In Leaders Eat Last, Simon Sinek writes about David Marquet, the former captain of the USS Santa Fe, a Los Angeles-class submarine. Marquet, who was new to the USS Santa Fe, gave an order to The Officer of the Deck that could not have been fulfilled. The Officer of the Deck, who had over two years of experience, passed the order on without question. Marquet asked the Officer of the Deck if he knew there was a problem fulfilling the order he gave. “Yes, sir,” he replied. “Then why did you issue the order?” Marquet asked. “Because you told me to.”
In his book Turn the Ship Around!, Marquet documents how he overcame the problem of unquestioned compliance. He started by changing a “culture of permission to a culture of intent.” “Don’t give instructions,” Marquet says. “Give intent.” He replaced “Sir, request permission to submerge the ship,” with “Sir, I intend to submerge the ship.” The subtle but significant shift was crucial. By putting the crew in control, the Santa Fe became the best-rated crew in Navy history. “[They were] trained for critical thinking, and not compliance,” Marquet remarks.
The operative leader responsible for implementing and empowering teams to effectively lead themselves will need to use effective influence factors to direct the desired changes. Creating leadership in teams means enabling them to make good decisions and providing an environment that intrinsically engages and motivates proper behaviors.
Mark McCatty, Leadership & Team Advisor
Leadership Results through People
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As a leadership and team advisor, I have helped numerous organizations, through speaker presentations, group training, and individual coaching, to meet the challenge of creating engaging and purposeful work environments.
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