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A Lesson in Leadership: Charting a New Course for the USS Benfold. A Lesson
in Leadership: Charting a New Course for the USS Benfold ...
Submitted by jcruth1 on September 21, 2006
Category: Miscellaneous
Words: 1374 | Pages: 6
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A Lesson in Leadership: Charting a New Course for the U.S.S. Benfold
While preparing for this paper and batting around the term “leadership” several images immediately came to mind. Iconic examples of perceived “natural-born” leaders, such as John Wayne, George Patton and Lee Iacocca seem to dominate this mental imagery for very different reasons. In one movie, John Wayne transforms a group of young boys fighting over who gets to go first into men thwarting the efforts of rustlers on a cattle drive. George Patton embodies the stereotypical version of the love-hate relationship between subordinates and a stern leader, and the image of Lee Iacocca doing TV ads breaks the mold of the typical corporate mogul, but effectively aids in the successful transformation of companies hovering on the brink to new profitability. The name Mike Abrashoff isn’t one that jumps to the forefront as those mentioned earlier, but his efforts aboard the U.S.S. Benfold in turning around the performance and morale of the crew are no less remarkable. Why did he succeed where predecessors failed? Would he be successful using the same leadership model in the corporate world where his total authority over his subordinates may have a much different profile? Is there one single trait over others that Abrashoff used that ensured his success? This paper will attempt to answer those questions by looking at his leadership style and evaluating the organizational climate that may have prevailed at the time of his command, as well as evaluating the applicability in today’s business environment.
Setting the Stage
Over the course of time since 1970, the U.S. Navy has endured several different leadership models such as Management by Objectives and Total Quality Leadership (TQL) that never gained the support of the people that had to operate their commands within them (Banghart, 1995, p.1). In 1995 a study by Captain Allen A. Banghart frankly stated that the Navy was...
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