Over time, Marquet and his officers came up with 20 “mechanisms” (Navy terminology for methods practices) to transform Santa Fe from a leader-follower to a leader-leader organization. The mechanisms focused on three key areas: This terrific read actually provides new and valuable insights into how to lead. And nothing important gets done without leadership. Captain Marquet takes you through his life of learning how to lead, and presents you with a winning formula: not leader-follower, but leader-leader. It's about leading by getting others to take responsibility--and like it. It works for business, politics, and life. (Leslie H. Gelb, president emeritus of the Council on Foreign Relations, a member of several business boards, and a former columnist for The New York Times) Marquet supervised one of two 60-person crews operating the control room and nuclear reactor. Hoping to generate the passion he felt on Sunfish, Marquet gave the crew more control over their work. Instead of involving himself in details, he tried explaining the objectives and leaving it to the crew to determine how to meet them. But things went badly—the crew made mistakes in maintenance that required redoing work. They missed deadlines and fell behind schedule. To implement the leader-leader approach, you need 3 key components: Control, Competence and Clarity. Decentralized control is at the core of this model, but it can only work if it’s supported by competence and clarity. Without those 2 pillars, decentralizing control will only bring chaos. When all 3 components are properly installed, they’ll reinforce one another in a positive spiral.

The petty officer’s reply revealed he was an unhappy follower who wasn’t taking any responsibility for his unhappiness. It was an insulting comment to a commander (implying that the leadership was incompetent). But it also encapsulated the problem and the attitude pervasive among the crew. The Wrong Kind of LeadershipDecentralizing control under a leader-leader system only works when the people receiving increased control have the technical competence or knowledge to make decisions. Marquet and his officers used the following mechanisms to strengthen the crew’s technical competence: Competence: Increase the crew’s technical competence and knowledge so they could make good decisions. I'm always looking for books that teach me more about how to look after my students. Within scientific research there's more 'leading' than 'following' going on, with very little command structure, and PhD students and Postdocs usually being the leader of their project. There's collaboration but it's not easy for people to work on the same project without unnecessary duplication of work. Still, there's so much useful advice here on how to lead and teach, I recommend this to people who are looking to hone their leadership/organisational skills. David Marquet has written an incredibly clear and easy to understand book - that happens to be about submarines and their crews. The details about life on the submarine are sometimes a bit more than my interest can tolerate but overall the message about process and changing the structure from leader-follower to leader-leader is crystal clear. His writing style is incredibly well structured and meticulous -- all the examples work really well for his story. This has been the basis of our thinking about leadership for hundreds of years because it has worked. It’s responsible for successes ranging from the construction of the pyramids in ancient Egypt to the factories of the Industrial Revolution.

Use "I intend to... " to turn passive followers into active leaders. Avoid disempowered phrases such as "Request permission to . . . I would like to . . . What should I do about . . . Do you think we should . . . Could we . . ." Enough context (justification) should be provided with this statement so that there would be no need for additional clarification and you can just approve the statement. However, the leader-follower structure was designed to coordinate physical labor for various purposes, whether building pyramids and roads, or mining coal. In contrast, many of today’s employees are knowledge workers who work independently to develop and apply information. The leader-follower model doesn’t manage cognitive work effectively. The book, by a former US nuclear submarine commander, is based on his real-life experience of turning around an underperforming ship, the Santa Fe, by turning the traditional top-down management model upside down. RESIST THE URGE TO PROVIDE SOLUTIONS is a mechanism for CONTROL." The leader has to create space for open decision by the entire team; in crisis situations - you can have the team brainstorm and then as a leader vet the best option for action.We’ve already learned a thing or two about leadership from some the past greats, such as Lincoln and Washington. And we went over the 21 laws of leadership. SPECIFYING GOALS, NOT METHODS is a mechanism for COMPETENCE." and CLARITY. Two excellent examples were around fire drills - which weren't going well because of process (ie "I'm not in charge of this area/shift") to make everyone responsible and the crew members CLOSEST to the fire would be responsible for taking action. On the ship, stealth (ie, not making loud noises) is critical so any time some loud noise is made - it can affect the sonar. The goal of a stealth ship was emphasized and everyone was required to report noises instead of the sonar team trying to find the source of a transient noise. This resulted in identifying a lot of other issues that they were able to fix and move even closer toward excellence. One of my favorite all-time leadership books is in fact titled Turn the Ship Aroundby L. David Marquet. Because, if there’s one thing people like more than following is being followed. Everyone can be a leader, in its own fashion. Marquet encouraged a culture of learning to increase his crewmate’s competence, and it paid off. The crew passed their inspections with flying colors. Clarity

But, “Turn the Ship Around” is a bit different. It’s even more democratic than “ The Leaders We Need.” USE YOUR LEGACY FOR INSPIRATION is a mechanism for CLARITY." Note achievements and legacy - these are helpful for guiding the team. Competence could not rest solely with the leader. It had to run throughout the entire organization.” The typical leader-follower structure is designed to push information up the chain of command to the people who make the decisions. In contrast, Marquet pushed control down to where the information originated.

Who Should Read “Turn the Ship Around”? And Why?

If all you need to do is what you are told, then you don’t need to understand your craft. However, as your ability to make decisions increases, then you need intimate technical knowledge on which to base those decisions.” That’s why “Turn the Ship Around” suggests that you think outside the box! Instead of a “leader-follower” approach, develop a “leader-leader” strategy. In short, train trailblazers – not devotees. The leader-leader structure is based on a different assumption about people: everyone can be a leader, and an organization is most effective when everyone thinks and acts like a leader.

Embracing the inspectors. Use the opportunities provided by inspection to learn where improvements can be made. To say I'm a fan of David Marquet would be an understatement.... I'm a fully fledged groupie. He is the kind of leader who comes around only once a generation. He is the kind of leader who doesn't just know how to lead, he knows how to build leaders. His ideas and lessons are invaluable to anyone who wants to build an organization that will outlive them. (Simon Sinek, optimist and author of Start with Why)

When the performance of a unit goes down after an officer leaves, it is taken as a sign that he was a good leader, not that he was ineffective in training his people properly.” What do you expect me to do?” I expect you to learn to be a better submariner each day. (Marquet 129-131) Take “deliberate action”: Officers and crew pause before acting and state their intentions to prevent acting without thinking. In the quote from the Scrum Guide above, we see competence and control clearly. The team is cross-functional, meaning they are competent to do the work required in delivering a valuable product. Second, they are self-managing, meaning they have control over what to work on and how to accomplish it. Third, not mentioned in the quote above, but the PO brings clarity through a clear and attainable product goal. Short early conversations make efficient work (another mechanism for control) - this is basically like a daily standup in Agile - it helps to talk through any questions and get an idea of where potential misunderstandings or misdirections may lie. A standup isn't intended to solve all the problems - you may create more meetings out of this but it's a good touchpoint!