這是我們的船：卓越團隊的領導技巧

by D. Michael Abrashoff

《這是你的船》作者分享了他短短兩年，運用十大領導技巧把混亂不堪的班福特艦打造成明星軍艦。軍艦上的口號是：「這是你的船！」作者發揮領導力使每個官兵對軍艦負有責任，繼而把他們塑造成能獨當一面的部屬，因此班福特艦也成為太平洋艦隊中最優秀的軍艦。

　　《這是我們的船》則是作者退役後投身企業顧問，對領導力有著更深的體悟。班福特艦儘管優秀，但如果其他軍艦任務失敗，也代表艦隊失敗，這樣班福特艦是不是優秀並不重要。所以這不只是「你的」船，而是「我們的」船，它既屬於船上的每一分子，也是艦隊的一部分，全艦官兵需要對艦隊更高層次的目標任務負責。因此，作為部門主管不只要向下管理帶好自己的部門，更要做好向上管理為上司排憂解難，與其他部門相互支援，這樣公司才會真正成功。

　　歡迎大家上船：領導者應該懂得吸引對的人才，運用熱忱、歡迎來帶領新員工上任，並使他們快樂且期待每一天的工作。下馬威只會使新成員感到惶恐，惶恐只會阻礙任務的達成。

　　成功的組織必須卓越：優秀的領導者要向員工展現何謂卓越，並激勵他們自動自發完成任務。透過群策群力，建立員工自信，給予低階員工尊嚴，讓每個人都能共享組織成功的利益。領導者越快將它變成「我們的」船，「你們的」船越能全速前進。

　　創造直言敢諫的環境：沒有人喜歡壞消息，但面對現實吧，壞消息也是有益的。領導者應該作為員工的表率，把壞消息在第一時間公開回報給長官，並私下挑戰上級不合理的決策（但要注意措辭）。

　　位階不重要，重要的是團結：不團結的團隊，就像一盤散沙，員工會感到厭惡而開始懶散，伺機跳槽，組織很快就會癱瘓。要打造一支高效率的團隊，不可缺少的步驟包括：制止未經思考的對立、凝聚眾人的力量、訂立高標準、儘可能地使工作變得有趣，並不吝給予讚美。

　　以員工為第一優先：下屬能夠看清領導者是否只顧自己，為了自身利益而犧牲部屬，這種領導者將會不受下屬歡迎，甚至遭受唾棄。你應該表現出你以員工為優先、尊重員工、適當授權，以及幫助員工取得佳績。

　　引導員工做重要的事：你可以重申公司過去的成就以激勵員工、確保所有人都了解其工作的必要性、強調核心價值、避免分散注意並專注於真正重要的事情。

　　迎風航行必須承擔風險：領導者在航向風險的汪洋時，必須替自己的賭注避險，避開不值得的風險，並分辨何種風險是不容忽視的。

　　真我本色，以身作則：作為領導者，部屬會密切觀察你的一言一行，從中尋找關於你的個性、心中真正的想法，以及你對他們的期望等相關線索。優秀領導者以身作則的最佳表現可以化為四字箴言：做對的事。

　　麥克．艾伯拉蕭夫的故事，以及他在班福特艦的獨特領導風格，已成為美國海軍的傳奇。運用前所未有的管理技巧，艾伯拉蕭夫顛覆了美國海軍的傳統，將班福特艦改造成極致效率的楷模。不僅令人驚嘆地降低了成本，成為太平洋艦隊中最優秀的軍艦，更激勵出全體官兵的卓越表現。

　　在《這是你的船》一書中，艾伯拉蕭夫講述了班福特艦的非凡成就，這本書已成為領導統御的經典。現在，艾伯拉蕭夫的新書《這是我們的船》，則聚焦於在班福特艦與企業演講生涯中所習得的領導、激勵、管理洞見及祕訣。

　　艾伯拉蕭夫運用現代商業界、政府公部門及非營利組織的大小實例，提出與時俱進的建議。他由經驗得來的實用方法體現於許多主題，包括：如何激勵員工勇於任事並隨時全力以赴、營造直言不諱的環境，以及敢於突破常規並承擔必要的風險。

　　整體而言，這是一本捲起袖子實作的領導書。就讓艾伯拉蕭夫艦長立刻告訴你與員工：該怎麼做？怎麼才能做對？

Genres: Leadership, Nonfiction, Business, Management, Self Help

256 pages, Paperback

First published May 12, 2008

About the author

D. Michael Abrashoff served for almost twenty years in the U.S. Navy, culminating in a tour of duty as captain of the $1 billion warship USS Benfold. After leaving the navy, he wrote a bestseller about progressive leadership called It’s Your Ship. He now lectures to business audiences around the country.

Reviews

[Denise · Rating 3 out of 5]

Just like the title says, this book is very straight forward, a no-nonsense guide to leadership. I got this book when I was promoted in my old work place. And although I really never had to lead many personnel, it did come handy. At least I understood why that ship was sinking.

