Damn the Torpedoes!: Applying the Navy's Leadership Principles to Business
Awareness of the leadership traits exhibited by Admiral Farragut in his famous order: “Damn the torpedoes! Full speed ahead!” can make any manager afloat or ashore more successful. Alec Fraser's experience as a Navy captain and the president of a division of Turner Broadcasting has taught him that leadership ashore can be modeled after centuries of leadership at sea.

In Damn the Torpedoes! Fraser utilizes his own experiences in the U.S. Navy and the corporate world to illustrate this concept. Within the first sixty seconds of his induction to the U.S. Naval Academy, Midshipman Fraser was posed with a question to which he answered, “I don't know.” This quickly proved to be an unacceptable answer in the Navy, regardless of the question. While doing the requisite push-ups that followed, he learned that there were only four ways to respond to a question or an order: “No excuse, sir,” “I'll find out, sir,” “Yes/no sir,” and “Aye-aye, sir.” From these four responses Fraser learned the four key concepts to being an effective leader afloat or ashore: accountability, thinking ahead, ethics, and motivation.

Damn the Torpedoes! offers concrete advice for leading in the work place-giving step-by-step recommendations to encourage readers into adopting this different way of approaching leadership. Providing a fresh and unconventional perspective, Captain Fraser gives personal and historic examples about the leadership traits of ship captains and suggests how leaders in any organization may adapt them to make their careers and businesses successful. According to Fraser, these four key leadership concepts are the basic principles necessary to prevent organizational chaos best summed up by a Wall Street Journal editorial on leadership at sea and ashore: “When men lose confidence and trust in those who lead, order disintegrates into chaos and purposeful ships into uncontrollable derelicts.”
1122526507
Damn the Torpedoes!: Applying the Navy's Leadership Principles to Business
Awareness of the leadership traits exhibited by Admiral Farragut in his famous order: “Damn the torpedoes! Full speed ahead!” can make any manager afloat or ashore more successful. Alec Fraser's experience as a Navy captain and the president of a division of Turner Broadcasting has taught him that leadership ashore can be modeled after centuries of leadership at sea.

In Damn the Torpedoes! Fraser utilizes his own experiences in the U.S. Navy and the corporate world to illustrate this concept. Within the first sixty seconds of his induction to the U.S. Naval Academy, Midshipman Fraser was posed with a question to which he answered, “I don't know.” This quickly proved to be an unacceptable answer in the Navy, regardless of the question. While doing the requisite push-ups that followed, he learned that there were only four ways to respond to a question or an order: “No excuse, sir,” “I'll find out, sir,” “Yes/no sir,” and “Aye-aye, sir.” From these four responses Fraser learned the four key concepts to being an effective leader afloat or ashore: accountability, thinking ahead, ethics, and motivation.

Damn the Torpedoes! offers concrete advice for leading in the work place-giving step-by-step recommendations to encourage readers into adopting this different way of approaching leadership. Providing a fresh and unconventional perspective, Captain Fraser gives personal and historic examples about the leadership traits of ship captains and suggests how leaders in any organization may adapt them to make their careers and businesses successful. According to Fraser, these four key leadership concepts are the basic principles necessary to prevent organizational chaos best summed up by a Wall Street Journal editorial on leadership at sea and ashore: “When men lose confidence and trust in those who lead, order disintegrates into chaos and purposeful ships into uncontrollable derelicts.”
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Damn the Torpedoes!: Applying the Navy's Leadership Principles to Business

Damn the Torpedoes!: Applying the Navy's Leadership Principles to Business

Damn the Torpedoes!: Applying the Navy's Leadership Principles to Business

Damn the Torpedoes!: Applying the Navy's Leadership Principles to Business

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Overview

Awareness of the leadership traits exhibited by Admiral Farragut in his famous order: “Damn the torpedoes! Full speed ahead!” can make any manager afloat or ashore more successful. Alec Fraser's experience as a Navy captain and the president of a division of Turner Broadcasting has taught him that leadership ashore can be modeled after centuries of leadership at sea.

In Damn the Torpedoes! Fraser utilizes his own experiences in the U.S. Navy and the corporate world to illustrate this concept. Within the first sixty seconds of his induction to the U.S. Naval Academy, Midshipman Fraser was posed with a question to which he answered, “I don't know.” This quickly proved to be an unacceptable answer in the Navy, regardless of the question. While doing the requisite push-ups that followed, he learned that there were only four ways to respond to a question or an order: “No excuse, sir,” “I'll find out, sir,” “Yes/no sir,” and “Aye-aye, sir.” From these four responses Fraser learned the four key concepts to being an effective leader afloat or ashore: accountability, thinking ahead, ethics, and motivation.

Damn the Torpedoes! offers concrete advice for leading in the work place-giving step-by-step recommendations to encourage readers into adopting this different way of approaching leadership. Providing a fresh and unconventional perspective, Captain Fraser gives personal and historic examples about the leadership traits of ship captains and suggests how leaders in any organization may adapt them to make their careers and businesses successful. According to Fraser, these four key leadership concepts are the basic principles necessary to prevent organizational chaos best summed up by a Wall Street Journal editorial on leadership at sea and ashore: “When men lose confidence and trust in those who lead, order disintegrates into chaos and purposeful ships into uncontrollable derelicts.”

Product Details

ISBN-13: 9781682470381
Publisher: Naval Institute Press
Publication date: 05/15/2016
Pages: 112
Product dimensions: 5.00(w) x 7.80(h) x 0.50(d)

About the Author

CAPT. Alec Fraser, USN (Ret.) is a graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy. He has had two unique careers: commanding two Navy missile ships and later serving as president of a division of Turner Broadcasting. He was also an on-air military analyst for CNN and was a guest on the Larry King Show. While he was in command of the USS Cape St. George (CG 71), the ship earned the USS Arizona Memorial Trophy for being the most combat-ready ship in the fleet.

Table of Contents

List of Illustrations ix

Foreword Adm. James Stavridis, USN (Ret.) xi

Introduction: General Quarters 1

1 A Day in the Life of a Navy Ship Captain 9

2 The Four Business Leadership Traits of Ship Captains 16

3 "No Excuse, Sir!": Accountable Leadership 24

4 "I'll Find Out, Sir!": Thinking and Learning Leadership 38

5 "Yes/No, Sir!": Ethical Leadership 53

6 "Aye, Aye, Sir!": Motivational Leadership 67

Conclusion: The Cornet Office and the Captain's Chair 77

Acknowledgments 89

Notes 91

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