Leadership Is Language: The Hidden Power of What You Say--and What You Don't
Wall Street Journal Bestseller
From the acclaimed author of Turn the Ship Around!, former US Navy Captain David Marquet, comes a radical new playbook for empowering your team to make better decisions and take greater ownership.
You might imagine that an effective leader is someone who makes quick, intelligent decisions, gives inspiring speeches, and issues clear orders to their team so they can execute a plan to achieve your organization's goals. Unfortunately, David Marquet argues, that's an outdated model of leadership that just doesn't work anymore.
As a leader in today's networked, information-dense business climate, you don't have full visibility into your organization or the ground reality of your operating environment. In order to harness the eyes, ears, and minds of your people, you need to foster a climate of collaborative experimentation that encourages people to speak up when they notice problems and work together to identify and test solutions.
Too many leaders fall in love with the sound of their own voice, and wind up dictating plans and digging in their heels when problems begin to emerge. Even when you want to be a more collaborative leader, you can undermine your own efforts by defaulting to command-and-control language we've inherited from the industrial era.
It's time to ditch the industrial age playbook of leadership. In Leadership is Language, you'll learn how choosing your words can dramatically improve decision-making and execution on your team. Marquet outlines six plays for all leaders, anchored in how you use language:
• Control the clock, don't obey the clock: Pre-plan decision points and give your people the tools they need to hit pause on a plan of action if they notice something wrong.
• Collaborate, don't coerce: As the leader, you should be the last one to offer your opinion. Rather than locking your team into binary responses ("Is this a good plan?"), allow them to answer on a scale ("How confident are you about this plan?")
• Commit, don't comply: Rather than expect your team to comply with specific directions, explain your overall goals, and get their commitment to achieving it one piece at a time.
• Complete, not continue: If every day feels like a repetition of the last, you're doing something wrong. Articulate concrete plans with a start and end date to align your team.
• Improve, don't prove: Ask your people to improve on plans and processes, rather than prove that they can meet fixed goals or deadlines. You'll face fewer cut corners and better long-term results.
• Connect, don't conform: Flatten hierarchies in your organization and connect with your people to encourage them to contribute to decision-making.
In his last book, Turn the Ship Around!, Marquet told the incredible story of abandoning command-and-control leadership on his submarine and empowering his crew to turn the worst performing submarine to the best performer in the fleet. Now, with Leadership is Language he gives businesspeople the tools they need to achieve such transformational leadership in their organizations.
Reviews (51)
What is leadership? Leadership Is Language
When I was young, I could never put my finger on what exactly made a good leader. Personality, knowledge, trust worthiness? A combination of all of these? Maybe. So how do you become a better leader? Learn more, work to improve your personality, and convince people to trust you? There's an easier way and all you have to do is change what you say. In Leadership Is Language, David makes it so simple to go from using what he calls the Industrial Age playbook where bosses used controlling, coercive language to get their people to comply (not think) and continue work for as long as they deemed necessary, to using the New Playbook for Leaders. In the New Playbook, he walks us through the 6 plays: Control the Clock, Collaborate, Commit, Complete, Improve, and Connect. Every play is set up with "say this not that" to help you change the words you use and replace them with language that helps people speak up when they see something, when they think differently than the leader, and how to share anonymously in groups. I can only imagine David was considering the reader as he structured the layout of Leadership is Language, it's so user friendly!! He has so many real life examples of companies and people. Because of reading Leadership is Language, I have better conversations with my 14 year old son, my husband and my coworkers. If you've ever wanted to be a better leader, parent, friend, or spouse, then reading this book will give you the tools to improve.
Good info, falls short.
I really enjoyed the initial publication by this author. I was excited when this book was released, it does have some information inside.. It is an incredibly boring and difficult read. There was too much attempt to quite literally turn it into a playbook (think football) and this distracted a lot from the ability to read the book. I am sure the information is most likely worthy, but I can't find the will to read past 44% of this book. It feels like it was as painful to write as it is to read.
How safe do you feel - does your opinion matter?
David Marquet hit the nail on the head! The people that work in an organization ALL matter. How you speak to them and the safety level they feel in giving their opinions is paramount to growing a successful team and successful leaders. The El Faro story shows that had the crew felt safer in giving their opinions, they may well have had a different ending to their story. If you are looking for new ideas and strategies on the language that you use and the responses you hope to get, you should plan to buy and read this book.
