Speaker David Marquet

David Marquet
Former Submarine Commander , U.S. Navy

Expert on leadership, former submarine commander, Author of Amazon #1 Best Seller: Turn the Ship Around! Captain David Marquet inspires and helps create workplaces where everyone engages and contributes their full intellectual capacity, a place where people are healthier and happier because they have more control over their work–a place where everyone is a leader.

A 1981 U.S. Naval Academy graduate, Captain Marquet served in the U.S. submarine force for 28 years. After being assigned to command the nuclear powered submarine USS Santa Fe–then ranked last in retention and operational standing–he realized the traditional leadership approach of “take control, give orders,” wouldn’t work. He “turned his ship around” by treating the crew as leaders, not followers, and giving control, not taking control. This approach took the Santa Fe from “worst to first,” achieving the highest retention and operational standings in the navy.

After Captain Marquet’s departure from the ship, the Santa Fe continued to win awards and promoted a disproportionate number of officers and enlisted men to positions of increased responsibility, including ten subsequent submarine captains. Further, having been on the ship, Stephen R. Covey said it was the most empowering organization he’d ever seen and wrote about Captain Marquet’s leadership practices in his book, The 8th Habit.

Captain Marquet is the author of Turn the Ship Around! A True Story of Turning Followers Into Leaders. When it came out, Fortune magazine named it the #1 must-read business book of the year, and USA Today listed it as one of the top 12 business books of all time.

Captain Marquet retired from the Navy in 2009, and speaks to those who want to create empowering work environments that release the passion, initiative, and intellect of each person. His bold and highly effective framework is summarized as “give control, create leaders.”

He is a life member of the Council on Foreign Relations, and in 2015 was named to the American Management Association’s “Leaders to Watch” list.
- Wednesday 23 June 2021
  10:40 - 12:00 Give Control, Create Leaders
  
  David Marquet delivers the powerful Intent-Based Leadership message: that leadership is not for the select few at the top. In highly effective organizations, there are leaders at every level. Creating Intent-Based Leadership organizations results in a work place where everyone engages and contributes their full intellectual capacity. A place where people are healthier and happier because they have more control over their work – a place where everyone is a leader. Intent-Based Leadership organizations create an environment for people to contribute so that they feel valued. They set clear goals so their people know how to do their jobs. They push control and decision making down the organization so people take responsibility and rise to the occasion. They maintain unity of effort by ensuring the supporting pillars of technical competence and organizational clarity are in place. As a result, they achieve:
  
  A highly effective organization with superior morale.
  
  The capacity for greatness in the people and practices of an organization, and remove it from the personality of leaders.
  
  An organizational culture that creates of additional leaders throughout every level of the organization.
  
  Intent-Based Leadership starts with rejecting the idea that leadership is for the select few at the top and instead embracing in highly effective organizations, there are leaders at every level. This method of leadership is based on empowerment, not ego, and process, not personality.
  
  Objectives:
  
  Think afresh about what leadership means.
  
  Practice language that empowers your people.
  
  Understand organizational design in the context of how to push decision making downward.
  
  Learn mechanisms for reducing errors and improving teamwork and team backup.