"Don’t move information to authority, move authority to the information."

Captain David Marquet’s “Turn the Ship Around” continues to be an ongoing source of inspiration and motivation for me.?Marquet, now a retired U.S. Navy submariner, became captain of the USS Santa Fe, a Los Angeles-class nuclear-powered submarine, in 1999.?

Under his leadership, Marquet transformed his crew’s capabilities into a legacy of lasting, fleet-wide excellence.?His style centered around creating a “leader-leader” dynamic, instead of a “leader-follower” dynamic.?Marquet realized that sound decision making wasn’t always hierarchical, but rather about who was in the best position to make a decision with the best information.?

In short, his leadership model was built on understanding where, when, and how he needed to empower his shipmates.?The Leader-Leader model consists of three pillars:

1) Empowerment –Sharing and driving decision-making responsibility to where information lives, and where subject matter experts work within your organization.?

2) Competence/Mastery – Knowing your craft and continuously building your skills.?

3)?Clarity of purpose – Understanding your organization’s ultimate mission to make the best decisions possible.?

As we continue to adopt the right operating model for Home Lending Technology at Wells Fargo, I’m driven to empower those around me, create opportunities to learn new skills, and help all my colleagues build clear connections between their work and our strategy.?

Below is a fun, easy-to-follow illustration narrated by Marquet outlining his “leader-leader” and three pillars philosophy.?

Does “Turn the Ship Around” resonate with you??I’d love to hear your thoughts on organizational empowerment in the comments below.??

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