in various forms in dozens of other books and articles over the years. Commander Abrashoff missed an opportunity to make waves with these tales, instead sailing back through the same waters that he covered before.
reviewed by formula on November 26, 2006 2:14 AM