Turn the Ship Around! A True Story of Turning Followers into Leaders

By L. David Marquet,

Book cover of Turn the Ship Around! A True Story of Turning Followers into Leaders

Book description

"Leadership should mean giving control rather than taking control and creating leaders rather than forging followers."

David Marquet, an experienced Navy officer, was used to giving orders. As newly appointed captain of the USS Santa Fe, a nuclear-powered submarine, he was responsible for more than a hundred sailors, deep in…

Shepherd is reader supported. When you buy books, we may earn an affiliate commission.

Why read it?

3 authors picked Turn the Ship Around! A True Story of Turning Followers into Leaders as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

After reading Captain David Marquet's book, I realized that Marquet had discovered a modern approach to leadership that differs substantially from traditional thinking.

What I love about the book is that it is a real-life story about how Marquet transformed the USS Santa Fe, a submarine with the worst performance record. Through empowering his crew and fostering leadership at every level, Marquet illustrates how giving up conventional thinking by relinquishing control unlocks the crew’s hidden potential. Doing so not only boosts morale but enables the crew to achieve remarkable results.

I believe that if you embrace Marquet's approach, you can…

Technology is rarely the problem in most organizations. It’s people, processes, and how the two come together to create a web of dysfunction.

I loved Turn the Ship Around because it takes you on a journey from start to finish and sprinkles the lessons for change throughout that journey. The book taught the importance of empowering leadership throughout an organization.

As leaders we can do more harm than good by accidentally hording the power of decision making. This book will teach you to undo that mistake.

Turn the Ship Around is the amazing and lovely story about how Captain David L. Marquet completely turned the way a nuclear submarine worked upside down.

From giving orders to giving intent and in doing so creating new leaders rather than mindless executors.

The book is packed with nuggets (nudges?) of management gold like “Move the authority to where the information is,” for example. I keep coming back to this inspiring story over and over again. Sadly I lost my copy, but it lives in my mind forever.

From Marcus' list on leadership and change management.

Want books like Turn the Ship Around! A True Story of Turning Followers into Leaders?

Our community of 10,000+ authors has personally recommended 100 books like Turn the Ship Around! A True Story of Turning Followers into Leaders.

Browse books like Turn the Ship Around! A True Story of Turning Followers into Leaders

5 book lists we think you will like!

Interested in decision making, leadership, and teamwork?

10,000+ authors have recommended their favorite books and what they love about them. Browse their picks for the best books about decision making, leadership, and teamwork.

Decision Making Explore 80 books about decision making
Leadership Explore 354 books about leadership
Teamwork Explore 16 books about teamwork