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Turn the Ship Around!: A True Story of Turning Followers into Leaders

Read by:
L. David Marquet
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Unabridged Audiobook

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Ratings
Book
34
Narrator
13
Release Date
February 16, 2021
Duration
6 hours 26 minutes
Summary
“One of the 12 best business books of all time…. Timeless principles of empowering leadership.” – USA Today

'The best how-to manual anywhere for managers on delegating, training, and driving flawless execution.” —FORTUNE

Marquet was a Naval Academy graduate and an experienced officer when selected for submarine command. Trained to give orders in the traditional model of “know all–tell all” leadership, he faced a new wrinkle when he was shifted to the Santa Fe, a nuclear-powered submarine. 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. When he asked why, the answer was: “Because you told me to.” Marquet 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 on its head 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 U.S. Navy’s traditional leader-follower approach. Struggling against his own instincts to take control, he instead achieved the vastly more powerful model of giving control to his subordinates, and creating leaders.

Whether you need a major change of course or just a tweak of the rudder, you can apply Marquet’s methods to turn your own ship around.
Reviews
Profile Avatar James S. Dec 2025

As someone who served in the military under a very leader follower style management, seeing how the Commander was able to change the a leader leader style and empower those under his command was inspiring.

Profile Avatar Anonymous Jan 2023

good message

Profile Avatar Anonymous Mar 2022

It was a great book, I really liked the issues he encountered; and how he resolved them.

Profile Avatar Bill Nov 2021

This book brought me back to the days when I was a submarine officer in the 3rd fleet. David Marquet’s experience on the USS Sante Fe had many similarities to my ship and it is truly amazing how a new commanding office can turn the ship around. David Marquet excellently narrated the book and the decision to do it himself makes it more authentic. BZ!

Turn the Ship Around!: A True Story of Turning Followers into Leaders

Turn the Ship Around!: A True Story of Turning Followers into Leaders

Author: L. David Marquet
Read by: L. David Marquet
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