How great leaders serve others

Here’s a nice TED talk by former captain of a US nuclear submarine. http://tedxtalks.ted.com/video/TEDxScottAFB-David-Marquet-How

Some quotes: when he was first given command, he had “a crew trained for compliance and a captain trained for a different submarine.” So “we stopped giving orders…I had no list of what anyone on that submarine had to do, other than me”. On this submarine “there was no hiding from the responsibility of doing your job.”  “People don’t want easy, they want agency”  “I had a crew trained for critical thinking, not compliance.”

Also fascinating was his suggestion that his approach, that essentially allowed his crew to self-manage, allowed the crew to find their own leadership – many have gone on to senior roles in the navy.

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