The role of manager has changed. It’s no longer about telling your team what to do, how to do it and monitoring their work.  Managers need to unlearn the habit of managing how work is done.

You might know the story of David Marquet, Submarine Captain in the US Navy.  He graduated from the Navy Academy in the top 5 of his class and was assigned to take command of the USS Olympia nuclear submarine. He spent a full year learning everything there was to know about the Olympia and her crew.  He believed that this extensive knowledge was the measure of his credibility as a leader - it reflected the Navy’s “know all, tell all” model of command.

Two weeks before he was due to take command, he was reassigned to the USS Santa Fe.  The Santa Fe was a newer class of submarine and just happened to have the lowest rated crew in the Navy!  Undeterred, Marquet was trained to believe “if I give good orders, I’ll have a good ship; and if I give great orders, I’ll have a great ship.”

A few days into his command, Marquet takes the Santa Fe on an exercise.  During the exercise he gives the order “Ahead two-thirds!”

His First Officer - who had been on the ship for over 2 years - repeats the order as protocol demands “Ahead two-thirds!”  Nothing happened. 

Marquet asks the junior crewman at the control what’s wrong. He nervously replied, “there is no two-thirds on this ship, sir.”

Marquet turns to the officer and asks, “Did you know this?”  

“Yes sir” he replied. 

“Then why did you give the order?”

“You told me to, Sir.”

THIS WAS A PROBLEM!  Marquet was trained for a different ship and His crew was trained to follow orders!  He realises he has no option but to completely empower his crew!!!!  He transformed his ship from Command and Control structures (or Leader-Follower) to Leader-Leader structures with remarkable results!

Clarity, Competence and Control

What Marquet learned on the Santa Fe is especially applicable for managers of “knowledge workers.” Leaders need to be skilled at describing what success looks like and why it matters; being able to crisply define the outcome to be achieved, then supporting their teams to pursue that goal, and making it safe to fail in the process.  They will provide a strong sense of purpose by creating strong connections between team effort and customer satisfaction.  To do this, leaders create the context to give control and let the team take command of how to achieve the outcome.  They focus on the team culture and performance relative to the desired outcome.

Peter Drucker defines knowledge workers as high-level workers who apply theoretical and analytical knowledge, acquired through formal training, to develop products and services. He said their work is ever-changing, dynamic, and autonomous. Simply, they use their knowledge and ability to think to solve problems.

The Ladder of Leadership

Leadership is a journey and the leader has to learn a new language in order to guide people to new levels of empowerment.  Marquet’s Ladder of Leadership visualises his approach to coaching people from follower to leader.  It is a journey of tuning the level of control given according to the level of clarity and competence the team displays.

When the leader believes their job is to tell their team what to do, they evoke a corresponding response from their team, “Tell me what to do…”  This is the lowest level of leadership and relies on the manager having superior capability than the team.  It may be that the team or individual lacks the clarity or competence required or doesn’t feel a sense of empowerment or authority. 

To empower their team, leaders adapt their language and respond from a different stance and ask “What do you think?” This is a great way to draw out the level of clarity the team has about their purpose, the goals and their contextual awareness. It also allows the team to demonstrate their understanding of the work involved and their competence to complete it. 

This openness enables the leader to tune the level of control to give.  Too much control without sufficient clarity and competence can lead to chaos, not enough control can lead to frustration.  There is a relationship between the responsible level of control to give and the level of competence and clarity that the team demonstrates.  The leader helps the team address any gaps in clarity of purpose and goals, and helps the team grow their competence.

As the team demonstrates competency, the leader can take the conversation to the next level by asking the next question: “what do you recommend?”  Not just what do you think; Asking “what do you recommend?” invites the team to share responsibility for the decision and increases their ownership of the solution.

The leader invites the team to step up the ladder aiming for an organisation that operates de facto at Level 5 - Intent based leadership.

Change Your Language, Grow New Leaders

Changing your language can lead your team to change their response and become more engaged, bringing their knowledge, skills and experience to solving business problems and gaining a sense of empowerment to find solutions. Most importantly, you will be creating an environment for leaders to emerge and grow.

Footnote: If you’re familiar with Dan Pink’s book “Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates us” you can see how autonomy, mastery and purpose relate to control, competence and clarity.