Speaking on Challenges

D. Michael Abrashoff

Author, It's Your Ship: Management Techniques from the Best Damn Ship in the Navy

Travels from: Virginia



Speech Topics

At the heart of Mike Abrashoff’s talks is the belief that there is no shortage of challenges that we face in today's business climate. We all realize by now that change is the only constant that we face in an increasingly complex and demanding business environment.

We have two courses that we can steer. One is to respond to the challenges being imposed on us by our competitors and business environment. The other is to take command and dictate the rules of engagement on our terms.

Abrashoff engages and challenges participants into realizing that they have a far greater ability to influence how the battle is fought and on whose terms.

Michael Abrashoff

At the age of 36, Mike Abrashoff was selected to become Commander of USS Benfold -- at the time, the most junior commanding officer in the Pacific Fleet.

The challenges were staggering: exceptionally low morale with unacceptably high turnover. Few thought that this ship could improve. In some ways, an extreme example of the same problems facing many organizations today. "A lot of people do whatever it takes to secure the next promotion. All I ever wanted to do in the navy was to command a ship. I did not care if I ever got promoted again. And that attitude enabled me to do the right things for my people instead of doing the right things for my career.

Along the way, it was my people that created the results that ensured my next promotion." The solution was a system of beliefs that Mike calls GrassRoots Leadership. A process of replacing command and control with commitment and cohesion, by engaging the hearts, minds, and loyalties of workers. Beliefs that Mike achieves with conviction and humility. "The most important thing that a captain can do is to see the ship through the eyes of the crew."

GrassRoots leadership is a principle that empowers (and challenges) every individual to share the responsibility of achieving excellence.

"It's your ship," Mike was known to say. His former sailors to this day still remind him of it. Other experiences that have influenced Mike's leadership skills include helping to draft the air defense plan for naval forces in the Persian Gulf in 1990, coinciding with Iraq's invasion of Kuwait; and serving as the Executive Officer of the Cruiser Shiloh, where he traveled to the Persian Gulf in support of United Nations sanctions against Iraq.