China Foundations was blown away when we saw David speak in 2012. He vowed to “never give another order”, all of his staff began taking ownership of their duties, and together they created a team of fully engaged, motivated, responsible leaders who worked together to achieve excellence. We have been working at this ourselves and this was our opportunity to accelerate our efforts! We got the book immediately, started implementing, and asked him if he would help our mission to bring relevant and innovative ideas to China’s business community. We were honored that he was not only willing, but excited to help. David volunteered to come to China with China Foundations and share his message, as well as support the release of “你就是艇长” the Chinese translated version of “Turn the Ship Around”.
From March 18th – 26th David will be meeting with leaders of government, multinational corporations, Chinese private and Chinese state owned enterprises. He will also be squeezing in private and public events in Shanghai, Shenzhen and Beijing.
Achieve “Greatness”
About the Book
How would you like to work in a place where everyone around you is totally engaged and contributing 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 nuclear powered submarine would seem an unlikely place for such a thing to happen. Especially the USS Santa Fe – dogged by poor morale, poor performance, and the worst retention in the fleet, until David Marquet took command.
Turn the Ship Around! is the gripping story of what happened next – where he took the ship from worst to first by challenging the U.S. Navy’s traditional leader-follower approach and instead implementing his own framework of leader-leader. In doing so, he struggled against his own instincts to “take control, attract followers” in order to achieve the vastly more powerful “give control, create leaders.”
The results revolutionized the field of leadership – as each member of his crew became a leader and assumed responsibility for everything they did, from clerical tasks to crucial combat decisions. By embedding goodness in the practices and the people, Santa Fe continued to win awards and promoted a highly disproportionate number of officers to submarine command.
Turn the Ship Around! presents clear mechanisms to help you apply this winning model in your organization. Follow Marquet’s practical steps, for example:
- Releasing proactivity with “I intend to…”
- Reversing a demoralized culture
- Using deliberate action to enhance teamwork and minimize errors
- Eliminating top-down monitoring systems
- Embedding learning in everything the organization does
No matter what your business, and no matter where you are in the organizational chart, you will benefit from the leadership approach developed onboard the USS Santa Fe and detailed in this book.
Pillars Supporting the Revolutionary Approach
David Marquet with Stephen R. Covey on the bridge of the USS Santa Fe in 2000
Profile of the Author
David Marquet is the author of the award-winning book Turn the Ship Around! In 2012 Fortune Magazine called it the “best how-to manual anywhere for managers on delegating, training, and driving flawless execution.” He teaches graduate level leadership at Columbia University.
A 1981 U.S. Naval Academy graduate, David Marquet served in the U.S. submarine force for 28 years. He commanded the nuclear-powered fast-attack submarine USS Santa Fe. Captain Marquet completely turned around Santa Fe, where the crew went from being “worst to first.” Santa Fe continued to win awards after his departure and promoted a disproportionate number of officers and enlisted men to positions of increased responsibility, including 10 subsequent submarine captains. After riding USS Santa Fe, 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 retired from the Navy in 2009, and is the Captain, Human Capital Engineering at Next Jump, Inc., a leading e-commerce company in New York. He speaks to businesses and groups who want to create empowering work environments that release the passion, initiative, and intellect of each person. This bold and highly effective leadership approach can be summarized as “give control, create leaders.” He is a life member of the Council on Foreign Relations and lives in Manhattan with his wife, Jane.
For inquiries about David’s speaking engagements, please submit your message to Maria Nguyen below:
maria@chinafoundations.com
