Leadership Library
Empowerment

Turn the Ship Around!

L. David Marquet · 2012

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About

A submarine captain's story of turning followers into leaders by giving control.

SK's perspective

The best real-world case for leader-leader, not leader-follower, management.

Key learnings

  • Give control, don't take it.
  • Move authority to where the information is.
  • Replace 'permission to' with 'I intend to'.
  • Competence and clarity make delegation safe.
  • Leaders create leaders, not followers.

Make it a ritual

Push authority down a little every day until 'I intend to' becomes the team's language.

Professional life

  • Encourage 'I intend to…' from your team instead of asking permission.
  • Delegate one decision to where the information actually lives.

Personal life

  • Give family members real control over a shared decision.
  • Notice where you hoard control out of habit and release one.

Buy the book (Amazon) · curated talks on YouTube. — © L. David Marquet. Summary is our own.

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