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Turn the Ship Around!: A True Story of Turning Followers into Leaders Hardcover – May 16, 2013

4.7 4.7 out of 5 stars 8,987 ratings

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“One of the 12 best business books of all time…. Timeless principles of empowering leadership.” – USA Today

"The best how-to manual anywhere for managers on delegating, training, and driving flawless execution.” —FORTUNE

Since Turn the Ship Around! was published in 2013, hundreds of thousands of readers have been inspired by former Navy captain David Marquet’s true story. Many have applied his insights to their own organizations, creating workplaces where everyone takes responsibility for his or her actions, where followers grow to become leaders, and where happier teams drive dramatically better results.

Marquet was a Naval Academy graduate and an experienced officer when selected for submarine command. Trained to give orders in the traditional model of “know all–tell all” leadership, he faced a new wrinkle when he was shifted to the Santa Fe, a nuclear-powered submarine. Facing the high-stress environment of a sub where there’s little margin for error, he was determined to reverse the trends he found on the Santa Fe: poor morale, poor performance, and the worst retention rate in the fleet.

Almost immediately, Marquet ran into trouble when he unknowingly gave an impossible order, and his crew tried to follow it anyway. When he asked why, the answer was: “Because you told me to.” Marquet realized that while he had been trained for a different submarine, his crew had been trained to do what they were told—a deadly combination.

That’s when Marquet flipped the leadership model on its head and pushed for leadership at every level. Turn the Ship Around! reveals how the Santa Fe skyrocketed from worst to first in the fleet by challenging the U.S. Navy’s traditional leader-follower approach. Struggling against his own instincts to take control, he instead achieved the vastly more powerful model of giving control to his subordinates, and creating leaders.

Before long, each member of Marquet’s crew became a leader and assumed responsibility for everything he did, from clerical tasks to crucial combat decisions. The crew became completely engaged, contributing their full intellectual capacity every day. The Santa Fe set records for performance, morale, and retention. And over the next decade, a highly disproportionate number of the officers of the Santa Fe were selected to become submarine commanders.

Whether you need a major change of course or just a tweak of the rudder, you can apply Marquet’s methods to turn your own ship around.
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Editorial Reviews

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I don't know of a finer model of this kind of empowering leadership than Captain Marquet. And in the pages that follow you will find a model for your pathway. -- Stephen R. Covey, author of The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People

To say I'm a fan of David Marquet would be an understatement... I'm a fully fledged groupie. He is the kind of leader who comes around only once a generation. He is the kind of leader who doesn't just know how to lead, he knows how to build leaders. His ideas and lessons are invaluable to anyone who wants to build an organization that will outlive them. -- Simon Sinek, optimist and author of Start with Why

How do we release the intellect and initiative of each member of the organization toward a common purpose? Here's the answer: With fascinating storytelling and a deep understanding of what motivates and inspires. David Marquet provides leaders in the military, business, and education a powerful vehicle that will delight, provoke, and encourage them to act. -- Michael P. Peters, president of the St. John's College, Santa Fe

I owe a lot to Captain David Marquet ... not only for turning the Santa Fe around during some REALLY bad times but I learned many lessons on leadership from him that have been invaluable in my post-Navy life. I preach the three legs (control, competence, clarity) of Leader-Leader everyday to empower my people and move the decisions to where the information lives... I used these principles to turn around the GE Dallas Generator Repair Department, which was in crisis when I arrived in 2010 and now is the best Generator Repair Department in the GE Network... Now I am tasked with turning around the Dallas Steam Turbine Repair Department... -- Adam McAnally, Steam Turbine Cell Leader at the GE Dallas Service Center and former crewmember, USS Santa Fe

This terrific read actually provides new and valuable insights into how to lead. And nothing important gets done without leadership. Captain Marquet takes you through his life of learning how to lead, and presents you with a winning formula: not leader-follower, but leader-leader. It's about leading by getting others to take responsibility--and like it. It works for business, politics, and life. -- Leslie H. Gelb, president emeritus of the Council on Foreign Relations, a member of several business boards, and a former columnist for The New York Times

It's the Hunt for Red October meets Harvard Business School. Turn the Ship Around! is the consummate book on leadership for the Information Age--where unleashing knowledge workers' intellectual capital is pivotal in optimizing organizational performance: from maximizing market share and minimizing customer churn to improving margins. Capt. Marquet's thesis is a complete paradigm shift in leadership philosophy. This new approach to leadership is applicable in all industries and across all corporate functions. If you're an Organizational Behavior or Leadership expert or enthusiast this book can have a substantial impact on you and your organization s ability to meet its goals. -- Joe DeBono, Founder and President of MBA Corps and Merrill Lynch Wealth Manager

David Marquet's message in Turn the Ship Around! inspires the empowerment of engaged people and leadership at all levels. He encourages leaders to release energy, intellect, and passion in everyone around them. Turn the Ship Around! challenges the paradigm of the hierarchical organization by revealing the process to tear down pyramids, create a flat organization, and to develop leaders, not followers. -- Dale R. Wilson, Sr., business management professional, and editor/blogger at Command Performance Leadership (commandperformanceleadership.wordpress.com)

This is the story of Captain David Marquet's unprecedented experiment in the most rigid of environments on the Santa Fe, a U.S. Navy nuclear-powered submarine. He had the courage to operate counter-culture, reengineering the very definition of leadership accepted by the U.S. Navy for as long as it has existed. He took huge risk to do this. The outcome was revolutionary - within a few short months, the crew of the Santa Fe went from worst to first. In today's information age, Human Capital is our most precious resource. It is the 21stCentury weapon of choice. Captain David Marquet's experiment in leadership has far greater application to the entire business world. This is thought leadership. -- Charlie Kim, Founder & CEO of Next Jump, Inc.

