Turn The Ship Around!: A True Story of Turning Followers into Leaders
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- Create Date：2021-04-22 13:53:54
- Update Date：2025-09-06
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- Author：L. David Marquet
- ISBN：0241250943
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Summary
"I don't know of a finer model of this kind of empowering leadership than Captain Marquet。" （Stephen R。 Covey）。 Turn the Ship Around is the gripping story of the USS Santa Fe - a nuclear submarine dogged by poor morale， poor performance， and the worst retention rate in the fleet - until David Marquet took command。 Captain Marquet took the ship from worst to best in its class by challenging the US Navy's traditional leader-follower approach。 Instead， he gave up as much control and decision-making as possible to his team， creating a new framework he calls 'leader-leader'。 Marquet shows how he struggled against his instincts to take control， and how the effort paid off far more dramatically than he ever imagined。 No matter your business or position， you can apply Marquet's approach to create a workplace where everyone takes responsibility for their actions， people are healthier and happier and everyone is a leader。
Reviews
Tyler
，
A decent leadership book， heavily influenced by Stephen Covey。 In audio format it was not ideal， since many “questions for consideration” would have been better if I could have written responses。 I wish I had rad it and implemented some of the structure during my time as a battalion XO。 I can see now that I thought I was empowering but messed up in quite a few areas。 There are so many organizational leadership books out there。 This model of “leader-leader” is focused on empowering the whole team A decent leadership book， heavily influenced by Stephen Covey。 In audio format it was not ideal， since many “questions for consideration” would have been better if I could have written responses。 I wish I had rad it and implemented some of the structure during my time as a battalion XO。 I can see now that I thought I was empowering but messed up in quite a few areas。 There are so many organizational leadership books out there。 This model of “leader-leader” is focused on empowering the whole team and pushing responsibility and decision making power as low and broad as able。 I do like the transparency， and focus on feedback mechanisms as well as the importance of competency and trust。 This is a good book to add to the tool kit for anyone looking for a more empowered and successful， long term， team。 。。。more
Diego S。
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Pssss es interesante， sin duda， pero acaba agotándote todo el rollo US Navy si no algo que te guste o que entiendas。 Yo ya no sé cuantos jefes， oficiales， mandos y capitanes hay en un submarino; pero claro， ese no es el objetivo de este libro。 El tema del liderazgo sí lo es y ahí tienes detalles interesantes。
Jason Watkins
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A decent book adumbrating a how-to for empowerment。 I did think it was at times， a bit over-the-top with self promotion。。。the author’s chronicles of the awards he won， and peacetime accolades were obnoxious， but the ideas regarding ways to instill empowerment and deliberate action （to counteract automatic thinking） were nonetheless， meaningful。
Matt
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Ways to empower your team and make them most effective。 "I intend to" and why Ways to empower your team and make them most effective。 "I intend to" and why 。。。more
Sharon
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This was really interesting even though I do not have an interest in military。 I enjoyed all the stories and examples to truly comprehend the concepts！
Myra
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I liked that there were little 'assignments'， or， at least things to consider for every chapter。 This made it a little more interactive than other books on leadership/management advice。 Although I found the tasks only applicable to my organization about 50% of the time， I still feel like I learned something from the book and have some things to try。 I liked that there were little 'assignments'， or， at least things to consider for every chapter。 This made it a little more interactive than other books on leadership/management advice。 Although I found the tasks only applicable to my organization about 50% of the time， I still feel like I learned something from the book and have some things to try。 。。。more
Jmac
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Great book， it follows the "turn around" story， a transformational story of a poor-performing team into a high-performing unit。 The use of a concrete story to show the essential skills required to align a team and build confidence is extremely effective。 Great book， it follows the "turn around" story， a transformational story of a poor-performing team into a high-performing unit。 The use of a concrete story to show the essential skills required to align a team and build confidence is extremely effective。 。。。more
Chaitanya
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I wanted to read this book as it was quoted/recommended in few books I recently read。 The content is solid & the concepts were really interesting。 I honestly believe they could be quite useful in many organizations。 I would love to be in such an organization and would cherish leading one。 Its more impactful as this was tried and tested approach and the author himself tasted success w/ this approach。Having said that， I fully didn't understand the submarine slang part （my fault）， too simplistic？， I wanted to read this book as it was quoted/recommended in few books I recently read。 The content is solid & the concepts were really interesting。 I honestly believe they could be quite useful in many organizations。 I would love to be in such an organization and would cherish leading one。 Its more impactful as this was tried and tested approach and the author himself tasted success w/ this approach。Having said that， I fully didn't understand the submarine slang part （my fault）， too simplistic？， cheesy？ generalized？ and repetitive？ I think some would agree that the author was a much better leader than author。 At least， not an endearing one？Good read: 3。5/5！I see a pattern developing here。 I'm liking the content lot more than the writing styles。 。。。more
