Episode 102: The Power of Intention with Captain David Marquet

On today’s episode of Recruit and Retain, Chad welcomes Captain David Marquet, former submarine commander of the nuclear submarine Santa Fe, and author of the book ‘Turn Your Ship Around’. 

Captain David and Chad discuss the similarities between running a submarine and the trucking industry. In particular, how to get your people to trust you. How can you get them to feel like they are part of the process? How can you make them want to help the whole organization and not just be a follower?

Captain David realized during a simple drill that having one point of command was not only limiting to the efficiency of operations of the sub, it was downright dangerous. 

“If you’re the captain, you’re responsible. So the problem is, if you’re responsible, you say, well, it’s going to be my head on the chopping block. I know who to blame when I go down in flames. And that mindset holds us back from building a system where we can trust our people. Because for me, trust is a big thing.” 

What you’ll learn about in this episode:

  • People performance isn’t a measure of leadership
  • The difference between leadership, responsibility and ownership
  • Language engineering
  • How intention allows you to decouple ownership from decision making
  • The key to getting someone committed to following procedure in the most dedicated way possible, is to incentivize them.
  • How to get your people competent enough to empower them
  • Trust is transparency, and transparency is a two way street

How to connect with Captain David Marquet:

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