Many of the tips and advice that the author gives are plain common sense, especially if you are not tyrannical, manipulative or exploitative person. Otherwise, don’t even read the book, because the advice given intends to make your subordinates feel at home, valued and respected so you can create a good workforce. If you fall into any of this categories, you probably won’t be reading this book, since you base your leadership on fear and abuse, and you probably think you are the best leader ever because everyone complies with the first yell of the day.

Other tips I didn’t know, the least of them I must say, but it still was a good read. It guides you to lead your personnel so everybody wins. Sometimes you have to have a firm hand and sometimes you can lose the grip a little bit, but whatever you do you have to be coherent and consistent. As a leader you really make statements and make your point by example. I have known many so called leaders who behave in such a contradictory way, that their personnel don’t trust them, don’t believe them, and most important, they don’t follow at all. If you want to succeed as a leader you have to be the first one on board. You can’t expect everyone else to do the job, row the ship, while you kick back and just yell and point fingers when things go wrong. And it’s best if you do know everyone’s name in your ship. Otherwise you become a god like figure who people either fear, or ignore.

The book has many examples of how good leadership has its rewards, and how bad leadership can lead your “boat” astray. But one thing is for sure, the success of your navigation in the business world depends on the captain on board. And if this “captain” makes everyone feel that the ship is also theirs, he/she will have a wonderful ride and a lot of rewards.

[Gene Babon · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is a worthy follow-up to Captain Abrashoff's management classic It's Your Ship: Management Techniques from the Best Damn Ship in the Navy. While the original focused on Captain Abrashoff's management experiences in the Navy, this book sails similar seas, but brings in real world examples from the business and sports arenas.

It's Our Ship is refreshing in the author's admittance of his shortcomings and lessons learned since writing It's Your Ship. He quotes business and sports leaders in this follow-up and presents key leadership traits from a non-military perspective.

Companies featured include In-N-Out Burger, Able Distributors and Philadelphia Insurance.

Leaders discussed include Bill Walsh, former coach of the San Francisco 49ers, Ann Mulcahy, former CEO of Xerox and Donald Rumsfeld.

Still, the most compelling stories originate from Abrashoff's experiences in the Navy. Two snippets that resonate include the following:

One negative: "My initiation to Albert David (a Navy frigate) was haphazard to say the least. I had reported with high enthusiasm: now my concern became dread. Here I was reporting aboard my frigate and no one seemed to know or care."

One positive: "I handed out 115 Navy Achievement Medals in my first year as commanding officer, instead of the fifteen authorized for my ship."

We can learn from good leadership examples, and take initiative on our own to lead regardless of our title, whether these examples originate in the business arena, on the gridiron or on the high seas. Whether It's Your Ship or It's Our Ship, grab the wheel and take command!

Access Gene Babon's reviews of books on Business Leadership and Business Strategy at Pinterest.

[Ramon · Rating 5 out of 5]

Most of my books reviews will have this disclaimer. Most of the books in my library are audiobooks. I prefer audiobooks especially on long trips. I feel that if the book is that bad at least my time was not a complete waste. With that said I enjoyed the book very much. It was written by a Navy Captain. Someone once said if you get any bit of new information from a business book then it is worth it. I received alot of good practical information and you don't have to be in the service to appreciate it.

[Koby Bryan · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the best book on leadership I have ever heard, hands down. I got the audio version, and I found it great to hear the author read the book to me in his own voice. The lessons and difficult decisions that leadership positions bring are addressed in a very straightforward manner. I have listened to this twice, and bought copies for friends and entrepreneur colleagues.

[Sarah · Rating 5 out of 5]

Better than the "It's Your Ship," if for no other reason than it documents the humility of what the author has learned from publishing the first book. Finally sunk in how to trust my employees to do the right thing by the end...something I've struggled with.

[Scott · Rating 4 out of 5]

An excellent follow-up to It's Your Ship - the author goes deeper into his own journey of leadership acknowledging the short-sightedness of no having an inclusive exchange with his co-leaders on other ships in the fleet. This is a fast and fantastic read - well worth the time.

[Ellen · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm reading this for our book club at work. We read, "It's Your Ship" and wanted to follow up with the second book. Mostly common sense leadership advice but interesting from a military perspective. He tells some great stories in both books.

[Rob Roy · Rating 3 out of 5]

The key addition to Mikes leadership tools is to think of the larger team, not just the team you lead

[Wally Beddoe · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read by the author, the audio book version is incredible. So many lessons that can be applied anywhere, anytime. A++

[Desiree · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great learning experience for people coming into leadership roles

[Fred Fontz · Rating 3 out of 5]

It’s Our Ship is the third book by D. Michael Abrashoff, and while I wanted to love it as much as his first two, it didn’t quite measure up. The book includes a significant amount of retread from his earlier works, and while the stories are still inspiring and well-told, hearing them for a third time—or seeing the same story referenced multiple times within this book—felt a bit repetitive and tiring.

