This is one of those top leadership books that everyone should read. The techniques discussed in the book are simple, easy to follow, and quick to remember, which is why a lot of people like this book. I recommend it to someone who was unexpectedly thrown into management or assigned to a dysfunctional team, in almost any setting. The best part is, this book teaches how to lead without becoming a micromanager. Great book, everyone can find something useful here and it isn’t boring either, you’ll learn about submarines and those who operate them to help drive home the key concepts.

On Leadership

At age 80, at this point in my life leadership is more a matter of negotiations between my canine pal Archie and me about the stuff of living together.

There was a time when I spent many years in leadership opportunities in organizations large and small and have had a passion for learning to build teams, as retired Navy Captain David Marquet refers to as his leader-leader ethos in his book, “The the Ship Around.”

I picked the book up after listening to an interview with him and glad I did. Bought a month or so ago, I Picked it up yesterday after having it sit on my round-to-it pile of books, and read it cover-to-cover.

It was one of the best “reads” on leadership I’ve ever come across and I recommend it without hesitation.

Every organization on the planet - from nonprofits to venues as far afield as hospital, financial, manufacturing or small to midsized local companies employing teams of any sort - should avail themselves of the wisdom packed into his recounting of managing a submarine. Assigned as skipper of the most troubled attack submarine in the US fleet, he took a demoralized and ineffective crew and shifted the culture to one of absolute excellence. He dared to break-up the culture of command as traditionally practiced to a most enlightened management style that set a new standard for command.

If you’ve an interest in learning the nuts and bolts of exceptional leadership in which the culture is shifted from leader-follower, as he characterizes it so well, to a culture of leader-leader, this is for you.

If every organization were to operate in the context of this paradigm, we’d live in an extraordinarily more effective and empowering world!

Turn the Ship Around

L. David Marquet

Penguin Business Press

I like to be surprised by books. This book certainly did that. I'm not a big fan of leadership books as they tend to be too similar. I'm not a fan at all at military related books. This book wouldn't be added to my reading list easily but came highly recommended. Not without a good reason. The book was a good and easy read and useful.

"Turn the Ship Around" is the book about how Captain David Marquet turned one of the worst performing submarines in the best one. He didn't change the ship itself, neither did he changed the people on the ship, but he changed how the people worked together. He mostly changed his leadership style from the traditional "leader-follower" to what he called "leader-leader". In other words, expand the responsibility of the people on his ship and turn them all in 'leaders'.

Most of the book plays around 1999 when the author took over the submarine Santa Fe. He found a submarine in a bad shape with years of command and control management leading to a very dis-empowered crew. He set out to change that. Each chapter describes, chronologically, stories of what happened on the submarine with practices that he implemented and the lessons that he learned. He grouped the practices in three categories: Control, Competence, and Clarify.

For example, he helped people to use the language "I intend to..." to state what they propose to do *and* why they propose to do that. That way he taught everyone to speak out their thinking and reasoning rather than just the conclusions. By doing so, people can work together much more effectively and all that he would need to do as a Captain is to formally acknowledge the intention of his people. This pushed a lot of responsibility down. The rest of the book is full of similar concrete and useful practices in which you can help people in organizations take more responsibility and depend less on the leader.

The book is a bit more than 200 pages and is well written... and an easy read. It reads a bit like a biography, but then with the lessons extracted out of it. The book is good, the practices are useful but it wasn't world-changing. I would definitively recommend the book to people in leadership positions as it might help them reflect on their own style. Four stars!

Many books on leadership are, in a word, dull. They are either personality-driven mumbo jumbo with a lot of buzz words or boring Mckinsey-type reports with a mounds of useless statistics that don't apply to your situation. I finished Mr. Marquet's book in just under a week and it was a page-turner along with providing some very useful and insightful information. He provides real-world examples that play out in a concise and interesting narrative that makes you think about how to become a better leader in your business, professional field, or career. Since most people reading the book are probably not submarine skippers, there are some very helpful rhetorical questions at the end of each chapter on how to apply Mr. Marquet's best practices to your own situation. The low price for the Kindle edition was nice as well.

