The Agenda Grassroots Leadership.doc

the agenda - grassroots leadership navy commander d. michael abrashoff uses a leadership model thats as progressive as any in business. from: issue 23| april 1999 | page114 by: polly labarre photographs by: frank w. ockenfels 3 you expect to be awed by the view from the deck of the uss benfold. the $1 billion warship is one of the u.s. navys most modern, most lethal fighting machines: 8,300 tons of steel armed with the worlds most advanced computer-controlled combat system; revolutionary radar technology; a stock of missiles capable of taking out precise targets on land, sea, or air; and a crack crew of 300 highly skilled, totally committed sailors. in 1997, a year and a half after its commission in the pacific fleet, the guided-missile destroyer spearheaded some of the most critical missions in a confrontation with iraq. now tethered to a dock on san diegos sprawling naval base, the benfold gleams with power. when eating up the sea at full throttle, she generates a plume of froth thats two-stories high.what you dont expect to find on board the benfold is a model of leadership as progressive as any celebrated within the business world. the man behind that model is commander d. michael abrashoff. his career includes a sterling service record, combat experience, and prestigious posts in washington, dc. he has won dozens of medals. he is also credited with building the benfolds reputation as the best ship in the pacific fleet. last year, in fact, the ship won the prestigious spokane trophy for having the best combat readiness in the fleet - the first time in at least 10 years that a ship of its class had received that honor. yet abrashoff doesnt quite look the part: think of a military leader, and you may envision george c. scotts depiction of general george s. patton. abrashoff, however, has an easy smile and electric-blue eyes.behind abrashoffs relaxed confidence is his own brand of organizational zeal. settling into his stateroom, abrashoff, 38, props his feet on a coffee table, sips a soda, and says, i divide the world into believers and infidels. what the infidels dont understand - and they far outnumber the believers - is that innovative practices combined with true empowerment produce phenomenal results.that the ranks of the nonbelievers include most of his superiors and fellow commanding officers doesnt deter abrashoff one bit. im lucky, he says. all i ever wanted to do in the navy was to command a ship. i dont care if i ever get promoted again. and that attitude has enabled me to do the right things for my people instead of doing the right things for my career. in the process, i ended up with the best ship in the navy - and i got the best evaluation of my career. the unintended benefit? my promotion is guaranteed! after completing his 20-month tour of duty as commander of the benfold this past january, abrashoff reported to a top post at the space and naval warfare systems command.abrashoff continues to see his mission as nothing less than the reorientation of a famously rigid 200-year-old hierarchy. his aim: to focus on purpose rather than on chain of command. when you shift your organizing principle from obedience to performance, says abrashoff, the highest boss is no longer the guy with the most stripes - its the sailor who does the work. theres nothing magical about it, he says from his stateroom on the benfold. in most organizations today, ideas still come from the top. soon after arriving at this command, i realized that the young folks on this ship are smart and talented. and i realized that my job was to listen aggressively - to pick up all of the ideas that they had for improving how we operate. the most important thing that a captain can do is to see the ship from the eyes of the crew.that perspective provided abrashoff with two insights about change: first, theres always a better way to do things. in the first few months of his command, abrashoff took apart every process on board and examined how each one helped the crew to maintain operational readiness. i pulled the string on everything we did, and i asked the people responsible for - or affected by - each department or program, is there a better way to do things? most of the time, he discovered that there was.abrashoffs second insight about change: the more people enjoy the process, the better the results. spending 35 days under way in the persian gulf is anything but enjoyable - but abrashoff managed to lead his sailors through their missions and to have fun in the process. an ingenious supply officer procured pumpkins - not an easy task in the middle east - thereby allowing the benfold to sponsor a pumpkin-carving contest for the fleet in october 1997. during replenishments alongside supply tankers, the benfolds crew became known throughout the gulf for projecting music videos onto the side of the ship. the crew took its entertainment detail a step further during christmastime, when k.c. marshall, the ships highly skilled elvis impersonator (and chief navigator), serenaded the admirals ship with a rendition of blue christmas.abrashoff first developed his inclination to skirt standard operating procedure during his post as military assistant to then-secretary of defense william perry, in 1994. he sat beside perry during the arduous implementation and assessment of the defense acquisition reform initiative, and he took every opportunity to apply lessons from that initiative on the benfold. for example, in purchasing food for the ship, abrashoff switched from high-cost naval provisions to cheaper, better-quality name-brand food. with the money he saved, abrashoff sent 5 of the benfolds 13 cooks to culinary school - and as a result made the ship a favorite lunchtime destination for crews across the san diego waterfront.abrashoffs leadership formula produces benefits that are both financial and operational. in fiscal year 