“Leadership is mostly the art of doing simple things very well.” – Mike Abrashoff
Inspiring Mike Abrashoff Quotes on Leadership
- “Show me an organization in which employees take ownership, and I will show you one that beats its competitors.”
2. “The timeless challenge in the real world is to help less-talented people transcend their limitations.”
3. “I can tell people what to do, but I can’t order excellence.”
4. “Leaders need to understand how profoundly they affect people, how their optimism and pessimism are equally infectious, how directly they set the tone and spirit of everyone around them.”
5. “Innovation and progress are achieved only by those who venture beyond standard operating procedure.”
6. “Articulating the feelings that your people are afraid to speak is a large part of what leaders, including ship captains, do for a living.”
7. “I can order my people around – but I can’t order them to stay.”
8. “The key to being a successful skipper is to see the ship through the eyes of the crew.”
9. “Innovation and progress are achieved only by those who venture beyond standard operating procedure.”
10. “I’m absolutely convinced that positive, personal reinforcement is the essence of effective leadership.”
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11. “Personal accountability is a declining character trait in the United States today,”
12. “Leadership is mostly the art of doing simple things very well.”
13. “No matter how fantastic your message is, if no one is receiving it, you aren’t communicating.”
14. “Leadership is not about being liked – it’s about staying safe in tough times and giving people a vision of why what they’re doing is important so they can make a difference.”
15. “Sometimes things go right by accident, and you are left with the dangerous illusion that it was your doing.”
16. “A Gallup study found that when people leave their companies, 65 percent of them are actually leaving their managers.”
17. “Show me a manager who ignores the power of praise, and I will show you a lousy manager.”
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18. “I began with the idea that there is always a better way to do things.”
19. “The key to being a successful skipper is to see the ship through the eyes of the crew.”
20. “It taught me not to give up on people until I have exhausted every opportunity to train them and help them grow.”
21. “If all you give are orders, then all you will get are order-takers.”
22. “The effort we’re putting into building prisons should be used instead to redeem people.”
23. “If what I’m about to do appeared on the front page of the Washington Post tomorrow, would I be proud or embarrassed? If”
24. “As a manager, the one signal you need to steadily send to your people is how important they are to you. In fact, nothing is more important to you.”
25. “I’m absolutely convinced that positive, personal reinforcement is the essence of effective leadership.”
26. “The key to being a successful skipper is to see the ship through the eyes of the crew. Only then can you find out what’s really wrong and, in so doing, help the sailors empower themselves to fix it.”
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27. “If your bosses see you lifting burdens off their shoulders, and they find out they can trust you, they stay out of your face. And that gives you the freedom you need to operate independently and improve your ship.”
28. “I wanted every sailor to feel responsible for the successful outcome on that ship – because they were. I couldn’t do it on my own. We constantly challenged every mindset.”
29. “What’s needed now is a dramatic new way of inspiring people to excel while things are happening at lightning speed.”
30. “I found that the more people knew what the goals were, the better buy-in I got—and the better results we achieved together.”
31. “Leaders must be willing to put the ship’s performance ahead of their egos, which for some is harder than others.”
32. “Articulating the feelings that your people are afraid to speak is a large part of what leaders, including ship captains, do for a living.”
33. “As a manager, the one signal you need to steadily send to your people is how important they are to you. In fact, nothing is more important to you. Realize your influence, and use it wisely. Be there for your people. Find out who they are. Recognize the effects you have on them and how you can make them grow taller.”
34. “What’s needed now is a dramatic new way of inspiring people to excel while things are happening at lightning speed.”
35. “I used to say to my crew – it’s your ship. You own the ship just as much as I do. If you see something that needs to be done, step up to the plate – take action. I’m gonna support you 100% of the time.”
About Mike Abrashoff
Mike Abrashoff is the New York Times Best Selling Author of “It is Your Ship.” He is a former Naval Commander with extensive experience in leadership and teamwork.
Abrashoff is at the heart of one of the most remarkable modern-day organizational transformation stories.
He was appointed Commander of the USS Benfold at the age of 36, making him the Pacific fleet’s most junior commanding officer. The challenges of this underperforming destroyer were daunting, with low morale and the Navy’s highest turnover rate. Few believed the ship could improve. Despite this, it was ranked first in performance 12 months later, with the same crew.