Turn the Ship Around
About a handful of years ago, this was required reading for cybersecurity senior leadership. Considering how large our cybersecurity team was after our acquisition, it was necessary and helpful.
In 1999, Captain L. David Marquet was assigned to take command of the USS Santa Fe, a nuclear-powered fast-attack submarine. Marquet faced two distinct, overwhelming obstacles upon arrival:
- A Culture of Low Performance and Morale: The Santa Fe was ranked last in operational readiness across the entire submarine fleet. The crew suffered from poor morale, low retention rates, distrust, and a passive mindset. They strictly followed orders without taking initiative, leading to frequent operational mistakes.
- Lack of Technical Familiarity: Marquet had spent a year intensely studying a completely different class of submarine (the Olympia). At the last minute, the Navy reassigned him to the Santa Fe, a class he knew far less about.
Because Marquet could not rely on top-down micro-management (since he lacked complete knowledge of every operational detail of that specific ship), the traditional military leadership model was guaranteed to fail. If he gave an incorrect order, a passive crew would execute it without question, potentially causing fatal mistakes.
2. Preparing the Crew for Competition and Operations
To prepare the ship for combat readiness and fleet inspections, Marquet discarded the traditional Leader-Follower model and introduced the Leader-Leader framework. He shifted the burden of decision-making from the captain down to the sailors actually doing the work.
Key Strategies Implemented:
- “I Intend To…” Mechanics: Instead of waiting for permission or asking “What should I do?”, crew members were required to state their intent (e.g., “Captain, I intend to submerge the ship”). This forced officers and crew to think through the action, safety checks, and rationale before speaking.
- Eliminating Top-Down Orders: Marquet stopped giving traditional operational commands, forcing junior officers to take ownership of actions and outcomes.
- Focusing on Competence and Clarity: Empowerment without knowledge leads to chaos. Marquet instituted rigorous training, requiring crew members to demonstrate technical proficiency before making decisions.
- Encouraging Open Communication: He encouraged crew members to speak up about errors or safety risks immediately without fear of immediate punishment, shifting the culture from avoiding mistakes to striving for excellence.
The Result
Under this new framework, the Santa Fe went from worst to first in the fleet, earning top marks on operational evaluations, setting retention records, and producing an unusually high number of future submarine captains from its officer corps.
3. Key Leadership Lessons
Lesson 1: Move Decisions to the Information, Not Information to the Decisions
Traditional hierarchies need information to travel up the chain of command to a leader who makes the decision. Marquet argues that the person closest to the actual work usually has the best contextual knowledge. Leaders should push decision-making authority down to those who have the real-time information.
Lesson 2: Empowerment Requires Competence and Clarity
Giving authority to staff who lack technical knowledge or strategic direction creates liability. True leadership requires simultaneously building competence (technical knowledge) and clarity (understanding the organization’s ultimate goal).
Lesson 3: Change Language to Change Culture
Short shifts in language trigger major cultural updates. Requiring staff to say “I intend to…” rather than “Request permission to…” shifts the mindset from passive compliance to active leadership and personal responsibility.
Lesson 4: Resist the Urge to Take Control Under Stress
When pressure mounts, leaders naturally try to grab control. Marquet demonstrated that stressful conditions require giving away control to build a resilient team capable of operating independently.
Read a sample of the book here.
