Turn the Ship Around!

Imagine a workplace where everyone is totally engaged and contributing their full intellectual capacity, where people are healthier and happier because they have more control over their work. That's what David Marquet achieved as captain of the USS Santa Fe, a nuclear submarine dogged by poor morale, poor performance, and the worst retention rate in the fleet. He took his ship from worst to first in its class by challenging the Navy's traditional leader-follower approach. Instead he implemented a new framework he calls "leader-leader," resisting his impulse to take control to create something vastly more powerful: an entire ship full of leaders.