Sebastian Mierau
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Brilliant book， loved every minute of it。 Read by the author， it gives you an exciting insight into running a nuclear submarine。 But more importantly， Marquet takes you on a journey of being given a task the captain of the submarine can only solve by giving his crew ownership of their domain。 The learning of that journey are fascinating and clearly applicable to any leader who wants to become loser to their team and more efficient in their job。 One of the empowering their team that I have seen。 Brilliant book， loved every minute of it。 Read by the author， it gives you an exciting insight into running a nuclear submarine。 But more importantly， Marquet takes you on a journey of being given a task the captain of the submarine can only solve by giving his crew ownership of their domain。 The learning of that journey are fascinating and clearly applicable to any leader who wants to become loser to their team and more efficient in their job。 One of the empowering their team that I have seen。 Also check out Marquet't YouTube talks， they are funny and super educational。 。。。more
André Amorim
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The book is really good。 Really easy to learn and with great input on how to look at a situation and put a plan in motion。 The way leadership， process and output was drawn by the leadership teams coming from the top of the piramid is amazing。 The leader-leader approach is something I believe we have currently more present in business industries but having that in year 2000 in a submarine with Navy guidelines and so on is just mesmerizing。 Great read and a top book in leadership。
Ashley
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Turn the Ship Around is the story of a captain in the navy， assigned to the worst ranked ship in the fleet。 He was assigned the ship with 160 days to get ready for deployment。 Not having any other options to motivate his crew， he flipped the whole thing upside down and implemented a new leadership style。 It empowered the sailors and officers to where they could run the ship themselves， without needing someone telling them what to do and when。 This had a massive impact on the long term crew， more Turn the Ship Around is the story of a captain in the navy， assigned to the worst ranked ship in the fleet。 He was assigned the ship with 160 days to get ready for deployment。 Not having any other options to motivate his crew， he flipped the whole thing upside down and implemented a new leadership style。 It empowered the sailors and officers to where they could run the ship themselves， without needing someone telling them what to do and when。 This had a massive impact on the long term crew， more people re-enlisted， many more received promotions， and there was a much greater sense of fulfillment。My work bought this book for everyone in the organization and started a mini book club。 I actually am super happy we read it （even though I finished it like 5 weeks early）。 It was a quick read with short chapters， so it’s super easy to read small bits of you don’t have a lot of time。 I also really liked that it was genuinely motivational without being cheesy。 The writing and the author felt authentic。 。。。more
rixx
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Anarchic structures are great， particularly at groups under a certain size。 I know this， my friends know this – I didn't expect a US submarine captain to know and advocate it。 Yet that was the pleasant surprise I got。Marquet knowing all this is great to read， him advocating it less so – reading this book is much more fun when you read it as a cool guy telling life stories， than when you read it as the management book it's intended to be。 That's mostly because he has a good grasp on how all of th Anarchic structures are great， particularly at groups under a certain size。 I know this， my friends know this – I didn't expect a US submarine captain to know and advocate it。 Yet that was the pleasant surprise I got。Marquet knowing all this is great to read， him advocating it less so – reading this book is much more fun when you read it as a cool guy telling life stories， than when you read it as the management book it's intended to be。 That's mostly because he has a good grasp on how all of this works， because he's done it for a long time。 But he only had to introduce it once （at scale， in his own group）， so it feels like his success was mostly driven by intuition and courageous poking around， and all the lessons he draws from it won't replicate for anybody else。He emphasises that in leader-leader structures （as opposed to leader-follower）， you get much better results because everybody will support a shared goal to their best abilities， and complex operations can be prepared much more seamlessly because you don't have to rely on a central point of failure tracking all ongoing motions。 Plus， this is a self-perpetuating stable system – when an important person leaves， the system does not collapse （as can be the case in hierarchical systems）， and newcomers can be introduced to the system by the responsible members。## Neither permission nor forgiveness: intentInstead of asking for permission， or ignoring boundaries and asking for forgiveness later: declare intent。 Rewording like that consistently will make you more proactive and will make it clear that you are taking responsibility。Say clearly what you mean to do – and **give as much context as appropriate**。 