Turn The Ship Around! 041614

Turn the Ship Around!
How to Create Leadership at Every Level
L. David Marquet
Captain, U.S. Navy [Retired]
(Austin, TX: Greenleaf Book Group Press, 2012)

Foreword by Stephen R. Covey
 Here top leaders will learn how they can release the
passion, intellect, and energy of their people. Front
lines will find ways to embrace decision making,
making it easier for bosses to let go of control.
 We are in a profound shift from the Industrial Age of
“control” to the Knowledge Worker Age of “release.”
 Leadership is communicating to people their worth
and potential so clearly that they are inspired to see
it themselves.
4/17/2014 jgillis767@aol.com 2

THE PROBLEM
LEADER – FOLLOWER
THE SOLUTION
LEADER – LEADER

Questions to Consider
 In your organization, are leaders rewarded for
what happens (in their group) after they
transfer (or is that the next leader’s problem?)
 Do leaders want to be “missed” after they
leave?
 When an organization does worse after the
departure of a leader, what does this say
about that person’s leadership?

USS SANTA FE – SSN-763
$2 BILLION NUCLEAR SUBMARINE
LOS ANGELES CLASS – SECOND FLIGHT 688
Second Flight 688s have bow planes, twelve
vertical-launch Tomahawk land-attack missile
tubes, four torpedo tubes, and a redesigned
nuclear reactor plant that has enough fuel to
last the entire life of the ship.

USS SANTA FE – 135 CREW MEMBERS
CAPTAIN L. DAVID MARQUET (CO)
COMMANDER, UNITED STATES NAVY
EXECUTIVE OFFICER (XO)
(SECOND IN COMMAND)
FOUR DEPARTMENT HEADS
(WEAPONS, ENGINEERING, NAVIGATION/OPERATIONS,
AND SUPPLY)
JUNIOR OFFICERS
(NAVAL ACADEMY AND ROTC)
TWELVE CHIEFS
(THE SENIOR ENLISTED MEN)
ENLISTED SAILORS

Questions from the Captain
 What are the things you hope I don’t change?
 The things you secretly hope I do change?
 What are the good things we should build on?
 If you were me, what would you do first?
 Why isn’t the ship doing better?
 What are your personal goals for your tour
here on Santa Fe?
4/17/2014 7jgillis767@aol.com

 What’s keeping you from doing your job
better?
 What are our biggest challenges?
 What are your biggest frustrations about how
Santa Fe is currently being run?
 What is the best thing I can do for you?
Questions from the Captain

Answers
 “Admin disappears into a black hole.”
 “The duty officers delay getting maintenance started.”
 “The junior officers are the source of low standards.”
 “I was previously qualified for this watch station, transferred ship to
ship, and now have to start over with a blank qualification card.”
 “I’ve been waiting for 4 weeks to get a test so I can qualify.”
 “There’s no participation in the wives’ club.”
 “The radio installation and upgrade we just received left us with
less capability than what we had before.”
 “I was promised a certain job when I came here”
 “I just keep my head down and try to stay out of trouble. When
things go badly, I secretly hope someone else will screw up next.”

 Are you asking questions to make sure you
know, or to make sure they know?
 Do you have to be the smartest person in your
organization?
 How do you know what is going on “at the
deckplate” in your organization?

“Whatever they tell me to do.”
 Do people take action to protect themselves or to
make the outcome better?
 Does leadership in you organization take control or
give control?
 Why is “doing what you are told” appealing to
some? Do people really just want to do as they are
told?
 Do your procedures reinforce the leader-follower
model?

Don’t focus on Avoiding Errors
 The crew was in a self-reinforcing downward spiral.
Poor practices resulted in mistakes, mistakes resulted
in poor morale, which resulted in avoiding initiative
and doing only what was absolutely necessary.
 “I needed to radically change the daily motivation by
shifting the focus from avoiding errors to achieving
excellence.”

Don’t focus on Avoiding Errors
 Focusing on avoiding errors is useful for
understanding procedures and detecting major
problems before they occur; but it is a debilitating
approach as the objective of an organization.
 Connecting our day-to-day activities to something
larger was a strong motivator for the crew.

 Are your people trying to achieve excellence
or just avoid making mistakes?
 Has your organization become action-averse
to avoid errors?
 Do you spend more time discussing errors
than celebrating success?
 How do you minimize errors but not make
that the focus of your organization?