Mr. Marquet describes the leadership style he utilized to turn the USS Santa Fe from the joke on the water front to a great boat. In full disclosure, I was a submarine junior officer in Pearl Harbor when Mr. Marquet was the Commodore. Submarine culture is not conducive to innovation or being a risk taker. This is due to the obscene amount of oversight and micromanagement from external organizations as well as senior officers and chiefs being severely punished for the slightest mistake. It doesn't help that the operational requirements are so hectic that you usually just think about getting through the day rather than having some long-term strategy. Mr. Marquet took a huge risk in implementing his leadership style, and the proof is in the improvement of the boat's tactical capabilities, operational readiness, and most importantly morale of the crew (not an easy task as submarines are not the greatest working environments). The advice of stepping back and completely reorienting your organization's culture is important for senior-level leadership. Furthermore, it is comforting that Mr. Marquet advocates a culture of respect toward subordinates and listening to constructive criticism at a time when so many managers are interested in adopting the belittling and humiliating leadership traits of the late Steve Jobs.

I recommend Mr. Marquet's book to any executive-level or mid-level manager who would like to think seriously about the steps they need to employ to improve their organization by working cooperatively with their people and empowering them. 5 Stars!

Turn the Ship Around! completely changed how I think about leadership. What sets this book apart is the “leader-leader” model. Instead of giving orders, Marquet empowered his crew to take ownership and make decisions.

The book is filled with actionable takeaways that can apply to any organization, not just the military. Whether you're leading a company, a department, or even just a small team, the principles here are gold.

Clear, compelling, and full of real-world examples. Highly recommend!

First, I am a 30 year U.S. Navy veteran. I want to say I'm lucky I was never involved in the part of the Navy bent on blind followership that David Marquet describes as the starting condition of the USS Santa Fe but I don't think it was luck. Don't get the wrong impression of the entire U.S. Navy based on his experience. There are elements of the Navy that operate just as Marquet describes though and I am impressed that he could codify the mechanisms and activities that turned his ship around. I had successful tour after successful tour of duty in the Navy using many, not all, of the techniques Santa Fe adopted in a short period with such dramatic results. I just did what seemed right to me but never took the time to codify what it was that made it right. This book really outlined and clarified what it was that made it work over and over for me. I truly appreciate the courage and the intelligence it takes to make such a drastic positive change. You may not have ever experienced life in military service but I can tell you that what Marquet describes here works in both military service and the private sector. Now that Marquet has taken the time to tell the story of what worked, how the mechanisms were developed and has published the recorded methods and results I feel I have a been given a compass to help guide me in the future. I've been a successful leader on highly successful teams for a long time and I see attaining even greater success in the future with this information. The book is written in easily understood language, using brilliant analogies and clear, concise prose that anyone can appreciate. Start on page 1 and read all the way through. I highly recommend the book and suggest learning and sharing widely.

David Marquet demonstrates that bureaucratic organizations can still allow for innovative leaders to bring last impact in their world. This is a must read for all those innovators out there frustrated with bureaucracy.

In this raw, partly autobiographical self-help book, Turn the Ship Around! challenges the stereotypical hierarchy of command of the U.S. military. Former Nuclear Submarine Commander L. David Marquet defies tradition and protocol of hierarchical command embedded in the training of naval officers. This is not done to challenge the system, but more importantly to save the livelihood of USS Santa Fe and the fate of its sailors.

Assigned to a submarine with some of the lowest performance scores in the Navy, poor advancement and retention rates of its officers and sailors, and a bleak morale you could almost feel through his words, Marquet questions everything and gives a voice to all on board to provide an answer. How can such a submarine exist in a long-standing institution of discipline and structure of rank and command? Could it be the actual organizational structure of the institution?

To answer the first question, Marquet proposes a leader-leader model in which he argues for distributed leadership, mentorship, and empowerment. The model is drawn out through a story that is explicit in the mistakes and triumphs of the crew, as well as the personal effects the experience had on Marquet and his sailors.

