Recommended by a good friend and excellent Enterprise Architect and thinker Peter Tallungs - I bought the book It´s your ship by M Abrashoff. I started reading it last night and could not stop. I finished at 2 a.m. enlightened and inspired. This is a story about a captain turning a mediocre crew into the best of the best of the best.. you get the picture.
It is a really great book on leadership. Starting out with an abused and disillusioned crew that just wanted to do the minimum of effort ending up with an inspired team of people that felt that they were doing it for themselves.
That it is really what is all about, doing things beacause they WANT to do them instead of doing things because you are told to do them. In the worst case somebody that has no clue tries to micro-manage you.
So What Was Abrashoff's Method?
- First of all respect the people your are leading, show them that you care for them and trust them
- At the same time set clear rules
- Clearly communicate what you expect from them.
- Allow failures and then coach them to do better next time
- Realise that the people actually doing the work are the ones that can make a difference.
By respecting people and treating them well and at the same time telling them that you expect them to perform well. Everybody wants to do a good job - if you let them!
If you really want to be a great leader - you need to read this book and reflect on how your own leadership can improve.
As for LEAN. This is right along the lines of the Lean Leadership book i just finished reading. Respect the people!
I really despise people that do not respect others. A healthy argument can be wonderful for the spirit but when you stop respecting you peers as well as your adversaries you are in deep trouble. If you get in the situation when you realise abuse and disrespect is the case - leave, for your own good!