In this post, I want to share a quote from It’s Our Ship, authored by captain D. Michael Abrashoff. Captain Abrashoff honed his leadership skills in the Navy, and upon leaving the Navy started his own business, Grassroots Leadership, Inc., and to this point has authored two books on leadership. The quote I want to share is from It’s Our Ship and reads as follows, “A great leader defines excellence and then inspires his team to exceed it by encouraging creativity and innovative business practices.”
Captain Abrashoff provides several important pieces of guidance in this quote. First, excellence doesn’t just happen. A clear understanding of what success looks like must be shared by all in the pursuit of excellence, or the end results will reflect a mixed bag of individual perceptions. Among a career full of errors-made, perhaps the most regrettable for me are those that have emanated out of the false assumption that everyone was on the same page with me. When this has happened, not only was the intended end result delayed but also the level of frustration felt by those who wasted precious time and energy was often significant and its impact long lasting. Successful leaders clearly define objectives and intended results. In doing so, they ensure that those who carry out their directives are given every opportunity to proceed with maximum effectiveness and efficiency … which are essential building blocks of excellence.
Taking this a step further, Captain Abrashoff speaks to the importance of defining excellence. A great leader sets the bar high. If employees are of the opinion that “c” work will do, that is what some will provide. A great leader shares a vision that is built upon a foundation of excellence. And then that leader does everything possible to inspire his/her staff to attain excellence, including setting the example.
As Captain Abrashoff points out in his book that many people enter the workforce never having been challenged to attain excellence. Effective leaders overcome this by clearly defining expectations and inspiring others to exceed those expectations. Leaders excel when those who follow them want and need to excel. Great leaders are masterful facilitators of evolving in others an overarching need to excel.
Captain Abrashoff also speaks to the importance of creativeness and innovation in attaining excellence. As described in previous posts, creativeness and innovation must be nurtured. Chance-taking must be encouraged and failure must be embraced as a first step in attaining success. Until such a workplace environment exists, innovation will be limited. For innovation to become commonplace, all must be empowered to see things differently. Captain Abrashoff provided a related quote from Thomas A. Stewart, editor in chief of the Harvard Business Review, which sums this up nicely, “an organization needs not only a mission statement but a permission statement.” Amen!
Author Cross-references:
Captain D. Michael Abrashoff: Also see post 7/7/09, 9/9/09
Thomas A. Stewart: None
Key Word Cross-references:
Communication/Effective Speaking: Also see posts 12/12/08, 3/4/09, 6/26/09, 7/7/09, 9/9/09, 11/20/09, 12/5/09, 1/4/10, 1/29/10, 2/24/10
Creativity/Innovation: Also see post 7/7/09, 1/4/10, 1/6/10, 3/12/10
Empowerment: Also see posts 12/12/08, 1/16/09, 2/18/09, 9/9/09
Inspiration/Motivation: Also see posts 1/16/09, 2/3/09, 2/18/09, 2/25/09, 6/5/09, 6/26/09, 9/9/09, 2/18/10, 2/24/10, 4/19/10
Setting the Example: Also see posts 12/12/08, 1/13/09, 3/16/09, 5/1/09, 6/5/09, 7/7/09, 8/17/09, 2/24/10
Vision: Also see post 12/5/09, 2/18/10, 3/12/10
Tags: Leadership
on Leadership ... by Steven Davis, CAE 
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