Turn the Ship Around, Essay Example

The book “Turn the Ship Around” written by David Marquet is a true story that addresses issues of transforming followers into leaders (Nikola, 2004). The constructive suggestions in the book involve the occurrence of beliefs as well as benefits that are associated with leadership at all levels of organization hierarchy. The book discusses issues of empowering the followers. A real account of the life of Lieutenant David Marquet is accurately presented in the book coupled with an approach that he successfully executed in transformation a US Navy submarine titled Santa Fe from its extremely poor performance to a most excellent performance. The successful achievement of this transformation was implemented through empowering of the sailors by the means of a command from the Lieutenant that involved the use of intent in making decisions. The beginning of the journey involved immediate results that were evident in 24 hours time although the full bed in was realized after two years. The steps taken at Santa Fe were evolutionary that translated to revolutionary results. According to David Marquet, programs of empowerment are not new issues because they have been evident for substantial time (Nikola, 2004). David Marquet however gives a detailed account of another ship from his past experience that demonstrated that the use of simple exhortations is not a means to the end. Greater tendencies of failure are a possibility leading to a regression to the antiquated ways. David Marquet further describes a number of dysfunctions that are otherwise perceived as being normal although their accurate description could be anti-patterns. To illustrate this scenario, David Marquet uses the deterioration of performance of an officer after his departure from the workplace which is conventionally taken to mean that the officer was a good performer rather than being ineffective in proper training of his followers.

In reference to leadership and business ethics, David Marquet suggests the importance of establishing trust through realization of the fact that, the problem is not attributed to the system but to the people manning the system. The system has the needed poyentials of rewarding the local as well as the short term performances. The system is also able to encourage the repugnance of mistakes. David Marquet suggests that the most appropriate way to avoid making mistakes involves avoidance of any action or decision. David Marquet also suggests identification of a genetic code that is responsible for control and subsequently rewriting it. According to David Marquet, majority of the organizations are unable to identify their central principle that is associated with a genetic code that facilitates empowering of their programs (Nikola, 2004). Additionally, the programs of empowerment are never directed because they are a manifestation of authority that has been issued by a person for the purpose of improvement. This has the implication that, empowerment delivery can be perceived as ironically disempowering. The best approach to put anything in to action involves acting in one’s own way towards new thinking. Enhancing the morale of followers is a critical early step in transforming followers into leaders. The power of words is an important consideration in leadership. It is usually good to give people ample time for reacting to some situations. The solution to a particular problem must be given after recommendation from others. Although some situations require making urgent decisions, allowing the other members of the team to evaluate the decision before its implementation is a good consideration for successfully transforming followers into leaders.

Works cited

Nikola Zduni?,  Turn the Ship Around by L. David Marquet, 2014.