Capt. Abrashoff: Leaders need to listen to employees

Capt. Mike Abrashoff, the keynote speaker at the MMA Annual Meeting on Jan. 20, drew on his experience in turning around one of the Navy’s worst-performing ships to encourage local officials to rethink how they engage with city and town employees.

In 1997, when he was 36, Abrashoff became the commander of the USS Benfold, a ship plagued by poor performance and low morale.

“After I stopped feeling sorry for myself,” Abrashoff said, “I decided that I was going to focus on the things that I could change” – including treating his crew members with respect and getting them to understand that they were doing important work.

“I told them, ‘I’m going to invest in your training, so you can have the confidence to step up to the plate. I’m going to listen to you, and I’m going to create an environment where I would be proud to have you in my own family.’”

When Abrashoff took over, less than 10 percent of the ship’s sailors were choosing to re-enlist. He said the figure eventually approached 100 percent. Just 18 months after the change in command, the Benfold received the Navy’s Spokane Trophy, recognizing the ship for achieving the top level of proficiency within the Pacific Fleet.

“It wasn’t a captain barking orders that turned the ship around,” Abrashoff said. “What turned it around was empowering the crew so that they felt they were making a difference.”

He interviewed his sailors individually, learning, for example, that many had enrolled because of the G.I. bill, which they saw as their only hope for obtaining a college education. Abrashoff said he also learned that “most of my sailors never had anyone in their life ask them what their goals were.”

Most significantly, he told his sailors, “If you have an idea how to do something better, and it makes sense and I can implement it, we’ll try it out.”

Abrashoff said that one money-saving innovation emerged from a question a young sailor asked about why it was necessary to repaint the ship every two months. The reason was that nuts, bolts, fittings and other parts were made out of ferrous metals, which rust quickly. While parts made of rust-resistant metals were more expensive, they helped save money over time, because it had to be repainted less often. The Navy ended up buying rust-resistant parts for all its ships.

“And it all started when a 21-year-old had the confidence to raise his hand and say, ‘Hey, Captain, have you thought about this?’” Abrashoff said.
“As you think about your communities,” he added, “think about where the rust is. You may be too busy to see.”