It's Your Ship

As the subtitle of the chapter suggests, Abrashoff’s primary focus is on the importance of communication. He details some of the initial strategies that he employed when he first assumed command of the ship in response to what he viewed as a relative lack of enthusiasm on the part of the crew members. He attributes this low morale in some measure to his predecessor’s unwillingness to create an atmosphere where the crew members could feel like their work had meaning. He also attributed the low morale to a general lack of effective communication.

One of his first strategies was to completely open communication between himself and his crew. He lists the various methods he used to communicate with his crew. The open communication was noticeable, as Abrashoff recounts a compliment he received from the Vice-Admiral of the Persian Gulf’s Fifth Fleet, Tom Fargo, upon completing the tour of duty there. Abrashoff mentions that his open communication was a departure from his predecessor, who was in the habit of openly scolding his crew. Abrashoff asserts that it is counterproductive both in the short and long term to keep employees in the dark even if this means revealing bad news to them. He sees this kind of open communication as a sign of respect that leads to an increase in morale.

Abrashoff provides an example of how open communication helped avert crisis. In 1997, an urgent situation was developing in Iraq. Because communication systems in the Navy were somewhat outdated, they could not share large amounts of information simultaneously. One crew member aboard the Benfold began learning the new system that had yet to be fully implemented by the fleet. Abrashoff soon realized that his radioman, John Rafalko, had it right when he insisted that the new system could be learned and implemented, which would help speed communications across the fleet. Eventually, Abrashoff was able to convince one of his superiors to listen to Rafalko, and ultimately, Rafalko’s suggestion was implemented. After the tour was completed, Rafalko was invited to join Abrashoff to debrief the admirals back in San Diego. Abrashoff says that his primary role in this episode was that he created an environment where people like Rafalko could demonstrate their skills, especially in urgent circumstances. Abrashoff then argues in favor of creating an environment where employees feel a sense of freedom. For his own crew, he would encourage them to be critical of even their commander (him). Abrashoff argues that while it may seem counterintuitive, allowing the crew more freedom actually helped foster more discipline on the ship as they came to invest themselves in the positive reputation the ship had gained. Abrashoff mentions that while off-duty and onshore, the crew of the Benfold never behaved in a way that was unbecoming. Instead, they upheld the reputation that they all had a stake in building.

Abrashoff begins the chapter by stating that developing trust as part of the workplace standard is essential. This includes having the ability to back off and actually exercise the trust. In this way, trust is earned. He then begins a discussion of hard lessons he has learned regarding the establishment of trust. To begin with, Abrashoff discusses the way promotion policy is set up in the Navy. There is built-in competition, which, in Abrashoff’s view, hurts morale because those competing for top jobs end up fighting against each other. This disunity causes real problems. One of the first things Abrashoff did to offset the potential damage caused by this system was to remind his officers that their careers had the best chance of advancing if the Benfold experienced success. Abrashoff then tells the story of a junior officer from another ship named Elliot who had been fired for being incompetent. He was transferred to the Benfold, where Abrashoff soon learned that Elliot was highly talented; his main problem was low self-confidence, which allowed him to be pushed around and bullied. Abrashoff laid the ground rules for Elliot and reminded him that mutual respect was a requirement for how crew members interacted with each other on the ship. Abrashoff’s work with Elliot brought out the man’s talents and also served as an example to the rest of his crew that even after screwing up, they can still have the chance to redeem themselves. This also fostered trust on the Benfold.

Abrashoff transitions into a discussion about revealing bad news. Leaders need to allow space for bad news since it could involve a matter of life and death. He cites two examples from the Benfold. The first involved problems with a new missile fire control system called Aegis. The crew noticed that the system was causing short circuits, which ultimately lowered the ship’s combat readiness. The second example involved fuel heaters that had developed cracks, which caused fuel to leak. In both cases, Abrashoff points out that a leader needs to be open to hearing this kind of news. In the second example, the crew member who discovered the leak essentially averted real danger. Rather than retaliate against this crew member, Abrashoff took him seriously and took the information to his superiors. As it turned out, the heater problem was discovered across the entire fleet. In response to the crew member’s discovery of the leak, Abrashoff awarded him an achievement medal without waiting for official recognition from the bureaucracy.

Abrashoff then moves on to discuss the nature of abusive and power-hungry bosses. He admits that sometimes there are bosses whose methods are outdated but still get results. He then highlights an offshoot of this leadership style in which the person becomes so motivated by their own lust for power that they jeopardize the overall organization. He urges readers not to become this kind of boss and to shield subordinates from these abusive people.

Abrashoff tells two other anecdotes to conclude this chapter. First, he asserts that being trustworthy can actually lead to more responsibility. The best way to pay that back is to keep doing what is right and put forth a good effort, because at some point, that effort will be rewarded. He says that the Benfold had been considered a key asset in the Persian Gulf conflict in 1997 with its acumen for deploying Tomahawk missiles. Because the ship was so reliable, it ended up spending 100 days in the Gulf, far more than other ships in its class. Even after its tour was up, and it was heading to Australia for some down time, Abrashoff received a request from superiors to intercept a smuggling operation that was on its way from Iran. This added another two days of duty. Rather than become dejected, the crew embraced the assignment because it reflected their reliability. The second anecdote is of Abrashoff’s friendship with a man named Irv Refkin. The two had met incidentally while at a dinner. Irv owned a company that repaired ships, including Navy ships, and had always done business preferring a handshake to a written contract. He also refused to have his employees punch a time clock. Eventually, his willingness to trust customers, including the Navy, landed him a large contract with the Navy.