Turn The Ship Around!: A True Story of Turning Followers Into Leaders

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Turn the Ship Around! by David Marquet was given to me by Dom and Jed, two former Royal Marine Commanders and successful business people from the consultancy Albany York, whose work I would throughly recommend to companies looking for coaching on building high performance teams. ( https://www.albanyyork.com/about-us#team) To be honest - I have never had a strong interest in military-oriented reading material, fiction or non-fiction. Aside from my interest in pre 20th century piracy on the high seas (more of social class/mobility angle here) - I haven't really read any books about life on boats or submarines. Marquet used the leader-leader model to empower the demoralized crew he inherited. He believed that if they took responsibility for problems and solutions rather than waiting to be told what to do, they’d see themselves as leaders instead of followers. This book describes the specific methods Marquet used on Santa Fe to transform the organization. Leaders in any organization—business, nonprofit, or government—can apply them as well. Unhappy Leaders and Workers Whether you need a major change of course or just a tweak of the rudder, you can apply Marquet’s methods to turn your own ship around.

Leadership should mean giving control rather than taking control and creating leaders rather than forging followers."Leaders and managers face an increasingly complex world, where precise execution, teamwork and enabling of talent are competitive advantages. David Marquet provides a blue print, along with real-life examples and implementation mechanisms. Anyone who is charged with leading and making a difference needs to read this. (John Cooper, President and CEO, Invesco Distributors) 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. After beginning his career as a junior officer on USS Sunfish, Marquet was assigned as an engineer on USS Will Rogers, a nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarine known as a boomer, armed with 16 Poseidon missiles. 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: 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

In short, the “leader-leader” model allows staff to take responsibility for problems and solutions rather than waiting to be told what to do. As a result, team members see themselves as leaders instead of followers. The Leader-Follower Model Break down what’s required to help your employees to make those decisions (e.g. technical knowledge, goal-clarity, decision-making authority and accountability) and make it happen. Getting the Most from “ Turn The Ship Around!” I was told this book explicitly is a foundation one successful organization has built its engineering culture upon, drawing strongly from its wisdom & principles Before long, each member of Marquet's crew became a leader and assumed responsibility for everything he did, from clerical tasks to crucial combat decisions. The crew became fully engaged, contributing their full intellectual capacity every day, and the Santa Fe started winning awards and promoting a highly disproportionate number of officers to submarine command.

He discusses situations where team members automatically executed incorrect instructions from their leader or where mistakes were made because someone was operating on "auto pilot." Changing the processes to focus on the outcomes and goals rather than process/method made a huge difference.