Abrashoff’s outlook on leadership is undoubtedly valuable, and it’s clear that he genuinely cared for his people and made meaningful changes in his command. However, this book doesn’t bring much new to the table. As a standalone, it offers great insights and practical advice for leaders, but as part of a series, it feels limited in originality and fresh ideas.

Overall, It’s Our Ship is a solid read, but it’s not mind-blowing. If this is your first introduction to Abrashoff’s leadership principles, you’ll find plenty to take away. However, for those familiar with his earlier works, it may feel like a retelling rather than a continuation. It’s a decent addition to his catalog, but I expected more.

[Doncho Angelov · Rating 5 out of 5]

Full 1930 words: the length of my book reading notes which I created while reading this excellent book about the exemplary leadership. At some point, I caught myself that I'm starting to copy its text inside my notes - that's how much I enjoyed reading it.

If you need a quick reference of what is to be a leader, the book is an excellent starting point. It's not an ordinary book, in the sense that once you finish it, you'll still be having it at hand for future reference.

The author shares his experience and thoughts at leadership behaviors, challenges, methods, and practices. Behaviors are split at chapters; chapters are formed by different practices and challenges, which formulate the given behavior. A perfect reference for both young and mature leaders, as it presents this subtle science about people understandably, easy to digest, and remember.

This book will remain on my list of books, which I'd recommend to any young leader.

[Lena · Rating 3 out of 5]

Has a few tidbits of wisdom but this book is largely disappointing. It does not introduce any novel ideas or ways of thinking about leadership, it's just a compilation of thoughts and stories, largely driven by the author's experience in the navy.

If you've never read a leadership book, go ahead and read this one. But if you've read a few, the ideas presented are not very interesting or novel.

I was hoping it would be heavy with sailing analogies given the chapter titles but it is not. It's mostly about stories on board.. Some chapter's titles like "sail close to the wind" don't even make sense in the context of his ship, which was not a sailboat. The title is the analogy but he does not explain the connection between the sailing close to the wind and the different in speed that has... or that sailing too close will get you in irons. The chapter title ends just being a random reference to how a sailboat works but there are no stories with wind and sailing close-hauled...

[Melanna · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read the original when it came out and I have carried so many of the principles into various leadership positions and they have proven invaluable. This wasn’t great follow-up. Some great reminders and I love that it showcases the growth of the author. It not often I make notes from leadership books because not much is new, but there were some things I hadn’t considered before that I wrote down.

[Alan · Rating 4 out of 5]

The sequel to his earlier book, "It's Your Ship," this is Abrashoff's follow up volume, with more leadership and management insights from both his time in the U.S. Navy, and many leadership examples from the corporate world.

[Julius Evans · Rating 4 out of 5]

I can't believe I didn't write a review when I finished reading this book. I've read both Capt. Abrashoff's books and both are equally good reads. I will be recommending this book as required reading for our workforce.

[Colleen · Rating 4 out of 5]

3 or 4? Glad somebody appreciates those in the trenches, or the sewage pits. A short read.

[Stephanie Hunt · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was an easy read with very helpful real life stories and examples. I enjoyed it 😊

[Giannechini · Rating 4 out of 5]

Solid book, good examples, useful message. Slightly lacking on practical methods of application that one would expect from a 'guide'.

[Parker · Rating 3 out of 5]

A short, easy-to-reference, and straight-forward guide to leadership. It's far more "tips-and-tricks" as opposed to leadership theory, but it's effective

[Willis Juma · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent

[Shayla · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book actually has great content but I read this in the same day as his first book and a lot if not most of this content was the same. If you want the shortened version, this is a good book to read. In theory this was a compilation of things he's learned since the first book but he just retold the stories from the first book.

[Pete Zilla · Rating 3 out of 5]

A great but short follow up to his first book, It's Your Ship. I loved the first book, this is sort of a review of the lessons in that book with additional perspective offered by a few years of separation from USS BENFORD as well as examples from the business world. I enjoyed this book, but it's no substitute for It's Your Ship.

[Judy · Rating 2 out of 5]

The author share's stories about people he admires in different industries and then sidetracks into his personal navy experiences. It's interesting to see how the military mind values skills in the civillian world.

[Alisa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Overall, a pretty good book; however, the author serious lacks in ethics and morality, which really upset me.

[Carol · Rating 5 out of 5]

A good common sense approach on how to treat people with respect without forgoing your role as a leader.

[Chip · Rating 3 out of 5]

Mostly a rehash of the first book, which was much better at showing the organization secrets of the USS Benfold. Very quick read.

[Shelley · Rating 2 out of 5]

Reading for a work "book study"

[Philip Mallows · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great boot. Full of insight into managing staff and getting results.

[Blake Kanewischer · Rating 4 out of 5]

An extension of the It's Your Ship book, it adds some valuable insight into playing nicely in the sandbox with your peers.