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Before I get into the meat of the topic, I need to pause and wish all of my fellow veterans a happy veterans day, And I cannot forget my Marine Corps Brothers and Sisters and wish them a very happy birthday. It has been a wonderful 247 years since the founding of the Marine Corps in Philadelphia's Tun Tavern in 1775.

Today we are talking about moving followers to leaders. With National Holiday Veterans Day two days away as I write this, I found it fitting to revisit a past interview I conducted with Capt. L. David Marquet from the United States Submarine Force

Since I first interviewed David about his book Turn The Ship Around,  hundreds of thousands of readers have been inspired by former Navy captain David Marquet's true story. Many have applied his insights to their organizations, creating workplaces where everyone takes responsibility for their actions, where followers grow to become leaders, and where happier teams drive dramatically better results.

Like many officers, David was a Naval Academy graduate. He took pride in his accomplishments, and as an experienced officer, when selected for the highly competitive position of submarine command, he was thrilled. David was trained to give orders in the traditional Master and Commander leadership model. When he was allowed to be the skipper of a brand nuclear-powered submarine, he took the opportunity to learn everything about it. However, David faced a new wrinkle when he was shifted to the Santa Fe, an underperforming boat that was dead last in the pacific fleet. Facing the high-stress environment of a sub where there's little margin for error, he was determined to reverse the trends he found on the Santa Fe: poor morale, poor performance, and the worst retention rate in the fleet. 

Marquet ran into trouble when he unknowingly gave an impossible order, and his crew tried to follow it anyway. He said it was like telling someone driving a 4-speed to the car to shift it into 5th. When he asked why the answer was: "Because you told me to." David realized that while he had been trained for a different submarine, his crew had been trained to do what they were told - a deadly combination.

That's when Marquet flipped the leadership model and pushed for leadership at every level. Turn the Ship Around! Reveals how the Santa Fe skyrocketed from worst to first in the fleet by challenging the US Navy's traditional leader-follower approach. Struggling against his instincts to take control, he achieved the vastly more powerful model of giving power to his subordinates and creating leaders.

Before long, each member of Marquet's crew became a leader and assumed responsibility for everything he did, from clerical tasks to crucial combat decisions. The team became wholly engaged, contributing their total intellectual capacity every day. Santa Fe set records for performance, morale, and retention. And over the next decade, a highly disproportionate number of the officers of the Santa Fe were selected to become submarine commanders.

"Organizations should reward risk-takers, even if they fall short once in a while. Let them know that promotions and glory go to innovators and pioneers, not to stand-patters who fear controversy and avoid trying to improve anything."

As he recounts, in Turn, the Ship Around!: A True Story of Turning Followers into Leaders the opportunity wasn't without its irony.

I took away from this interview how David moved an entire boat from a "can I" to a "May I" mentality. This may not seem like a massive difference to you; however, it is enormous in the traditional Navy and the high-stakes world of the submarine service. 

Today, young men and women are preparing to fight the next war, and Our military has spent much time and money preparing for tomorrow's battles with antiquated methods. We continue to invest in the latest technologies and systems, but, as we all know, technology is nothing but a faci