The Hidden Power of What You Say and What You Don't

Leadership Is Language

'Full of compelling advice on how to lead more effectively by choosing your words more wisely' ADAM GRANT | FINANCIAL TIMES Book of the Month 
 
Your words matter more than you think. Most of us use the language we inherited from a time when workers worked with their hands and managers worked with their heads. Today, your people do much more than simply follow orders. They contribute to performance and solve problems, and it's time we updated our language to reflect that. 
 
In Leadership Is Language, former US Navy captain L. David Marquet offers a radical playbook to empower your people and put your team on a path to continuous improvement. The framework will help you achieve the right balance between deliberation and action, and take bold risks without endangering your mission. Among other things, you'll learn: 
 
- How to avoid the seven common sins of questioning, from binary questions (should we do A or B?) to self-affirming questions (B is the better option, right?) 
 
- Why you should vote first, then discuss, when deciding on a plan with your team, rather than voting after discussion 
 
- Why it's better to give your people information instead of instructions 
 
As a submarine captain, Marquet used his counterintuitive model of leadership to turn the worst-performing submarine crew into the best-performing one in the fleet, a story he recounted in his bestselling book Turn the Ship Around! Now, in Leadership Is Language, he draws on a wide range of examples, from the 2017 Oscars Best Picture mishap to the tragic sinking of the SS El Faro, to show you exactly how the words you use (and don't use) impact how your people contribute.

Full of compelling advice on how to lead more effectively by choosing your words more wisely

Adam Grant, author of Originals and Give and Take, and host of the TED podcast WorkLife

A fascinating new paradigm for our modern leader that relies on a balance between thinking and doing, welcoming and minimizing variability, to get the most out of our teams and organizations

General (ret.) Stanley McChrystal, author of Team of Teams and Leaders

A refreshing, actionable framework that helps leaders navigate uncertainty and tackle thorny problems by bringing out the best in their people

In Turn The Ship Around, Marquet challenged us to change the way we lead; Now, in Leadership is Language, he challenges us to change the way we talk as leaders by dropping the archaic language of command and control and learning the language of creativity, collaboration, and commitment

A truly unique take on leadership that re-engineers our language. Anchored in how teams actually talk, Marquet shows leaders how to leave the Industrial Age language behind us

Verne Harnish, founder of Entrepreneurs’ Organization (EO) and author of Scaling Up

Illustrates the powerful intersection of communication and leadership and offers simple steps to transform your thinking, your influence, and the lives in your span of care

Bob Chapman, CEO of Barry-Wehmiller and author of Everybody Matters

Drawing on a wide variety of examples from all kinds of organisation, David Marquet has written an impressive and engaging book which is not just thought-provoking, but offers simple, actionable ways of escaping the traps that our words lay for us

Stephen Bungay, author of The Art of Action

The definitive guide for those seeking to be real leaders in transformative times. David not only shows us how business and leadership has drastically changed and why the structures of yesterday are hindering our ability to business, but also how to reinvent our leadership style to meet the evolving demands of the new marketplace

Tamara Ghandour, creator of the Innovation Quotient Edge, host of Inside LaunchStreet & Author of Innovation is Everybody's Business.

John Konrad, Author of Fire on the Horizon and founder of gCaptain

I have seen David in action using words to truly inspire and empower. This is a must-read for every leader!

George Kohlreiser, Author of Hostage at the Table, Care to Dare and Director of IMD's acclaimed High Performance Leadership Program

A useful framework for better teamwork

Financial Times, Business Book of the Month

L. David Marquet graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy and commanded the nuclear-powered submarine USS Santa Fe. Since retiring from the Navy, he has worked with businesses globally as a leadership consultant and speaks about Intent-Based Leadership around the world. A highly sought-after speaker, his clients include Fortune 500 companies, start-ups, professional sports teams, business schools and governments. He is the bestselling author of Turn the Ship Around! and Leadership Is Language. His books have been translated into 15 languages.

Few of us realize that our language in the workplace inhibits creative problem-solving and escalates uncertainty and stress. In both high-pressure situations and everyday scenarios, in each meeting and email, we have the opportunity to empower our colleagues by using the right words. 
 
In Leadership Is Language, Former US navy captain David Marquet expands on his bestselling leadership book Turn the Ship Around! and shows managers and leaders the next step in their development: how to enable their team through communication. 
 
Marquet outlines a set of principles and tools that help leaders inspire their people to take responsibility and address challenges without waiting to be told what to do, highlighting how small changes in language can lead to dramatic changes in a team's success and happiness.

A True Story of Turning Followers into Leaders

Turn The Ship Around!

'David Marquet is the kind of leader who comes around only once in a generation... his ideas and lessons are invaluable' - Simon Sinek, author of Start With Why 
 
---------- 
 
Leadership lessons from a nuclear submarine captain to help you transform how you work. 
 
Captain David Marquet was used to giving orders. In the high-stress environment of the USS Santa Fe, a nuclear-powered submarine, it was crucial his men did their job well. But the ship was dogged by poor morale, poor performance and the worst retention in the fleet. 
 
