"The submarine captain who turned the worst-rated boat in the fleet around by giving control back to his crew."
L. David Marquet is a retired U.S. Navy submarine captain and author of "Turn the Ship Around!," a leadership book based on his command of the USS Santa Fe, one of the worst-performing submarines in the fleet when he took over. Rather than issuing more orders as a traditional commander, Marquet radically redistributed decision-making authority to his crew, pushing intent and information down the chain of command so that sailors at every level could think and act like leaders. The Santa Fe transformed from the lowest-rated submarine in its fleet to one of the most decorated, and Marquet's "leader-leader" model—as opposed to the traditional "leader-follower" structure—has since become influential well beyond the military, particularly in business and organizational leadership circles.
Our in-depth summaries and reviews of his work
Captain Marquet's leader-leader model: push authority down, replace "permission" with "I intend to," and build organizations that thrive without a single leader.
Read Summary →Marquet's central innovation: rather than concentrating decision-making at the top, effective organizations push authority and intent downward so everyone can act like a leader.
Marquet argues you can rent a person's compliance with a paycheck, but their real creativity, passion, and loyalty are only ever given voluntarily.
Marquet observed that people treated as passive followers tend to replicate that same follower-dependent dynamic once they're promoted into leadership themselves.
"Leadership is communicating to people their worth and potential so clearly that they are inspired to see it in themselves."— Turn the Ship Around!
"One of the things that limits our learning is our belief that we already know something."— Turn the Ship Around!
"You may be able to "buy" a person's back with a paycheck, position, power, or fear, but a human being's genius, passion, loyalty, and tenacious creativity are volunteered only."— Turn the Ship Around!
"People who are treated as followers treat others as followers when it's their turn to lead."— Turn the Ship Around!
Captain Marquet's leader-leader model: push authority down, replace "permission" with "I intend to," and build organizations that thrive without a single leader.
