Sumit Gupta

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  • Turn the Ship Around – How David Marquet’s Leadership Turned Around A Nuclear-Powered Submarine’s Performance

    This is a story that can change the way we think about leadership. This story of a United States Navy Captain David Marquet who transformed a dissatisfied submarine crew into a formidable and respected team gives us insights about how strong leadership can make a big difference to an “underperforming” team.

    Turning Around The USS Santa Fe

    Turn The Ship Around - David MarquetThe USS Santa Fe, a nuclear-powered submarine, was infamous for its sub-par performance and crew retention rate. David Marquet, a U.S. Navy Officer captaining the USS Santa Fe, transformed it from being one of the fleet’s worst-performing teams into an efficient and effective team winning it many accolades. Encouraging the members of his team to lead, he empowered his whole team to perform better and succeed, making him a better leader in the process.

    For example, he moved the chain of power down the hierarchy to his chiefs. He ended many inefficient and time-consuming processes such as leave approvals that needed sign-offs from three different officers.

    With more power and responsibility in hand, the chiefs became more passionate about the performance of their team and boosted the crew’s competence levels. He changed the very structure of leadership using many different mechanisms to bring about a sea change in the functioning and the performance of the team. 

    How and what did he do to turn the ship around?

    Simple Changes Can Go A Long Way

    A recent Conference Board Survey showed worker satisfaction rates and overall productivity has hit an all-time low. The US economy is facing a leadership crisis. 

    Why?

    An age-old organization structure could be the reason for the alarming statistics. As David Marquet shows in the book, the current organizational structure needs to be examined. 

    Our organizations have used the leader-follower approach right since the times the Pyramids were built in Egypt, through the Industrial Revolution, until today. In this approach, the leader makes the decisions, and these are carried out by the follower. While this structure was suited for work needing physical labor and menial tasks, it does not suit today’s roles that need cognitive and decision-making skills. Today, we need a change in the way we perceive leadership.

    The age-old top-down leadership model does not tap into the natural leadership abilities of the workforce. A few simple changes and a re-evaluation of the way we look at leadership will lead to benefits not only for the employees but the organizations too. These changes were applied by David Marquet. And he saw some remarkable changes using his new model – The leader-leader model of leadership.

    The leader-leader approach is a radically different outlook on the leadership structure.

    • The difference between the two structures lies in the way decisions are made.
    • This new approach not only puts decision-making in the hands of more people but also empowers the workforce to recognize their leadership qualities.
    • Unlike the leader-follower chain-of-command, the power to make decisions is distributed throughout the chain-of-command in the leader-leader structure, where individuals can act on any newly received information.

    Implement by Decentralising Decision Making

    To implement the leader-leader approach, the deeply ingrained hierarchical organization structure itself needs change. It means that managers give up some amount of their decision-making control. They need to ensure that decision making involves the employees. David Marquet learned that his chiefs became more passionate about ensuring that their team succeeds and were more concerned about their overall efficiency than before. Simply because he made simple changes to the structure and handed leadership to his subordinates using the leader-leader approach.

    This can be done by identifying old processes and ways of doing things in the organization and changing them. Once people start to act differently, they will also start to think differently. For example – David Marquet had everyone inform him of their decisions with the phrase “I intend to…” instead of asking for permission to do something. This way he was aware of what people intend to do.

    The Pillars of Competence and Clarity

    Competence

    While giving additional responsibility, managers need to be sure that an employee can rise to the responsibility given. Mechanisms that ensure that the workforce builds and maintains their competence levels need to be used. This will empower them to make good decisions.

    Marquet emphasized on constant learning and delegated decision making as tools to improve competence in small steps. Every activity was seen as a chance to learn and do the tasks better. The leaders emphasized this message repeatedly to make sure people don’t revert back to old habits. Keep the communication flowing. Taking deliberate action – making your actions vocal and using gestures to deliberate actions – is one example.

    Clarity

    Not only managers have clarity of whether they can hand over more powers to the employees, but also when the employee can handle the task at hand. Leaders on Santa Fe ensured clarity by focussing on achieving excellent results, and not just to play safe and avoid errors. People were encouraged to question their peers and leaders if something was not clear. Everyone had long term goals and a desired end result, and the managers appreciated and recognized good performance whenever they saw it.

    These mechanisms can boost employee satisfaction and performance. The successful implementation of the leader-leader structure on the USS Santa Fe produced remarkable results.

    Common Goals And Shared Values

    For this strategy to succeed, all the employees of the organization need to be on the same page. If the decision-making power is to be shared by everyone, it is essential for all employees to work towards the same goal. The vital core values of the organization should be the focal point.

