Late last summer, members of the Seattle CoF cell learned about making waves from one of the U.S. Navy's masters of making change.

While on vacation in Seattle, D. Michael Abrashoff, deputy director for global information and network systems for the U.S. Space and Naval Warfare Systems Command, met with several local companies to discuss the importance of grassroots leadership. He also attended a dinner gathering at the 48th-floor offices of Perkins Coie LLP, where he was joined by more than 40 local CoF members. Speaking at eye level with the Space Needle and with a view of the Olympic Mountains, Abrashoff talked about his experiences as commander of the USS Benfold. (See The Agenda, April 1999.)

Carla Stroud, 33, the cell's volunteer coordinator and a project manager in Perkins Coie's finance department, notes that Abrashoff's message has influenced her own leadership style: 'My department has been trying to be a model of change for the rest of the firm, and when Michael came, our managing partners got a sense of what we were doing.' For people who work in tradition-bound industries, the talk was especially inspirational, says Chris Sypolt, 30, a purchasing manager at TMX Aerospace, a metals distributor: 'I work in a real brick-and-mortar industry, and there are a lot of parallels between the military and the kind of bureaucracy that I face every day. Abrashoff's core advice rings true: Get out of the way, and you'll get better results.'

As for Abrashoff, he has just one regret about the Company of Friends: 'The people who really need these ideas aren't going to CoF meetings.' But that didn't stop him from enjoying the Seattle event: 'The Company of Friends brings together a lively and diverse group of people,' he says.

From: November 1999 issue