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'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.

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

What I learned from and with David Marquet is that developing a bottom-up, Leader-Leader culture produces highly empowered people and highly effective teams. It worked on a nuclear submarine and it worked in the mountains of Afghanistan. That said, cultivating a Leader-Leader culture is much easier said than done because you must overturn almost everything people grow up thinking and learning about leadership. -- Captain (sel) Dave Adams, USN, Former Weapons Officer, USS Santa Fe, Khost Province PRT commander, Commanding Officer, USS Santa Fe

Captain Marquet's compelling leadership journey inspires each of us to imagine a world where every human being is intellectually engaged and fully committed to solving our toughest challenges. If it can be done on a nuclear submarine, it can be done everywhere. Turn the Ship Around! delivers a brilliant message. -- Liz Wiseman, Author of Multipliers: How the Best Leaders Make Everyone Smarter

About the Author

L. David Marquet, a top graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy, commanded the nuclear-powered, fast-attack submarine USS Santa Fe from 1999 to 2001. Since retiring from the Navy he has worked with businesses nationwide as a leadership consultant.  He gives presentations around the world and has also written a companion workbook called Turn Your Ship Around.  He lives in Florida with his wife, Jane.

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Portfolio; 1st edition (May 16, 2013)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 272 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1591846404
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1591846406
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 2.31 pounds
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.71 x 0.96 x 8.52 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.7 4.7 out of 5 stars 8,987 ratings

About the author

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L. David Marquet
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Wall Street Journal bestselling author L. David Marquet imagines a work place 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.

A 1981 U.S. Naval Academy graduate, Captain Marquet served in the U.S. submarine force for 28 years. After being assigned to command the nuclear powered submarine USS Santa Fe, then ranked last in retention and operational standing, he realized the traditional leadership approach of “take control, give orders,” wouldn’t work. He “turned the ship around” by treating the crew as leaders, not followers, and giving control, not taking control. This approach took the Santa Fe from “worst to first,” achieving the highest retention and operational standings in the navy.

After David’s departure from the ship, the Santa Fe continued to win awards and promoted a disproportionate number of officers and enlisted men to positions of increased responsibility, including ten subsequent submarine captains. Further, having been on the ship, Stephen R. Covey said it was the most empowering organization he’d ever seen and wrote about Captain Marquet’s leadership practices in his book, The 8th Habit.

Captain Marquet is the author of Leadership is Language, Turn the Ship Around! and companion workbook,The Turn the Ship Around Workbook. Fortune magazine called the book the “best how-to manual anywhere for managers on delegating, training, and driving flawless execution.”

Captain Marquet retired from the Navy in 2009, and delivers the powerful Intent-Based Leadership message: that leadership is not for the select few at the top. In highly effective organizations, there are leaders at every level. David speaks to those who want to create empowering work environments that release the passion, initiative, and intellect of each person. His bold and highly effective framework is summarized as “give control, create leaders.”

He lives in Florida, is an enthusiastic novice trail runner, and a life member of the Council on Foreign Relations.

Website - www.davidmarquet.com

Customer reviews

4.7 out of 5 stars
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8,987 global ratings
Must read for any manager
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Must read for any manager
Great advice for empowering your teams so that you no longer need to make EVERY decision, just the life-and-death ones.
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Top reviews from the United States

Reviewed in the United States on March 15, 2024
This was a unique perspective and I appreciate how the author turned adversity into life lessons! I highly recommend it!
Reviewed in the United States on February 12, 2024
Clear-minded, sensible and inclusive ways to engage human beings in doing great work, and not only “following orders “. Leader-Leader for highly competent teams is a natural way to unleash the best in each individual and team. Very thankful to Commander Marquet for sharing such rich experience and perspectives.
Reviewed in the United States on November 23, 2013
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!
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Reviewed in the United States on November 19, 2023
L. David Marquet's "Turn the Ship Around" tells the story of his time as captain of the USS Santa Fe, a $2 billion dollar nuclear submarine with 135 submariners aboard. The Santa Fe was a mess of a ship, with a rigid and broken approach to leadership on board. The crew was doing the bare minimum, and they were uninspired to improve.

"Turn the Ship Around" also tells the story of how Marquet didn't want to be the same kind of captain that got Santa Fe into the state it was in. He wanted to enable his crew, from his officers to his chiefs to the lowest ranking enlisted on board to make their own decisions and own their own work. From small examples to big, he details how he would deliberately take steps back and let others lead instead of doing what people would normally expect a military leader to do.

It's a powerful book, with lessons that I'm already eager to apply in my work.
Reviewed in the United States on November 4, 2012
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!
4 people found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

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Miguel Caballero
5.0 out of 5 stars Excelente libro
Reviewed in Mexico on June 27, 2023
El producto llego en muy buenas condiciones.
Maarten
5.0 out of 5 stars Firsthand management advice
Reviewed in Belgium on March 28, 2024
I love the setting of a submarine. The fact that it is about real challenges (and failures) makes it balanced. The author does not claim he could have done this just anywhere: he clearly explains how the setting allowed him to experiment. The book provides a good example of many management practices from other (management) books and how they can be applied in real situations.
carlos h.
5.0 out of 5 stars A mus read!
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on November 16, 2023
Great to read, enjoyable and full of content! The book is well structured and that makes you want to read it all in one go.
Mangesh Hagargi
5.0 out of 5 stars Great
Reviewed in India on September 12, 2023
I found this book a valuable resource for anyone in leadership position or aspiring one. The authors approach to leadership is inspirational and practical.
Steffen
5.0 out of 5 stars Great leadership book
Reviewed in Germany on August 16, 2023
Gives a complete new view on leadership. Great instructions how to achieve it and hands-on examples.