Do You Want People To Do, Or Think?

To do, or to think?  That is the question David Marquet asks of leaders.  I am a David Marquet fan!   He is the author of Turn the Ship Around, one of the top execution books of all time.  It illustrates how he took a nuclear submarine from the worst performing ship with the lowest moral in the US Navy and turned it into the highest graded ship ever.

He now has a companion workbook titled Turn Your Ship Around!: A Workbook for Implementing Intent-Based Leadership in Your Organization.

It contains the practical activities he does in his current consulting and training sessions. Any company that wants to build a better environment for its people will appreciate the exercises in this workbook for managers on delegating, training, and driving sound execution.

I recently heard David Marquet present the principles of his approach and the stories around their development.  David is pragmatic, focused, and doesn’t mince words.  One of his key concepts is that leadership is all about making people better, and then the mission will follow.  In developing better leadership, Marquet asks the following questions.  Do you:

1. Avoid Errors or Achieve Excellence?
2. Be Good or Get Better?
3. Push Information to Authority or Push Authority to Information (i.e., push decisions down your organization for resiliency and speed)
4. Want People to Do or Think?

What would be your answers to these pragmatic questions on leadership focus?

Marquet also delivered a brilliant exercise in observation and “seeing” what is going on in your organization. This is a great tool for helping everyone execute and stay on the same page.

1. No one of us sees what we all see.
2. If you see something, don’t assume others see it.
3. If you see something, say something.
4. We see what we have words for.

Implementing better leadership in your company is always a top priority.  Check out the video above and David’s new workbook. It’s worth discussing with your leadership team at your next monthly meeting.

Contact me to discuss how to implement intent-based leadership in your organization.

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