The government’s top executive training organization, the Office of Personnel Management, is offering a new course designed to tell managers how to effectively turn over the operation of their organizations to all employees, at all levels. It’s based on the teachings of a former commander of a Navy ship, a destroyer named the USS Benfold. The former skipper Mike Abrashoff’s book, It’s Your Ship, provides lessons learned in changing the top-to-bottom management model to one getting everyone involved and enthusiastic about the mission.
The Federal Executive Institute and Management Development Centers hopes the 3-day courses will help managers lead their employees in new and more productive directions. They say that Abrashoff’s methods – and more importantly, concrete experiences – will give federal managers a boost in their leadership efforts.
Abrashoff is credited with turning around a ship that badly needed turning around. The Benfold became the top performer in the fleet, and the measures he took upon assuming command brought these results: personnel turnover decreased to an unprecedented 1 percent, the rate of military promotions tripled, and operating expenses were slashed by 25 percent.
To find out more go to http://www.leadership.opm.gov/content.cfm?cat=GRL