Do yourself (and the people that you lead) a favor and read this book.
David Marquet’s first book, Turn the Ship Around, is a well-written account of the successes he had in changing the culture of the USS Sante Fe by empowering his crew – and one of my favorite books. In Leadership is Language, Mr.Marquet has done a thorough job in not only showing the many misconceptions that leaders are burdened with, but also in taking the time to explain how the seemingly simple actions of a leader can hinder the engagement and growth of those that they lead. I have read the book and listened to the audiobook (both are great), and Leadership is Language has now become my favorite book of this genre! David Marquet breaks down his book into “plays” to counteract the common errors of leadership, while dovetailing in actual transcripts of real-world issues, academic studies, and conceptual exercises. This book is enjoyable to read and will be the first one that I now recommend to people.
Powerful tools that are practical
Leadership is Language is a great follow up to David’s first book Turn the Ship Around. What I like about all of David’s work is that it gives concrete things that you can do, say this not that kind of thing. It really pointed out the things that I do everyday that could be affecting the way my team works. I ask poor questions too often; “Does that make sense?” instead of “What would you like to hear more about?” subtle but powerful. Redwork and Bluework was very powerful for me, we always think we train our teams to speak up and think but if you don’t build that into your work rhythm you are really missing out. We think our problems are unique but this can help in so many ways.
Company culture and leadership
While reading, "Leadership Is Language," I found myself evaluating the leadership styles of the many jobs I have held over the yeras and thinking how the company culture would have been different with even just a few changes in leadership style. I am lucky enough to work in an organization that employs so many of Marquet's teachings in this book. One point that stood out to me of his playbook was, "Collaborate." So many companies are still structured in a "deciders vs doers" structure and are missing out on the innovation that comes with collaboration between all structures of hierarchy. All managers should read this book and encourage their employees to do the same in order to suggest ways processes can be done better and more efficiently, giving voice to all and promoting critical thinking in roles that are traditionally not encouraged to do so.
Content/concepts are 5 star, worth the read
Great book overall with excellent content. Good insights into how the art of management started out as a "science" devoid of true leadership, which provides the backdrop for the "move forward" actions outlined. The book is essentially a playbook to modify your approach to reach new heights of organizational success. The concepts are extremely applicable in the multi-generational workforce of today. Fundamentally, management comes down to people, but people come with habits and biases that get in the way of reaching a shared goal. Therein lies the opportunity to apply the plays/actions and become a leader for your team, not just a manager. My one negative is that the book runs a little long and got repetitive on the examples. Still, very much worth the read.
Creates a conversation
The book has some solid concepts around how people use language and how that affects people around them. A lot of it is centered around the idea of moving away from Industrial-euro ways of operating where doing the work is separate from thinking about the work. Marquet defines seven areas of work that need to shift, both on the doing and thinking side. And he provides plenty of examples to help picture the range of possibilities. And since this is about how we talk, it provides plenty of opportunities to watch the ideas in action. I don’t know what value there is in calling it “blue work and “red work”, as I forgot every time what the difference was - which color represents which type of work. And I kept struggling in the decision-making section (collaboration over coercion), why Marquet doesn’t acknowledge a range of decision making modes from leader-directed to team-owned.
MARQUET HAS DONE IT AGAIN!
Communication is the key to success in business as well as relationships. The language we use can mean the difference between success and failure or even life and death as Marquet points out. Leadership is Language forces us to think about the language we use to conduct business; what we're used to doing; and how it is detrimental to forward progress. Then, he gives us an alternate play finding balance between doing (redwork) and thinking (bluework). Like in his first book, "Turn the Ship Around," the words we use can have a profound psychological affect on the people we work with. If you are in a leadership position, these books are required reading!
Must reading for leaders responding to COVID-19 pandemic
I am a public health official responding to the COVID-19 pandemic. This book is must reading for anyone in a leadership role, especially for averting or managing disasters. I found the book immediately useful, especially the concept of "controlling the clock" and scheduling time for deliberation ("bluework") for making team decisions. I read many books on organizational leadership and team decision making. This book is must reading if you have an interest in either of these topics.
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