AchieveExcellence
I believe the personal freedoms, respect for human
dignity, and economic prosperity we enjoy in the
United States are unique throughout the history of
mankind and across the span of the globe.
I believe that this is not a natural state but one which
must be worked for relentlessly, and, if necessary,
defended.
I believe the men who sallied forth from these very
piers in boats like Tang, Wahoo, and Barb were
engaged in an honorable and worthwhile endeavor.
I believe those eternally on patrol beyond the reef
did not die in vain.
The future depends on those willing to continue that
honorable and worthwhile endeavor.
Accordingly, I reaffirm my vow to defend the Constitution
of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic.
Shipmates of Santa Fe, I will be proud to sail will you.
Thank you. (Captain Marquet)

CONTROL
 FIND THE GENETIC CODE FOR CONTROL
AND REWRITE IT.
 ACT YOUR WAY TO NEW THINKING.
 SHORT EARLY CONVERSATIONS MAKE
EFFICIENT WORK.
 USE “I INTEND TO…” TO TURN PASSIVE
FOLLOWERS INTO ACTIVE LEADERS.
 RESIST THE URGE TO PROVIDE SOLUTIONS.

CONTROL
 THINK OUT LOUD (EVERYBODY).
 “EYEBALL ACCOUNTABILITY”
 PUSH DECISIONS TO THE NEXT LOWER
LEVEL IN THE COMPANY.
 “WHEN I THINK ABOUT DELEGATING THIS
DECISION, I WORRY THAT…”
 ISSUES OF COMPETENCE,
 ISSUES OF CLEAR UNDERSTANDING.

Act Your Way to New Thinking
 Example: the “Three-Name-Rule”
 When any member of the crew saw a visitor
on our boat, he was to greet the visitor using
three names – the visitor’s name, his own
name, and the ship’s name.
 For example, “Good morning, Commodore
Kenny, my name is Petty Officer Jones,
welcome aboard Santa Fe.”

Perfect But Irrelevant
 Short early conversations make efficient work.
 Good chopping, wrong forest. (Covey)
 Don’t you trust me? (I trust you’re telling the
truth, but verify for me you know the truth).
 Is your staff spending time and money
creating flawless charts that are irrelevant?
 “…a little rudder far from the rocks vs. a lot of
rudder near the rocks.”

“I intend to…”
 Disempowered Phrases:
 Request permission
to…?
 What should I do
about…?
 Do you think we
should…?
 Could we…
 Don’t ask “If you can
do” – say what you are
going to do!
 Empowered Phrases*:
 I intend to…
 I plan on…
 I will…
 We will…
 Empowered phrases
“take control.”
 Clarify verbally why you
are ready, so the Chief
just needs to say, “Very
well.”

 What causes us to take control when we
should be giving control?
 What would be the biggest obstacle to
implementing “I intend to…” at your business?
 Could your mid-level managers think through
and defend their plan of action for the
company’s next big project? Or would they say
“this is what I was told to do.”

Don’t Provide Solutions
 Resist the urge to provide solutions.
 How deeply is the top-down leader-follower
structure ingrained in your company?
 What can you do at your next meeting with
senior staff to create a space for open decision
making by the entire team?
 Seriously.

Don’t Provide Solutions
 If the decision is urgent, make it, then have
the team evaluate (“red-team”) it.
 If the decision must be made soon, get team
input, even briefly, then make the decision.
 If the decision can be delayed, force the team
to provide inputs. Do not force the team to
come to consensus, which whitewashes
differences. Cherish the dissention.

Who’s Responsible?
 Eliminate top-down monitoring systems.
 Bosses frequently “bemoan” the lack of
ownership in their employees.
 Are you under-using the creativity and passion
of your midlevel managers who want to be
responsible for their department’s output?
 “We are checking up on you” is a vitality,
initiative, and passion killer.

Think Out Loud
 “When I heard what my watch officers were
thinking, it made it much easier for me to
keep my mouth shut and let them execute
their plans. It was generally when they were
quiet and I didn’t know what they would do
next that I was tempted to step in.”
 Short early conversations make efficient work.
 “Show me what you are working on…”

Think Out Loud
 Do you ever walk around your facility listening
only to what is being communicated through
informal language?
 How comfortable are your people with talking
about their hunches and gut feelings?
 Are you willing to let your staff see that your
lack of certainty is strength, and that certainty
is arrogance?

Think Out Loud
 “I can tell you that forward or aft, attack
submarine or ballistic missile submarine, there
is a tremendous reluctance for the junior
officers to tell their superiors anything other
than 100 percent certified information.”
 No room for content-rich conversations critical
to good team performance.
 This is hard to change.

 How do you use outside groups, the public,
social media comments, and government
audits to improve your company?
 What is the cost of being open about
problems in your company, and what are the
benefits?
 How can you “use” the inspectors to help?

COMPETENCE
 TAKE DELIBERATE ACTION, DON’T
OPERATE “ON AUTO-PILOT.”
 LEARN (EVERYWHERE, ALL THE TIME).
 DON’T BRIEF, CERTIFY.
 CONSISTENTLY, REPEAT THE MESSAGE.
 SPECIFY GOALS, NOT METHODS.
 “COMMANDER’S INTENT” (HEATH)
“Commander’s Intent” Made to Stick by Chip Heath & Dan Heath, p. 26-28. Random House, 2007.

