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“Your job is the details. Get into the details of how the organization makes decisions.” —David Marquet

We are elated whenever we have opportunities to connect with authors about their books, and this AuthorConnect Chat is no exception! Bestselling author David Marquet had great success when his debut release Turn the Ship Around! published in 2012. The book follows the remarkable transformation of the USS Santa Fe, which went from “worst to first” under Captain Marquet’s leadership. 

His transformative ability to lead began with treating crew as leaders, not followers, and giving control instead of taking control. Over the course of several years, the USS Santa Fe continued to win awards and promote more officers and enlisted men to positions of increased responsibility than any other submarine, producing TEN subsequent submarine captains (incredible!).

So, how can we all become leaders instead of followers and transform our organizations? It begins with language. In his newest book, Leadership is Language: The Hidden Power of What You Say—And What You Don’t, David explains the mantra of being “a CAN DO organization” comes from the industrial age and no longer applies. He claims, “We now need CAN THINK organizations.”  

David shares with us the importance of ensuring that EVERYONE on your team is not only “doing, but also thinking.” The past was full of people separated by role and function: “managers and doers, college-educated and high school-educated, management and union.” This industrial-age thinking needs to be ripped out by its roots in order to entertain all viewpoints—while empowering everyone to speak up, voice concerns, and share opinions. This is the only way to avoid groupthink and “rubber-stamped” decision-making processes and meetings.

As David asks us all to remember: “Leaders don’t have to be the ones giving every order. Leaders have made themselves the decision evaluator and the decision maker. And that is the wrong way to do this. Because you can’t evaluate the decision dispassionately since you are the one that made it.” In Leadership is Language, David challenges and inspires us to consider the below six plays to create greater, more efficient, and more productive teams, mindsets, and outcomes.

1. 1. 1. Don’t obey the clock, control the clock.
      2. Collaborate, don’t coerce.
      3. Commit, don’t comply.
      4. Complete, don’t continue.
      5. Improve, don’t prove.
      6. Above all, connect, don’t conform.

In this digital age, problem-solving and decision-making needs to evolve alongside operations and business systems. We are no longer simply punching clocks to just “do;” we’re here to connect, collaborate, commit, and complete our initiatives, projects, and goals for the greater good and for the advancement of our larger causes and missions. That’s the message David leaves us with and is one we at BookPal can and always will get behind as we believe in the transformative power of books to enlighten, inspire, and empower us all to be our best.

For the full AuthorConnect Chat, check out the video below. Order copies of Leadership is Language: The Hidden Power of What You Say—And What You Don’t for your group, organization, or classroom today.