One day, Marquet unknowingly gave an impossible order, and his crew tried to follow it anyway. He realized he was leading in a culture of followers, and they were all in danger unless they fundamentally changed the way they did things. 
 
Marquet took matters into his own hands and pushed for leadership at every level. Before long, his crew became fully engaged and the Santa Fe skyrocketed from worst to first in the fleet. 
 
No matter your industry or position, by reading Marquet's business classic, you can learn how to create a workplace where everyone takes responsibility for their actions, people are healthier and happier - and everyone is a leader.

I don't know of a finer model of this kind of empowering leadership than Captain Marquet. And in the pages that follow you will find a model for your pathway

Stephen R. Covey, author of The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People

To say I'm a fan of David Marquet would be an understatement . . . I'm a fully fledged groupie. He is the kind of leader who comes around only once a generation. He is the kind of leader who doesn't just know how to lead, he knows how to build leaders. His ideas and lessons are invaluable to anyone who wants to build an organization that will outlive them

Simon Sinek, optimist and author of Start with Why

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

One of the 12 best business books of all time... Timeless principles of empowering leadership.

L. David Marquet

Michael Gillespie

A key challenge we all struggle with at times is the ability to extract ourselves from the immediacy of the moment when we become too overwhelmed to think clearly and objectively. Distancing provides readers with a tactical, science-based blueprint for managing these situations. Clearly written and deeply researched, it’s a tour-de-force

Ethan Kross, bestselling author of Shift and Chatter

Distancing makes so much sense, it should be required reading for Earthlings. The stories are page-turning, the science is dazzling and the advice comes in plain English. Want to level up your life by making smarter decisions? Start with this book

Lynn Sherr, journalist and bestselling author

The best leaders don’t just react—they step back, gain perspective and make better decisions. Distancing unlocks that hidden ability in all of us. If you want to make better decisions, you need to read this book

Verne Harnish, Founder of the Entrepreneurs’ Organization (EO) and author of Start to Scale

Distancing promises an approach that transforms the navigation of both professional challenges and personal dilemmas. Learning to gain distance from yourself is the ultimate cognitive hack: the ability to outsmart your own biases and make decisions that truly align with your long-term goals. These psychological techniques aren't just theoretical—they're a radical tool for personal reinvention

Why do bridge teams equipped with the necessary information still make bad decisions? This book answers that question and tells us what we can do about it -- for ourselves and for our teams

How Great Leaders Reframe to Make Better Decisions

Be yourself. Be fully present. Be in the moment. That is the message we hear constantly. Yet, the biggest obstacle to making wiser, more successful decisions is often... ourselves. Our limited perspective biases our choices, leading us to defend past actions rather than seek better alternatives. We need to step outside our narrow view and gain an objective, fresh perspective. In other words, we need a coach. 
 
In Distancing, former Navy captain David Marquet and Professor Michael Gillespie show us how to coach ourselves into making better decisions using a powerful mental technique called psychological distancing. By practicing: 
• Self-distancing: we can be someone else, adopting a neutral observer’s perspective. 
• Spatial distancing: we can be somewhere else, zooming out and seeing ourselves as part of a larger picture. 
• Temporal distancing: we can be sometime else, assessing our decisions through the eyes of our future self. 
 
Backed by compelling scientific research, real-world examples and practical exercises, Distancing empowers you to break free from self-limiting patterns and make clearer, smarter choices. The tools are simple. The impact is profound.

L. David Marquet

Praise for Distancing

A key challenge we all struggle with at times is the ability to extract ourselves from the immediacy of the moment when we become too overwhelmed to think clearly and objectively. Distancing provides readers ...

Distancing makes so much sense, it should be required reading for Earthlings. The stories are page-turning, the science is dazzling and the advice comes in plain English. Want to level up your life by ...

The best leaders don’t just react—they step back, gain perspective and make better decisions. Distancing unlocks that hidden ability in all of us. If you want to make better decisions, you need to r ...

A key challenge we all struggle with at times is the ability to extract ourselves from the immediacy of the moment when we become too overwhelmed to think clearly and objectively. Distancing provides readers ...

Distancing makes so much sense, it should be required reading for Earthlings. The stories are page-turning, the science is dazzling and the advice comes in plain English. Want to level up your life by ...

The best leaders don’t just react—they step back, gain perspective and make better decisions. Distancing unlocks that hidden ability in all of us. If you want to make better decisions, you need to r ...

A key challenge we all struggle with at times is the ability to extract ourselves from the immediacy of the moment when we become too overwhelmed to think clearly and objectively. Distancing provides readers ...

Distancing makes so much sense, it should be required reading for Earthlings. The stories are page-turning, the science is dazzling and the advice comes in plain English. Want to level up your life by ...

The best leaders don’t just react—they step back, gain perspective and make better decisions. Distancing unlocks that hidden ability in all of us. If you want to make better decisions, you need to r ...

Books by L. David Marquet

Follow penguin

Follow ladybird

Follow puffin

Sign up to the Penguin newsletter