Take Deliberate Action
 “He didn’t engage his brain before he did what
he did; he was just executing a procedure.”
 We wanted people to act deliberately, and
“take deliberate action” was our mechanism.
 This meant prior to any action, the operator
paused and vocalized and gestured toward
what he was about to do. Only after a
deliberate pause would he execute the action.

“We Learn”
 “We had been taking actions that pushed
authority down the chain of command and
empowered the officers, chiefs, and crew; but
we realized that as more authority is
delegated, technical knowledge at all levels
takes on a greater importance. It created an
extra burden for technical competence, which
created a need for more learning.”

USS Santa Fe Creed*
What do we do on a day-to-day basis?
Why is “learning” better than “training”?
We learn.
Training implies passivity; it is done to us. We are
trained. Learning is active, it is something we do.
How does the work get done?
We do the work. But, we learn by doing – maintenance,
evolutions, casualty drills, studying. So, when we are
working, even doing field day, we are learning.
* excerpt

 Which areas of your business are mistake-
prone because lower-level employees don’t
have enough technical competence to make
good decisions?
 How could you implement a “We learn” policy
among your junior and senior staff?
 Can you “divest control” and “increase
competence” in your organization?

Don’t Brief, Certify
 A briefing is a passive activity. You just listen.
 A certification differs from a brief in that the
person in charge asks questions.
 At the end of a certification, a decision is
made whether the team is ready to perform.
 If the team has not demonstrated the
necessary knowledge, the operation should be
postponed.

 How do you shift responsibility from the
briefer to the participants.
 When was the last time you had a briefing on
a project? Did listeners tune out the details?
 What would it take to start certifying that your
project teams know what the goals are and
how they are to contribute to them?

Consistently Repeat the Message
 “After 2 months, how could they not get what
we were trying to do? I’d given them much
greater authority with Chiefs in Charge.”
 “They’d heard me talk a hundred times about
how we were going to run things on Santa Fe.”
 “What I realized, however, is the need for a
relentless, consistent, repetition of the
message.”

 Any of your employees about to go AWOL
from overwork and underappreciation? Is it
okay to overturn protocol to rescue a single
stressed-out subordinate?
 What messages do you need to keep
repeating in your company to make sure your
management team doesn’t take care of
themselves first, to the neglect of their teams
and their people.

Specify Goals, Not Methods
 In leader-follower the procedure often
becomes the master and not the servant.
 Are you under-using the creativity and passion
of your midlevel managers who want to be
responsible for their department’s output?
 Are you ready to assume more responsibility
within leader-leader to identify near-term
goals and the roles of each team member?

CLARITY
 ENCOURAGE A QUESTIONING ATTITUDE.
 BUILD TRUST, TAKE CARE OF YOUR PEOPLE.
 USE IMMEDIATE RECOGNITION TO
REINFORCE DESIRED BEHAVIORS.
 USE YOUR LEGACY FOR INSPIRATION.
 USE GUIDING PRINCIPLES FOR DECISION
CRITERIA.
 BEGIN WITH THE END IN MIND.

FROM : USS SANTA FE
SUBJECT : SANTA FE DEPLOYMENT OBJECTIVES
REMARKS:
1. SANTA FE EXPRESS IS NOW HEADED WEST. MY OFFICERS
AND CREW ARE LOOKING FORWARD TO THE CHALLENGES
AND OPPORTUNITIES OF BEING DEPLOYED ON THE FRONT
LINES FOR OUR NATION’S SECURITY . . .
2. WORKING WITH MY DEPARTMENT HEADS AND SENIOR
ENLISTED ADVISORS . . . I HAVE SET EMPOWERMENT,
EFFICIENCY, AND TACTICAL EXCELLENCE AS THE GUIDING
THEMES FOR CONTINUOUSLY IMPROVING OUR PERFOR-
MANCE DURING THE DEPLOYMENT.
A. EMPOWERMENT:
I INTEND TO EMPOWER THE CREW TO ACHIEVE THEIR
PERSONAL AND PROFESSIONAL GOALS THROUGH
INITIATIVES SUCH AS A FOCUSED EFFORT TO IMPROVE
ADVANCEMENT EXAM PERFORMANCE, ENCOURAGING
PACE (PROGRAM FOR AFLOAT COLLEGE EDUCATION)

