JS Tip 615: Money Can Never Create Loyalty
From the Leadership Workshops: What Creates Loyalty?
In a recent leadership workshop, we began with this idea:
Money—though important—can never create loyalty.
We asked what can create loyalty. The consensus was caring and engaging leaders.
We talked about Captain Michael Abrashoff. (We’ve talked of him before: It’s Your Ship: Management Techniques from the Best Damn Ship in the Navy, Warner Business Books, 2002).
When Abrashoff took command of the USS Benfold, it was the worst-performing ship in the Pacific Fleet. When he left, it was the best performing ship—with the same crew.
At the beginning of his command, Captain Abrashoff met with each of the Benfold’s 310 sailors individually at their stations.
He asked three questions:
What do you like best about this ship?
What do you like least?
What would you change if you could?
He listened to and acted on their answers. He credited the improvements to their suggestions.
During Abrashoff’s twenty-month command—
One hundred percent of the ship’s career sailors re-enlisted. (The Navy average is fifty-four percent.)
He disiplined five sailors and discharged none. (His predecessor, in a one-year period, disciplined twenty-eight sailors and discharged twenty-three.)
Two crew members left Abrashoff’s command for health reasons. (Under his predecessor, thirty-one sailors left the ship for health reasons, mostly with bad-back complaints.)
What do you think made the difference?
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