I attended a conference last week and had the opportunity to see Michael Abrashoff speak at one of the keynote events. Michael is a former naval commander and author of several books including It’s Your Ship.
Michael took over one of the worst performing ships in the Pacific, and turned it into one of the top performing ships within 18 months. A truly inspiring story. Here are three ideas he conveyed that we can all use.
1. We have greater influence than we think if we focus on what we can control, and get over the things we can’t control. Never be the victim in a situation. Assess what you can control and move forward with making things better.
2. Use an “after action review” to reflect, challenge and coach. Reflection should be a part of our daily practices. Michael used a reflection process with his team, not only to improve, but to challenge. He told his team making mistakes was expected. You can only learn through trying, and through reflection we should never make the same mistake twice.
3. Remember that you will never be reprimanded for recognizing good performance. As commander, Michael was given the opportunity to award 15 Excellence Stars to his crew every year. In his first year, he handed out 154. He purposefully looked to catch people in the act of doing the right thing and he recognized them. People repeat behaviors when they are recognized and rewarded. Find and recognize the behaviors you want to be a part of your team’s culture.
Michael Abrashoff was not your normal naval officer. He is an exception, but we can apply his techniques in our own team. You can’t order excellence. You can’t achieve success by yourself. Focus on supporting all your people, provide training, and develop a culture of excellence.