If you need permission， give as much context as your supervisor will need （e。g。 the things you have checked， the alternatives you have considered， the preparations you have made）。 This has the advantage that you， and everybody else， has to try at least for a second and see things from the perspective of their supervisor。This is something I see a lot while organising events – there is a relatively clear split between people who always want to request permission to do something （or say "What should I do about …"， "Do you think we should …"， "Could we maybe …"） and the people who present plans or intentions （"I plan on …"， "I intend to …"， "I will …"）。 Those are still up for discussion， of course， but the change in atmosphere is huge。## CompetenceAdditionally， Marquet makes a good point that is underrated in the hierarchy vs anarchy debate: "As authority is delegated， technical knowledge at all levels takes on a greater importance。" When you push decision making to the people actually involved and at the scene， it's important that they have the competence to make those decisions。 You have to take more care to have good education programs， pass around important information， and that everybody can handle the responsibility。 He offers some thoughts on education that won't apply outside military structures， and one thought on plans and meetings: When you have a meeting for the purpose of planning/making sure everybody is on the same page， instead of announcing the shared information and letting everybody nod， try this: Have everybody state their part and understanding。 "I'm going to do X"， "then I'm going to see Y"。 Less listening to plans， more tabletop RPG， nearly？ I wonder if tabletop RPG players on average tend to have more initiative and less leader-follower behaviour 🤔## MiscHe makes a couple of points that I like a lot:- Don't empower: emancipate。 You cannot empower somebody else – that would assume that you have the authority and ability to do so， and they don't。 "Empowerment still results from and is a manifestation of a top-down structure。 […] With emancipation we are recognizing the inherent genius， energy， and creativity in all people， and allowing those talents to emerge。" - Short-term reward systems break everything， and are particularly bad for long-term success。 Same goes for top-down monitoring systems: both send the message that people don't have responsibility for the job they do。 - There's a big difference between asking questions out of genuine curiosity， and testing people。 Everybody can tell。 - You need an actual shared goal that people can get behind。 "Avoid errors"， for example， is no such goal – it's not inspiring and sounds like dullness。 "Be excellent"， on the other hand， can work very well。 - Explicitly go for short， early conversations， where you think out loud to make sure you're talking about the same thing and are going in the right direction。 This requires trust on both sides: that the one person will do the right thing， and that the other person will not criticise the lack of details in a rough draft。 - Approach anything that feels like （or is） a test/inspection/rating/judgement with the attitude that you get to learn things （particularly in formal/skilled environments）。 If you highlight your shortcomings and ask for advice from the experienced people judging you， and if you're honestly interested in improving， that will benefit you and your relationship （and probably your grades/rating/…）。 - Specify goals， not methods。 People will figure it out。 - Take care of your people。 Talk to them about their goals， their dreams， their concrete targets， and then do what you can to help them。 Together with handing them responsibility， this is one of the best ways to show and build trust。 Have people write their own evaluations （if work setting， else: diary entries？ see related books） one， two， three years into the future to figure out what they want to achieve， realistically。 - If you need awards， have awards without artificial limit。 Pit your team against the world instead of each other。 。。。more
Patrick
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I enjoyed the story of the process of changing the mindset and creating new goals of sustainability in leadership and engaging all levels。
omoling
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The book goes through the transformation of a submarine crew from the leader-follower approach to a leader-leader approach， with empowerment and later emancipation at its center。 The examples make it very easy to read and understand， and the resemblance to leadership in a more "traditional" business compared to the submarine is undeniable。 Also， the book comes quickly to the point in each chapter and avoids beeing too chatty， as sadly too many books feel the need to be。 I enjoyed it through and The book goes through the transformation of a submarine crew from the leader-follower approach to a leader-leader approach， with empowerment and later emancipation at its center。 The examples make it very easy to read and understand， and the resemblance to leadership in a more "traditional" business compared to the submarine is undeniable。 Also， the book comes quickly to the point in each chapter and avoids beeing too chatty， as sadly too many books feel the need to be。 I enjoyed it through and through。 。。。more
Alex Golubenko
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Bruh， it was hard。 If you a not a sailor， don't read it。 The book is overloaded with naval specifics。 Bruh， it was hard。 If you a not a sailor， don't read it。 The book is overloaded with naval specifics。 。。。more
Joan
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The principles are sound。 You can find the same information on pretty much every book about leadership but the use case of the nuclear submarine is really entertaining and engaging。It is well written with short and to-the-point chapters。 The constant use of acronyms is hilarious。 My favorite: “fresh fruits and vegetables （FFV）”