AND OTHER INDEPENDENT STUDY PROGRAMS, AND
PROVIDING INCENTIVES FOR INCREASED PHYSICAL
CONDITIONING. I FURTHER INTEND TO PUSH
AUTHORITY AND RESPONSIBILITY DOWNWARD
WHEREVER PRACTICAL TO IMPROVE JOB SATISFACTION.
THIS IS A CONTINUATION OF A THEME I HAVE ALREADY
STARTED TO WORK ON AND I THINK WE ARE HAVING
SOME SUCCESS. I ALREADY HAVE TEN CREWMEN WHO
HAVE SUBMITTED REENLISTMENT REQUESTS FOR THE
GULF. (REENLISTING IN THE ARABIAN GULF CARRIED
TAX BENEFITS.)
B. EFFICIENCY:
REACHING OUR EMPOWERMENT GOALS WILL REQUIRE
US TO SIGNIFICANTLY IMPROVE CREW EFFICIENCY IN
EVERYTHING FROM RUNNING TIGHTER DRILL
SCENARIOS TO REMOVING INEFFICIENCIES IN MEAL

C. TACTICAL EXCELLENCE
I INTEND TO CONTINUE OUR PURSUIT OF TACTICAL EXCEL-
LENCE BY ENCOURAGING INNOVATIVE METHODS OF
LEVER- AGING SANTA FE’S COMBAT POWER WITH
PARTICULAR EMPHASIS ON SUBMARINE SUPPORT TO THE
BATTLE GROUP, NATIONAL TASKING, STRIKE WARFARE AND
SPECIAL OPERATIONS . . .
3. I AM WORKING TO ESTABLISH MEASURES OF EFFECTIVENESS FOR
EACH OF OUR GOALS. I WILL KEEP YOU POSTED ON OUR
PROGRESS TOWARD EMPOWERMENT, EFFICIENCY, AND TACTICAL
EXCELLENCE.
4. VERY RESPECTFULLY, CDR DAVID MARQUET.

 What would you and your team like to
accomplish?
 How can you as a leader help your people
accomplish it?
 Are you unintentionally protecting people
from the consequences of their own
behavior?

Use your Legacy for Inspiration
 “Attention to port.”
 “We are now passing the approximate
location of where the USS Grayling was sunk
in September 1943.”
 “Carry on.”
 Grayling was one of the 52 American
submarines that were sunk in World War II.

 What is the legacy of your organization?
 How does that legacy shed light on your
organization’s purpose?
 What kind of actions can you take to bring this
legacy alive for individuals in your company?

Underway
 15 DECEMBER 1998
USS SANTA FE PEARL HARBOR, HAWAII
(25 DAYS TO THE CHANGE OF COMMAND)
 8 JANUARY 1999
SUBMARINE BASE, PEARL HARBOR
(172 DAYS TO DEPLOYMENT)
 18 JUNE 1999
PEARL HARBOR, HAWAII (DEPLOYED)

Deployment
 2 JULY 1999
WESTERN PACIFIC OCEAN
(IN COMMAND)
 SEPTEMBER 1999
SOMEWHERE IN THE ARABIAN GULF
 JANUARY 2000
AT ANCHOR OFF LAHAINA, MAUI

Accomplishments
 We steamed 40,000 miles safely.
 We made 9 port calls in 6 countries, and the crew
had acted as perfect ambassadors.
 We hadn’t had a single liberty incident.
 We maintained the submarine at 100 % operational
readiness, with 0 operational impact due to repair,
maintenance, personnel, or any other issue.
 While on deployment, we reenlisted 19 crew
members for a total of over $500M in reenlistment
bonuses, a record at the time.

Accomplishments
 We awarded 22 submarine qualifications (dolphins)
and the crew qualified 290 individual watch
stations, an average of 2.4 qualifications for each
crew member.
 Operationally, we had demonstrated some key
capabilities, including our torpedo exercise in the
Arabian Gulf, transiting the Strait of Hormuz several
times and the Strait of Malacca twice, and picking
up the U.S. Navy Seals.

Don’t Do This – Do This
Leader-follower Leader-leader
Take control Give control
Give orders Avoid giving orders
When you give orders, be confident,
unambiguous, and resolute.
When you do give orders, leave room for
questioning.
Brief Certify
Have meetings Have conversations
Limit communications to terse, succinct
formal orders.
Augment orders with rich, contextual,
informal communications.
Be questioning Be curious
Want to be missed after you depart. Want not to be missed after you depart.
Protect information Pass information
Make inefficient processes efficient. Eliminate processes that don’t add value.

4/17/2014 jgillis767@aol.com 514/17/2014

Extracted, excerpted,
quoted, paraphrased,
selected and otherwise
handpicked verbiage for this
PowerPoint presentation is from
the book: Turn the Ship Around:
How to Create Leadership at Every
Level by L. David Marquet.
Published by Greenleaf Group Book
Press in Austin, TX, 2012.
www.greenleafbookgroup.com
PowerPoint created
by John Gillis
First Light, LLC
jgillis767@aol.com
Veritas
4/17/2014

Turn The Ship Around! 041614

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