    This can be done by deriving inspiration from history, through the legacy and the founding story of the company. People need to be appreciated and rewarded for performance.

    Applying the leader-leader structure can result in achieving considerable success. And the lessons from the book are applicable to any organization or company.

    As David Marquet writes in the book, this new approach is for all those frustrated workers and bosses for whom the current leadership structure just isn’t working. We need to reject leader-follower as a model and view the world as a place for leaders everywhere to achieve this vision.

    Leader Leader Model by David Marquet
    The Leader Leader Model by David Marquet

  • 5 Lessons From Simon Sinek’s Start With Why: How Great Leaders Inspire Everyone To Take Action

    Simon Sinek, the author of this book is a motivational speaker and someone who looks at the world with great optimism. His Ted-talk is the third most viewed talk. Through this book and interactions with the public, he actively encourages you to think beyond the obvious, to go back to the root cause of starting your business or joining a job. He teaches leaders how to inspire the whole organization to think that it doesn’t matter what you do, it matters why you do it.

    He says that famous leaders such as Martin Luther King, the Wright Brothers (who invented the first aeroplane), and Steve Jobs are all from very different fields but they had one common factor. They all began their research and their ambitious projects based on a single ‘why’.

    “Inspiring leaders and companies…think, act and communicate exactly alike. And it’s the complete opposite of everyone else.”

    His ideas have grabbed the attention of various industries, from small startups to Fortune 50 companies and from Hollywood to the Congress and to the Pentagon. Here are 5 Key Leadership Lessons from the book ‘Start With Why’ by Simon Sinek.

    1. Understand the ‘Golden Circle’

    The author looks at exceptional leaders who have always thought differently from common people and that is what has brought them success. He says it is important to understand how these great minds think. He shares in the book that inspirational leaders start by identifying their purpose, cause, or vision.

    He defines the concept of a ‘Golden Circle’ in the book. It starts with a vision (the “Why”), then moves to implementation (the “How”), and then conquers the product or service (the “What”).

    The ‘why’ factor is a justification for a company to exist, it explains how things are done in the company and how decisions are made.

    Leadership Lessons from Start With Why By Simon Sinek

    2. Inspiration is the Key to Influence People

    The author talks about how inspiration works better than manipulation.

    Manipulation such as dropping the price, blinking texts, using fear, peer pressure, promotions – these lead to short term gains but cost more over a longer period of time. If people understand what truly inspires you and understand why you wish to sell a product that is the key to influence people, build an image, and make a close connection to your audience.

    People should feel compelled to buy your product in the sense that they feel they really need it and genuinely resonate with the message behind it.

    Great leaders…inspire people to act…Those who truly lead…create a following of people who act not because they were swayed, but because they were inspired. – Simon Sinek

    3. Money or Profits Is Not A ‘Why’

    Money is not a ‘why’ and is never the reason that leads to the success of a company. Innovation comes from thinking about the ‘why’ – which is the reason you get out of bed in the morning.

    Often when organizations are on a downfall, they only look at making money and surviving. Profits are important but more important than that are the ethics, values, unique practices of a company that sets it apart and the same apply to people as well.

    Simon Sinek shares the stories of Apple, Wal-Mart, Costco, Starbucks, Martin Luther King Jr, and a few others in the book.

    “Imagine if every organization started with Why. Decisions would be simpler. Loyalties would be greater. Trust would be a common currency.”

    4. The Power of Trust

    When ‘what’, ‘how’ and ‘why’ come together, that builds trust in people and in organizations. People perform at their best when they are part of a culture that fits their values and beliefs.

    “If there were no trust…no one would take risks. No risks would mean no exploration, no experimentation and no advancement of the society.” – Simon Sinek

    He gives the example of Apple and the huge trust it has build with its customers who believe in the company’s philosophy. Other technology firms might make good products too, but Apple resonates with customers because people appreciate its vision.

    5. Communication Begins with Listening

    Listen to your audience. A simple thing like a logo can reflect a lot on the company and one must take note of how it is perceived. For example, the logo of Harley Davidson, the motorcycle company resonates with bikers and with adventure lovers so it has helped the company greatly.

    Listening and observing your competition is very helpful.

    The author poses a ‘Celery Test’ in which he gives the example that to grow what do humans need? A variety of good foods but you don’t need all of them. Similarly, when you observe your competition and listen to what your audience needs, you will come up with your own list of factors that your company should consider.

    There is also a new form of competition that is when you work to improve yourself, individually. You are the best competition for yourself but you do need to listen to people around you to make better decisions.

    I recommend this book to anyone looking to improve their relationships with others and recognize ways that good leaders can influence those around them.

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