1998, the benfold returned $600,000 of its $2.4 million maintenance budget and $800,000 of its $3 million repair budget. abrashoff notes that because any surplus goes back to the navys top line, theres no rational reason for saving that money - except that weve created an environment in which people want to do well. the navys bean counters slashed the ships maintenance budget this year by exactly $600,000 - yet abrashoff expects the ship to return 10% of its reduced allotment.at the same time, the benfolds performance has set new standards. for the past two years, the ships readiness indicators have featured the lowest count of mission degrading equipment failures and the highest gunnery score in the pacific fleet. the crew also completed the navys predeployment training cycle in record time. that process normally requires 22 days in port and 30 days under way. the benfolds crew required 5 days in port and 14 days under way to complete the cycle - and to earn coveted shore leave.another critical performance measure is a ships retention rate. the benfolds rate is off the charts. on average, only 54% of sailors remain in the navy after their second tour of duty. under abrashoffs command, 100% of the benfolds career sailors signed on for an additional tour. given that recruiting and training costs come to a minimum of $100,000 per sailor, abrashoff estimates that the benfolds retention rate saved the navy $1.6 million in personnel-related costs in 1998.yet the most compelling sign of abrashoffs success may be the smooth interaction that now exists among the ships company. the benfolds experienced department heads, its divisional officers (most of them fresh out of the naval academy or rotc), and its enlisted sailors all show a deep appreciation of the ships relaxed discipline, its creativity, and its pride in performance. commander abrashoff walked fast company through six principles that have made the uss benfold a working example of grassroots leadership.dont just take command - communicate purpose.the benfold is a warship. our bottom line is combat readiness - not just in terms of equipment but also in every facet of training and organization. but the military is an organization of young people. many of them go into the military to get away from bad situations at home. many have been involved with drugs or gangs. although they know what they dont want, they dont quite know what they do want. getting them to contribute in a meaningful way to each life-or-death mission isnt just a matter of training and discipline. its a matter of knowing who they are and where theyre coming from - and linking that knowledge to our purpose.within two days of when new crew members arrive, i sit down with them face-to-face. i try to learn something about each of them: why did they join the navy? whats their family situation like? what are their goals while theyre in the navy - and beyond? how can i help them chart a course through life? ultimately, i consider it my job to improve my little 300-person piece of society. and thats as much a part of the bottom line as operational readiness is.leaders listen without prejudice.most people in this organization are in transmit mode - meaning that they dont receive very well. but its amazing what you discover when you listen to them. when i first took charge of the benfold, i was having trouble learning the names of everyone in the crew, so i decided to interview five people a day. along with master chief bob scheeler, the senior enlisted guy on the ship, i met with each person individually and asked three simple questions: what do you like most about the benfold? what do you like least? what would you change if you could? most of these sailors had never been in a cos cabin before. but once they saw that the invitation was sincere, they gave me suggestions for change that made life easier for the whole crew and also increased our combat-readiness ratings.from those conversations, i drew up a list of every practice on the ship and divided those practices into non-value-added chores and mission-critical tasks. i tackled the most demoralizing things first - like chipping-and-painting. because ships sit in salt water and rust, chipping-and-painting has always been a standard task for sailors. so every couple of months, my youngest sailors - the ones i most want to connect with - were spending entire days sanding down rust and repainting the ship. it was a huge waste of physical effort. a quick investigation revealed that everything - from the stanchions and metal plates to the nuts and bolts used topside - were made of ferrous material, which rusts. i had every nut and bolt replaced with stainless steel hardware. then i found a commercial firm in town that uses a new process that involves baking metal, flame-spraying it with a rust inhibitor and with paint, and then powder-coating it with more paint. the entire process cost just $25,000, and that paint job is good for 30 years. the kids havent picked up a paintbrush since. and theyve had a lot more time to learn their jobs. as a result, weve seen a huge increase in every readiness indicator that i can think of.i not only know the names of my crew members - i also know where theyre from, as well as a little bit about their families; i know what they aim to do in life. i learned from the interviews that a lot of them wanted to go to college. but most of them had never gotten a chance to take the sat. so i posted a sign-up sheet to see how many would take the test if i could arrange it. forty-five sailors signed up. i then found an sat administrator through our base in bahrain and flew him out to the ship to give the test. that was a simple step for me to take, but it was a big deal for morale.practice discipline without formalism.in many units - and in many businesses - a lot of time and effort are spent on supporting the guy on top. anyone on my ship will