HR PROFESSIONALS CHRIS O’REILLY
All hands on deck
Why ‘involvement’ is every HR professionals new favourite word
A
dmitting you know nothing can be scary. Admitting you know nothing about the nuclear attack submarine you’re commanding? Terrifying. Over a 17 year period, US Naval Captain David Marquet was a rising star moving up the elite ranks of the submarine service, being groomed to command the state of the art nuclear attack sub USS Olympia. In preparation he learnt every detail of how Olympia operated. Taking command would be the culmination of his glittering career. But two weeks before he was due to board the Olympia, Marquet was diverted to command the USS Santa Fe, an older nuclear sub that he knew absolutely nothing about and that was rated one of the worst performers in the US fleet. In learning how to command Santa Fe Marquet’s leadership philosophy of empowerment through involvement was born. His first lesson was rejecting traditional ‘command and control’ leadership style. Marquet was forced to admit he didn’t know enough about Santa Fe to operate like a typical dictatorial military leader, so he handed over control to his crew, who did. In the 32
HUMAN RESOURCES
WINTER 2019
process Santa Fe went from being the worst-rated ship in the US Navy to the number one. Marquet tells the story of this transformation in his book “Turn the Ship Around!” His most powerful lesson, and one that’s true for all organisations today, is that the most effective leadership is giving control to those who don’t ordinarily have it, empowering them to become their own leaders. Instead of issuing orders, asking questions and making sure the crew are meaningfully involved in decisions that affect them.
Why “Yes Captain” is yesterday’s response
The problem with the classic “command and control” approach to leadership is that it’s based on what MIT Professor Deborah Ancona calls “myth of the complete leader” – the hopeful idea that there’s one person in charge who knows everything. Rather, Dr Ancona observes that today’s greatest leaders follow the “method of the incomplete leader”. Just like Captain David Marquet, they learn to embrace their weaknesses and surround themselves with people and teams that together allow a complete range of skills to be delivered. “Only when leaders come to see
themselves as incomplete – as having both strengths and weaknesses – will they be able to make up for their missing skills by relying on others,” says Dr Ancona. As he took control of the USS Santa Fe, it became glaringly clear to Marquet that his crew were going to obey his orders, even if they knew they were patently wrong for the ship’s current situation. On a nuclear submarine the potential result of that approach could be fatal. As Marquet put it to his crew: “Man, we are in a bad way. I was trained for a different ship, and you guys were trained to do what you’re told. What are we gonna do?”. As soon as Marquet realised handing power over to his crew was the only way to bring the ship home, he decided to stop giving orders. He empowered his crew to believe in their knowledge of the ship and sail it accordingly. By involving even the lowest of ranks, in what was essentially a life or death mission, meant the crew took on a new sense of authority, cooperation and investment. By admitting his lack of knowledge, Marquet passed responsibility over to those who knew the ins and outs of the Sante Fe better than anyone.