Denis Shulepov
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Pager turner full of insightsThis is a great book about leadership， that explains through interesting stories various aspects of building an organization of leaders where everyone is contributing their energy， creativity， competence to the single goal。 It's very well written， interesting to read and at the same time very packed with insights and revelations。 Pager turner full of insightsThis is a great book about leadership， that explains through interesting stories various aspects of building an organization of leaders where everyone is contributing their energy， creativity， competence to the single goal。 It's very well written， interesting to read and at the same time very packed with insights and revelations。 。。。more
Larry
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Engaging。 Inspiring。 Easy & quick 。。。。。。 and a touch too tidy which is， I suspect， a function of writing retrospectively。 Nevertheless the model， even if constructed retrospectively， seems a useful guide for personally relevant transfer and application。
Nicholas Richardson
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Inspirational Great ideas that I have started to incorporate into my organisation with the use of the helpful questions and exercises David suggests throughout。 Highly recommended
David King
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Interesting book。 I really appreciate the concept of leader-leader （r/th leader-follwer） mentoring， and Intent Based Leadership。
Kevin Hofstee
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Great read on growing leaders in an organizationGreat read - I wish many of my managers over the years had read this book。 I’ll be working to adopt this type of leadership style with my direct reports。It does in the end have a tie back to 7 Habits of Highly Effective people， a lot of the great books on leadership and self development do！
Nuno Gomes
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Great book， it opens your mind for something that should be common and natural， but it's not。 A nuclear submarine or a military force some times is not the best example， but for the case， it shows that is possible to have a completely different way of leadership that produced better results， and more important happy people， even in the more hierarchical and strict organisations。 Great book， it opens your mind for something that should be common and natural， but it's not。 A nuclear submarine or a military force some times is not the best example， but for the case， it shows that is possible to have a completely different way of leadership that produced better results， and more important happy people， even in the more hierarchical and strict organisations。 。。。more
Intissar Mountassir
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Where do I get started with this one？ This book refutes， in fact， discourages the implementation of the leader-follower leadership model down the chain of command in a navy seal and any organization for that matter。 It instead endorses the adoption of a leader-leader model， one that has as a pillar and essential backbone the unshakable belief that everyone can be a leader， for leadership isn't some "mystical quality that some possess and others do not。" David Marquet， the commander of USS Santa Where do I get started with this one？ This book refutes， in fact， discourages the implementation of the leader-follower leadership model down the chain of command in a navy seal and any organization for that matter。 It instead endorses the adoption of a leader-leader model， one that has as a pillar and essential backbone the unshakable belief that everyone can be a leader， for leadership isn't some "mystical quality that some possess and others do not。" David Marquet， the commander of USS Santa Fe， and like any other leader out there with the exception of a small number of people， used to think of leaders as individual heroes， and that idea was engraved in him a lot more in the U。S。 Naval Academy。 He essentially was trained to take command of a different submarine。 But it came to his surprise that he will be taking command of an entirely different submarine， one that they always joked about in the submarine force back when he was training since it had the worst retention， reputation， and reenlistment history: Santa Fe。 When he stepped on board of it， it was a fiasco; everyone was unempowered， uninspired， and passive。 The first approach he took to get Santa Fe up and running for deployment was by reflecting and reconsidering the situation at hand。 He took the entire set of circumstances bestowed upon him as an opportunity and a valuable chance to change things around by setting the crew free from a "top-down， "do what you are told" approach of leadership" inside his organization， all while being the main responsible for the end-results。 Consequently， L。 David Marquet managed to eventually drive Santa Fe from being a bottomless pit of the damned and doomed to the first submarine in the navy by recognizing that the old model of leadership is failing， removing it and installing a leader-leader model instead of it， and consecutively pushing control down the chain of command to the technical experts by allowing them to express their intent while using the mechanism of control "I intend to。。" in order for them to express what they want to bring about instead of giving them solutions， et Cetra。 The core of the leadership model he put into practice aimed to give more control to employees for them to make well-rounded， informed decisions for themselves， flourish and bring their own ideas into the workforce， and grow to be leaders instead of mere followers。 