tell you that im a low-maintenance co. its not about me; its about my crew. those initial interviews set the tone: in my chain of command, high performance is the boss. that means that people dont tell me what i want to hear; they tell me the truth about whats going on in the ship. it also means that they dont wait for an official inspection or run every action up and down the chain of command before they do things - they just do them.lieutenant jason michal, my engineering-department head, recently had to prepare for engineering certification. thats one of the most critical and stressful inspections on the ship, but i kept away until he asked me to come down to review his work. what i saw blew my mind. he had been tweaking procedures for months and had implemented about 40 changes in the operating system. of course, he aced the inspection. when the people who do the work know that they - not the manual or policy - have the last word, you get real innovation in every area.one of our duties during the 1997 gulf crisis was to board every ship going to or coming from iraq and to inspect it for contraband. this inspection was a laborious process that involved filling out a time-consuming four-page report each time a ship made a crossing. one of my petty officers created a database to store information about each ship and to generate reports automatically. i gave a copy of the database to another co, who showed it to the admiral. now that database method is policy throughout our battle group.none of this means that weve sacrificed discipline or cohesion on the ship. when i walk down the passageway, people call attention on deck and hit the bulkhead. they respect the office but understand that i dont care about the fluff - i want the substance. and the substance is combat readiness. the substance is having people feel good about what they do. the substance is treating people with respect and dignity. we gain a lot of ground and save a lot of money by keeping our focus on substance rather than on extraneous stuff.the best captains hand out responsibility - not orders.companies complain about turnover, but a ships company isnt a static population. not counting dropouts and other separations, about 35% of a ships crew transfers out every year. that means that i must be constantly vigilant about cultivating new experts. after improving the food on this ship, my next priorities were to advance my people and to train my junior officers, who are called on repeatedly to make life-and-death decisions.i not only have to train new folks; i also have to prepare higher-level people to step into leadership roles. if all you do is give orders, then all youll get are order takers. we need real decision makers - people who dont just sleepwalk through the manual. that means that we have to allow space for learning. removing many of the nonreadiness aspects of the job - from chipping-and-painting to cleaning - lets us spend more time on learning how to use all of the sophisticated technology in our combat-information center and on running through war scenarios on our computer system.and because were more interested in improving performance than we are in pomp, we can create learning experiences at every turn. when something goes wrong on a ship, the traditional attitude is hurry up and fix it, or well look bad. well, if you dont care about getting promoted, youll give a sailor time to learn how to do the job right - even if you run the risk of having the admiral stop by before the problem is fixed.as a result, we have the most proficient training teams on the waterfront and a promotion rate thats over the top. in the last advancement cycle (thats the process that determines base pay, housing allowance, and sea pay), benfold sailors got promoted at a rate that was twice as high as the navy average. i advanced 86 sailors in 1998. that amounts to a huge chunk of change and a lot of esteem for roughly one-third of my crew.successful crews perform with devotion.at a conference for commanding officers that i attended recently, more than half of the officers there argued that paying attention to quality of life (qol, as we call it) interferes with mission accomplishment. thats ridiculous. it doesnt make sense to treat these young folks as expendable. the navy came up 7,000 people short of its 52,000-person recruitment goal in 1998, and it expects to be 12,000 people short of its goal in 1999. in every branch of the military, one-third of all recruits never complete their first term of enlistment. weve got to provide reasons for people to join, to stay - and to perform. the leaders job is to provide an environment in which people are not only able to do well but want to do well.i looked at what usually happens when new 18- or 19-year-old recruits check in: they fly in from boot camp on a friday night. they feel intimidated and friendless. they stow their gear in their berths and immediately get lost in san diego. to change all of that, weve created a welcoming plan: now, when new recruits come on board, their bunks are assigned, their linen and blankets are there, and we match them with a hand-picked sponsor who shows them the ropes. they can even call home - on my nickel - to tell mom and dad that theyve made it.the biggest complaint when were out to sea for weeks on end is military-issue entertainment. when we pulled into dubai - one of the better liberty ports in the persian gulf - a sailor took me aside to tell me that the crew members were frustrated because their tour-bus drivers didnt speak english and wouldnt deviate from assigned routes. on the spot, i rented 15 10-passenger minivans. i told the crew to divide into groups, and i assigned a senior petty officer to serve as a monitor on each bus.now, that wasnt strictly legal, but it helped morale so much that it has become a popular procedure for ships throughout the gulf. a more serious issue for crew