From the acclaimed author of Turn the Ship Around! former US Navy Captain David Marquet comes
a radical new playbook for empowering your team to make better decisions and take greater
ownership. You might imagine that an effective leader is someone who makes quick intelligent
decisions gives inspiring speeches and issues clear orders to their team so they can execute
a plan to achieve your organization's goals. Unfortunately David Marquet argues that's an
outdated model of leadership that just doesn't work anymore. As a leader in today's networked
information-dense business climate you don't have full visibility into your organization or
the ground reality of your operating environment. In order to harness the eyes ears and minds
of your people you need to foster a climate of collaborative experimentation that encourages
people to speak up when they notice problems and work together to identify and test solutions.
Too many leaders fall in love with the sound of their own voice and wind up dictating plans
and digging in their heels when problems begin to emerge. Even when you want to be a more
collaborative leader you can undermine your own efforts by defaulting to command-and-control
language we've inherited from the industrial era. It's time to ditch the industrial age
playbook of leadership. In Leadership is Language you'll learn how choosing your words can
dramatically improve decision-making and execution on your team. Marquet outlines six plays for
all leaders anchored in how you use language: * Control the clock don't obey the clock:
Pre-plan decision points and give your people the tools they need to hit pause on a plan of
action if they notice something wrong. * Collaborate don't coerce: As the leader you should
be the last one to offer your opinion. Rather than locking your team into binary responses (Is
this a good plan?) allow them to answer on a scale (How confident are you about this plan?) *
Commit don't comply: Rather than expect your team to comply with specific directions explain
your overall goals and get their commitment to achieving it one piece at a time. * Complete
not continue: If every day feels like a repetition of the last you're doing something wrong.
Articulate concrete plans with a start and end date to align your team. * Improve don't prove:
Ask your people to improve on plans and processes rather than prove that they can meet fixed
goals or deadlines. You'll face fewer cut corners and better long-term results. * Connect
don't conform: Flatten hierarchies in your organization and connect with your people to
encourage them to contribute to decision-making. In his last book Turn the Ship Around!
Marquet told the incredible story of abandoning command-and-control leadership on his submarine
and empowering his crew to turn the worst performing submarine to the best performer in the
fleet. Now with Leadership is Language he gives businesspeople the tools they need to achieve
such transformational leadership in their organizations.
