577: Former Submarine Commander L. David Marquet on How Leaders Make Better Decisions

577: Former Submarine Commander L. David Marquet on How Leaders Make Better Decisions

L. David Marquet, former nuclear submarine commander and author of Leadership Is Language, shares a precise, operational approach to leadership, one that replaces command-and-control with a language designed for clarity, ownership, and adaptability. Drawing on his experience turning the USS Santa Fe from one of the worst-performing submarines in the fleet to one of the best, David shows how seemingly small shifts in language can radically improve decision-making, learning speed, and execution.

David rejects the traditional leader–follower model in favor of a leader–leader framework, where decision rights are pushed “to the people closest to the information.” He explains how questions, statements, and the timing of communication directly shape whether teams think critically or default to compliance.

“What we say and when we say it changes what people do. Language is a leadership technology.”

Key Takeaways:
  • Replace Permission with Intent
    Moving from “Can I…?” to “I intend to…” changes accountability and ownership:
    “When people tell me what they intend to do, they’re already owning the decision.”

  • Protect Redwork and Bluework
    David distinguishes between redwork (doing) and bluework (thinking/planning) and stresses keeping them separate:
    “Mixing them degrades both. You want focused doing and focused thinking.”

  • Sequence for Thinking, Not Speed
    Meetings often reward quick answers over thoughtful ones. Asking the most junior person to speak first helps reduce conformity bias.

  • Use Language to Invite Dissent
    Adding uncertainty—“I’m not sure, but…”—creates psychological safety and surfaces crucial information that might otherwise stay hidden.

  • Leaders Design Systems, Not Just Give Answers
    The leader’s job is to build communication structures that distribute thinking and enable faster adaptation in changing conditions.

This episode is a practical blueprint for leaders who want to operationalize empowerment without losing control. By deliberately changing how they speak and listen, executives can create teams that are more resilient, accountable, and high-performing.

Get David’s new book here: https://shorturl.at/sv6QO

Distancing: How Great Leaders Reframe to Make Better Decisions

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Overall Approach Used in Well-Managed Strategy Studies free download: www.firmsconsulting.com/OverallApproach

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Jaksot(499)

137: Blair Sheppard, PwC global strategy head and author. On four urgent global crises and their strategic solutions

137: Blair Sheppard, PwC global strategy head and author. On four urgent global crises and their strategic solutions

In today's episode of the Strategy Skills podcast, we have a conversation with Blair Sheppard, Global Head of Strategy and Leadership for PWC. Blair shares his views of looming global crises driven by wealth disparity, technological disruption, the polarization of people, and declining trust in society’s institutions. Blair Sheppard is also the Dean Emeritus and Professor Emeritus of Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business, where he taught for thirty-three years. He was the principal force behind opening Duke's campus in China, and the founder and CEO of Duke Corporate Education. Blair is a regular speaker at high-caliber international forums including the Global Solutions Summit, the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum, and Slush. He was born in Hamilton, Ontario (Canada) and lives in Durham, North Carolina (US). In his new book, TEN YEARS TO MIDNIGHT: Four Urgent Global Crises and Their Strategic Solutions, Blair sets out why that timeline is so crucial, what the most urgent challenges are and the key elements of a solution. The world faces four crises: A crisis of prosperity, with rising inequality, poor life choices for young people, the squeezed middle class and a mass of people on the brink of retirement but lacking the savings to sustain them;  A crisis of technology, as our economic system drives innovation but fails to manage unintended negative consequences which pollute key elements of life support, from our atmosphere to our news; A crisis of institutional legitimacy, as traditional institutions try to maintain their existing structures in the face of major global forces, and find themselves buckling and warping rather than adapting; and, A crisis of leadership, as those who should help us manage these crises instead focus on narrow priorities rather than leading the world towards holistic solutions. Get access to sample training from our advanced programs here: www.firmsconsulting.com/promo We use affiliate links whenever possible (if you purchase items listed above using our affiliate links, we will get a bonus).