To break it down you， the model Marquet suggested to shift things drastically helps build the idea of a leader-leader， instead of a leader-follower， gives control instead of taking control， instills avoiding giving orders instead of giving orders， gives room for questioning upon giving orders sometimes instead of being confident， unambiguous， and resolute while giving orders， shifts briefing to certifying， allows having conversations instead of having meetings， encourages a mentor-mentor program instead of a mentee-mentee one， focuses on people instead of technology， encourages thinking long-term instead of thinking short-term， highlights wanting not to be missed after departure instead of wanting to be missed， focuses on augmenting orders with rich， contextual， informal communication instead of limiting it to terse， succinct， formal orders， sheds light on having a low-repetition， high-quality training instead of having a high-repetition， low-quality training， motivates the idea of being curious instead of being questioning， eliminates making inefficient processes efficient if they don't add value， endorses reducing monitoring and inspection points instead of increasing them， and lastly， it pushes for passing down information instead of protecting it。In conclusion， what I quite admired about the leadership approach of L。 David Marquet is that he was always curious， saught change， set people on board Santa Fe free， and never feared the outcome even though the crew was in a "self-reinforcing downward spiral" at the very beginning， lacked competence， and needed some serious work done。 Moreover， albeit all the mistakes made by the crewmen on board Santa Fe， he resisted the urge to give them solutions， built trust in everyone， and discouraged blind obedience。 I tried to sum up the entire book in this small review， but trust me， if you're reading this right now， and if it slightly made you want to read the book， you're going to be astounded by it。 One last thing that I want to share is that while reading Turn the Ship Around I was thinking to myself that it should actually be a manifesto for all the organizations out there， except that they shouldn't use it blindly since the reality of each organization differs， and I hope that it won't be used as a "prescription， if followed， will result to the same long-term systemic improvements we saw on Santa Fe" as David Marquet stated in the last chapter of his book。 。。。more
Vladimir
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There are some good leadership books coming from the ranks of the army of the Evil Empire。 This one was praised and recommended， and "sitting" on my "to-read" list for a while。 I can say that it lived up to the recommendation。 It's simple， with examples from the work of Marquet。 There are some good leadership books coming from the ranks of the army of the Evil Empire。 This one was praised and recommended， and "sitting" on my "to-read" list for a while。 I can say that it lived up to the recommendation。 It's simple， with examples from the work of Marquet。 。。。more
Linz
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In this book， Marquet talks about his time with submarine， USS Santa Fe。 He talks about the way he was able to transform to a high performing team with his leadership style。 I felt this book is suitable for a leader in an organization who has an environment similar to an submarine where there is limited influence from outside parties。 Also， having the trust and complete support of your boss is critical for successful transformation。 Nevertheless the information presented in the book is applicabl In this book， Marquet talks about his time with submarine， USS Santa Fe。 He talks about the way he was able to transform to a high performing team with his leadership style。 I felt this book is suitable for a leader in an organization who has an environment similar to an submarine where there is limited influence from outside parties。 Also， having the trust and complete support of your boss is critical for successful transformation。 Nevertheless the information presented in the book is applicable for all leaders at all levels。 There is lot to learn how to raise the next generation of leaders。 He talks about the difficulties he faced and how he overcame them without being controlling。 Written like a novel helped with reading it quickly。 。。。more
Zach Varwig
，
Loved this， not just because the intricacies of running a nuclear submarine are interesting， but Marquet outlines a simple approach to cutting through bureaucracy and empowering people。
SOOPLE
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Een boek over （nieuw） leiderschap。 Hoe een kapitein van een onderzeeër "intent" gebruikt om zijn mensen meer autonomie te geven。 Een boek over （nieuw） leiderschap。 Hoe een kapitein van een onderzeeër "intent" gebruikt om zijn mensen meer autonomie te geven。 。。。more
Fodi
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Actionable， scalable， leadership lessons relayed anecdotally using stories from Marquet's time as a Navy Captain。Easily digestible， though long-winded if you're impatient and simply want the core lessons - in that case I'd look for a summary。I think the lessons are useful for a leader who finds themselves overwhelmed with having to attend every meeting and is being consulted on every decision。 Equally useful if you're wanting to scale your business into a high-perfoming organisation。 Actionable， scalable， leadership lessons relayed anecdotally using stories from Marquet's time as a Navy Captain。Easily digestible， though long-winded if you're impatient and simply want the core lessons - in that case I'd look for a summary。I think the lessons are useful for a leader who finds themselves overwhelmed with having to attend every meeting and is being consulted on every decision。 Equally useful if you're wanting to scale your business into a high-perfoming organisation。 。。。more
Tomasz Maj
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Just read/listen to this book。 There is a good yt video about it， but the book deep dives on more topics and gives guidance。
Liz。Riagmail。Com
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