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What if the fastest way to become a better leader is to stop trying to do everything yourself?

In this episode of On Your Lead, I sit down with Mike Abrashoff, former U.S. Navy commander and bestselling author of It’s Your Ship, to unpack how he transformed one of the Navy’s lowest-performing ships into a fleet leader by giving ownership to the people closest to the work.

Mike shares the real mechanics behind the turnaround: interviewing all 310 sailors, inviting challenges to every process, and making junior crew members the VIPs when admirals visited. We talk about the “line in the sand” for delegation, why many top performers struggle when they become managers, and how leaders get trapped doing low-value work instead of the thinking only they can do.

We also dig into preparation as a form of freedom — including the bold decision that allowed his ship to pass every certification in record time, dramatically changing morale, schedules, and results. We close with a conversation about legacy leadership: measuring success not by what happens while you’re in charge, but by what happens months after you leave.

This is a practical, grounded conversation about trust, discipline, and building teams that don’t depend on you to succeed.

Contact Thad - VictoriousVeteranProject@Gmail.com

Thanks for listening!