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. One of the advantages of a small command is the abutting completely affect change. This gave the author an advantage as he and his crew made changes, evaluated the results, and made further changes. They also had the advantage of a built in set of measurements.

Several principles from Covey's 7 Habits and 8th of Habit were covered throughout the book and Covey was a big fan of the author's success in empowering his organization. David Marquet’s book discusses ‘successful motivation’ that provided his people the energy to overcome difficult obstacles. The values that he imbued in his folks provided a ‘burst of energy’ that positively energized them by satisfying their needs for achievement, providing appropriate recognition, providing a sense of belonging, developing self-esteem, permitting a feeling of control, and permitting an ability to live up to appropriate standards. This type of leadership energizes the work force and allows senior management to ‘paint the future and light a path that takes the entire team to it.’ This is a must read for all who desire good moral influence on the work force!”– Vice Admiral Al Konetzni, (USN, ret.) Former Pacific Fleet submarine commander.

Become a Member

WE LEARN (EVERYWHERE, ALL THE TIME) is a mechanism for COMPETENCE." This was a great section on learning from mistakes without coming down really hard on the team members - everything is a learning opportunity.

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. The legacy of a Commanding Officer, or the leader of any organization, is how well the organization performs after he/she departs and the subsequent motivation, success and institutional contribution of those next generation leaders trained and developed. Read Turn the Ship Around! and you will learn how to build an enduring high performer, where people can’t wait to get to work.”– Admiral Thomas B. Fargo(USN, ret.) Former Commander U.S. Pacific Command Chairman, Huntington Ingalls Industries As often with business books, much of the key content can be found in an online summary, TED talk or in this case, this excellent animation my link text, which is how I was introduced to the book.

Success!

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. 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.

The problem with specifying the method along with the goal is one of diminished control. Provide your people with the objective and let them figure out the method.” However, the specific context of military submarine makes the book more inspirational than practical. Described methods are to be heavily adapted while working in different areas (e.g. volunteer organizing in NGO).Un libro excelente sobre liderazgo, ese concepto tan vacío de significado y tan manipulado. David Marquet nos lleva por el viaje que recorrió en lo que era el peor de los submarinos de la Armada estadounidense y su transformación en el mejor en poco más de 3 años. 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 David Marquet imagines a ​world where everyone engages and contributes their full intellectual capacity, a place where people are healthier and happier because they have more control over their work–a place where everyone is a leader.

The leader-leader structure is fundamentally different from the leader-follower structure. At its core is the belief that we can all be leaders and, in fact, it’s best when we all are leaders. Leadership is not some mystical quality that some possess and others do not. As humans, we all have what it takes, and we all need to use our leadership” As a former Navy “Nuke” I am a bit biased towards this book as it spoke of situations I am familiar with in a language I was fluent in. 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 . . ." (and I was always told "hopefully"). In empowering the officers to be responsible for their work - "the goal for the officers would be to give me a sufficiently complete report so that all I had to say was a simple approval." EMBRACE THE INSPECTORS is a mechanism for CONTROL, organizational control." Use the opportunities provided by inspection to learn where improvements can be made.USE YOUR LEGACY FOR INSPIRATION is a mechanism for CLARITY." Note achievements and legacy - these are helpful for guiding the team. To me the above does not diminish what they achieved. These were the attributes that made it possible to make all of these changes in such a short time. USE GUIDING PRINCIPLES FOR DECISION CRITERIA is a mechanism for CLARITY." Development of guiding principles (see the book - fantastic list created by his chiefs) is critical to empowering a team. BUILDING TRUST AND TAKING CARE OF YOUR PEOPLE is a mechanism for CLARITY." Providing them opportunities and materials to improve themselves both in their professional and personal goals builds a much stronger, competent and empowered team.