The buck stops here (with the leader)

I just came back from a cruise and was unimpressed with some of the gaffes that occurred during it: at the first port, there were not enough launches to get the passengers to land, making people wait hours; the newsletter had a number of errors, including telling passengers the wrong date when to change dates; one of our cabins had the luggage and clothing from the previous passengers...they were continuing it on the same ship but in a different cabin. It led me to think: why so many issues?

I sincerely think it starts and stops with the captain and the senior leadership. If gaffes like these are acceptable, they will occur. If the expectations and support are for exceptional execution, that is what will happen.

Don't believe me? Read CPT Michael Abrashoff's It's Your Ship: Management Techniques from the Best Damn Ship in the Navy on how he turned one of the worse destroyers in the US Navy to one of the best in about 18 months! You can find it at Amazon, Barnes and Noble, as well as many other bookstores. I highly recommend this book as a way of introducing the importance of leadership and how to apply it in your organization.