Book Byte #319 "Turn the Ship Around!" by L. David Marquet
A True Story of Turning Followers into Leaders
📣 Curious Quotes from the Author
“Leadership is communicating to people their worth and potential so clearly that they are inspired to see it in themselves.”
“One of the things that limits our learning is our belief that we already know something.”
“You may be able to “buy” a person’s back with a paycheck, position, power, or fear, but a human being’s genius, passion, loyalty, and tenacious creativity are volunteered only.”
“People who are treated as followers treat others as followers when it’s their turn to lead.”
“The leader-leader structure is fundamentally different from the leader-follower structure. At its core is the belief that we can all be leaders and, in fact, it’s best when we all are leaders. Leadership is not some mystical quality that some possess and others do not. As humans, we all have what it takes, and we all need to use our leadership”
“Focusing on avoiding mistakes takes our focus away from becoming truly exceptional. Once a ship has achieved success merely in the form of preventing major errors and is operating in a competent way, mission accomplished, there is no need to strive further.”
“If all you need to do is what you are told, then you don’t need to understand your craft. However, as your ability to make decisions increases, then you need intimate technical knowledge on which to base those decisions.”
“Those who take orders usually run at half speed, underutilizing their imagination and initiative.”
“The problem with specifying the method along with the goal is one of diminished control. Provide your people with the objective and let them figure out the method.”
📚 Cognition of the Book’s Big Idea
A top-down leadership style is inefficient and fails to utilize each person's innate leadership potential. Only a few institutional adjustments are needed to transition to a leader-leader organizational structure, but it does necessitate a thorough rethinking of our conception of leadership.
However, the firm and its employees will both gain from such a change. Here are some suggestions that you can implement. The key is communication. Don't strive to finish a project flawlessly before presenting it to your supervisor. To ensure that you are both in agreement with your objectives, keep her informed with brief but regular and early chats.
Until Tomorrow,
Jason (Founder Club255)