To explore the second question, Marquet explores the four frames of leadership as defined by Bolman and Deal: structural, human resource, political, and symbolic. He observes the (in)efficiency of the existing structure and hierarchical protocol and questions the costs of those protocols over the longitudinal success of USS Santa Fe. The existing protocols even had direct effects on the personal lives of the sailors, and by building relationships with the crew morale and a greater sense of responsibility was facilitated. The development of a morphed responsibility within the established hierarchical ranking was even accepted by those up the chain of command because of observed and documented improvement of the USS Santa Fe. The successful (metaphorical and literal) turning around of the ship beat the odds of the stigma of challenging the institutionalized rank and command of the US Navy.

I admit my ignorance to military and Navy jargon was frustrating at times, but a quick flip to the glossary had me up to speed with the organizational lesson as exampled by this particular environment. This was a good example not only to break the stereotypical mold of military leadership as an orderly, disciplined organizational model, but it breaks the stigma of challenging an established institutional structure. It gives a sense of motivation and inspiration to better understand the organizational behemoth we operate within. The true beauty of this book, though, is its applicability to any number of environments and organizational cultures. Each chapter summarizes its main theme and presents a list of questions for consideration, including activities one may conduct with a team. While its intended audience is those in a leadership position, the book is an important read for more entry-level and mid-management positions to better understand the concept of leader-leader and how to engage in that workplace dialogue.

Inspiring and helpful short book on how the worst ship became the best ship. Each chapter on problems and solutions ends with management tips. You can always ignore the latter if not interested but the first are excellent. Well worth reading.

Aan de hand van leuke anekdotes neemt de auteur je mee in de transitie van een gedemotiveerde groep naar een goed functionerend team. Hoe laat je je team zelfstandig werken zonder 'de controle' te verliezen? Elke hoofdstuk wordt afgesloten met praktische tips of beschouwingen die je zelf kan doen. De situaties zijn herkenbaar voor elke corporate/enterprise (werk)omgeving. Dus ondanks de self-help component, is het ook gewoon een leuk boek om te lezen.

certainement le meilleur livre de leadership que j’ai lu sur ces 5 dernières années (sur une 30aine de bouquins sur le sujet). David Marquet nous partage son expérience en tant que commandant du pire sous-marin nucléaire de la force du Pacifique et comment il a transformé l’équipage de ce dernier en groupe extrêmement efficace au point de devenir l’un des meilleurs sous-marins de l’armée américaine en un an. Pleins d’exemples applicables dans le monde du business. bref ... à lire

On the theme of leadership and psychology safety, this book came highly recommended.

The core takeaway of the book is that anyone can be a leader, which is documented through the crew’s transformation from the worst performing to best within the fleet.

Marquet’s honest appraisal of his strengths and weaknesses as a leader make this a very easy read. The chapters are short, insightful and pack takeaways that draw clear lessons for any industry to adopt- driving a structure from leader-follower to leader-leader.

The change from continually seeking permission for actions to stating “I intend to”, to communicate intentions and verbalising thought process, promoted a culture of trust and empowerment amongst staff. Whilst also improving communications with the team.

A subtle semantics change, but pivotal none the less.

Encouraging and fostering a culture of curiosity was especially pertinent as a mechanism for clarity and continual improvement- highlighted in the team’s engagement with CPD and inspections that led to improvements in academic and professional performance.

“Don’t Brief, Certify” was relevant to pre shift briefings and toolbox talks I have witnessed, with staff encouraged to present their area of expertise and brief the team. To promote ownership and engagement.

This is in contrast to the traditional briefings from a senior member of staff that staff dutifully attend, rather than actively engage with.

This provides efficiencies and benefit from the meetings- tying into the pragmatic approach Marquet also took with ammending antiquated business processes that didn’t serve a contemporary process for his team.

Excellent read for those organizations aiming to transform themselves in today's World. For me complements very well others authors e. g. Humanocracy and Reinventing Organizations.