11 Maalis 20211h 10min

136: Rethinking M&A (Monday Morning 8 a.m. #18)

136: Rethinking M&A (Monday Morning 8 a.m. #18)

Hello everyone! This is Monday Morning 8 a.m., a weekly newsletter where we distill the insights from all of the distractions, articles, and emails that you receive in your inbox every day. In this newsletter, we’re going to focus on four major themes from last week’s news.    To listen to the audio version of this newsletter, search for “Strategy Skills” in any podcast app. To get a written copy with links to mentioned articles sign up here: www.firmsconsulting.com/promo

9 Maalis 202138min

135: Apple disrupts a decades-old value chain migration (Monday Morning 8 a.m. #17)

135: Apple disrupts a decades-old value chain migration (Monday Morning 8 a.m. #17)

Hello everyone! This is Monday Morning 8 a.m. (#17), a weekly newsletter where we distill the insights from all of the distractions, articles, and emails that you receive in your inbox every day. In this newsletter, we’re going to focus on four major themes from last week’s news.    To listen to the audio version of this newsletter, search for “Strategy Skills” in any podcast app. To get a written copy with links to mentioned articles sign up here: www.firmsconsulting.com/promo

1 Maalis 202138min

134: How to stop blaming Covid and start building revenue growth, with Kent Billingsley

134: How to stop blaming Covid and start building revenue growth, with Kent Billingsley

Welcome to the Strategy Skills podcast, from FIRMSconsulting.com. Today we have a very interesting guest, Kent Billingsley, who is going to talk about sales and the revenue side of management consulting. And about using the tools and techniques that he developed in his consulting career which he now applies in almost any kind of industry. We rarely talk about sales. So we thought it will be nice to do a podcast where we dive into this topic. Get Kent's book "ENTREPRENEUR TO MILLIONAIRE: How to Build a Highly Profitable, Fast-Growth Company and Become Embarrassingly Rich Doing It": https://amzn.to/3dU6aPN

26 Helmi 202158min

133: The single biggest strategy shift for the next few decades (Monday Morning 8 a.m. #16)

133: The single biggest strategy shift for the next few decades (Monday Morning 8 a.m. #16)

Hello everyone! This is Monday Morning 8 a.m. (#16), a weekly newsletter where we distill the insights from all of the distractions, articles, and emails that you receive in your inbox every day. In this newsletter, we’re going to focus on four major themes from last week’s news.    To listen to the audio version of this newsletter, search for “Strategy Skills” in any podcast app. To get a written copy with links to mentioned articles sign up here: www.firmsconsulting.com/promo

22 Helmi 202140min

132: Apple car & Amazon's core strategy (Monday Morning 8 a.m. #15)

132: Apple car & Amazon's core strategy (Monday Morning 8 a.m. #15)

Hello everyone! This is Monday Morning 8 a.m. (#15), a weekly newsletter where we distill the insights from all of the distractions, articles, and emails that you receive in your inbox every day. In this newsletter, we’re going to focus on four major themes from last week’s news.    To listen to the audio version of this newsletter, search for “Strategy Skills” in any podcast app. To get a written copy with links to mentioned articles sign up here: www.firmsconsulting.com/promo

15 Helmi 202135min

131: Defense is not a strategy (Monday Morning 8 a.m. #14)

131: Defense is not a strategy (Monday Morning 8 a.m. #14)

Hello everyone! This is Monday Morning 8 a.m. (#14), a weekly newsletter where we distill the insights from all of the distractions, articles, and emails that you receive in your inbox every day. In this newsletter, we’re going to focus on four major themes from last week’s news.    To listen to the audio version of this newsletter, search for “Strategy Skills” in any podcast app. To get a written copy with links to mentioned articles sign up here: www.firmsconsulting.com/promo

8 Helmi 202132min

130: How to create a career strategy for an executive (Monday Morning 8 a.m. #13)

130: How to create a career strategy for an executive (Monday Morning 8 a.m. #13)

Hello everyone! This is Monday Morning 8 a.m. (#13), a weekly newsletter where we distill the insights from all of the distractions, articles, and emails that you receive in your inbox every day. In this newsletter, we’re going to focus on four major themes from last week’s news.    To listen to the audio version of this newsletter, search for “Strategy Skills” in any podcast app. To get a written copy with links to mentioned articles sign up here: www.firmsconsulting.com/promo

1 Helmi 202137min

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