You can’t tell people to be great. But you can create the conditions for greatness.
The Short Version
Leadership and ownership at every level
Intent-Based Leadership is a system of language and practices that helps organizations work faster and better by building leadership and ownership at every level. Teams communicate more clearly, solve problems closer to the work, and operate more safely. When people have more control and involvement, they bring far more of their thinking and ability to the job.
It can start with something as simple as people saying “I intend to…” instead of “Can I…?”
At a Glance
Intent-Based Leadership in five facts
What it is
A system of language and practices that builds leadership and ownership at every level.
Where it Began
The US Navy nuclear submarine USS Santa Fe, under Captain David Marquet.
The Big Difference
What Makes It Work
Where It Starts
What it Helps Leaders Do
Four things leaders do differently
Intent-Based Leadership helps leaders to:
- Shift from giving instructions to sharing the 'why' behind the work.
- Have the time to give teams the clarity they need to act with confidence.
- Build competence that allows team members to take on more responsibility.
- Create the conditions for people to control their work and make decisions, see more strategically and more long range, making sense of patterns that didn't make sense before.
WHere it Came From
From worst to first
Intent-Based Leadership started on a US Navy nuclear submarine, the USS Santa Fe. When Captain David Marquet took command, she was one of the worst-performing submarines in the fleet. He’d been trained as a classic leader: smart, and good at giving orders. But a last-minute switch meant he was assigned to a different type of submarine than the one he’d trained for. So instead of giving orders, he asked the crew to tell him what they intended to do.
The results were dramatic. Within a year the Santa Fe went from worst to first in the fleet. Crew retention was near 100%. And the impact lasted: officers who served on the Santa Fe went on to command submarines of their own at a far higher rate than those from any other boat.
“David Marquet 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 Core Shift
From leader-follower to leader-leader
Most organizations run on a leader-follower model: leaders decide, everyone else carries it out. It works when the leader has all the answers. It breaks down when the people closest to the work know more than the people at the top, which in most businesses is most of the time.
Intent-Based Leadership moves to a leader-leader model, where people at every level take ownership of decisions in their area. That doesn’t mean leaders simply hand over control. Giving people more control only works when two other things grow alongside it: their competence to make good decisions, and their clarity about what the organization is trying to achieve. Get all three right and decisions get made faster, by the people best placed to make them.
| Leader-follower | Leader-leader |
|---|---|
| People wait to be told | People say what they intend to do |
| Decisions travel up and wait | Decisions are made where the information is |
| The leader is the bottleneck | The leader builds capability |
| Performance depends on the leader | Performance outlasts the leader |
What It Looks Like At Work
Four settings, one shift
Construction and Utilities
On a construction site or with a utilities field crew, it looks like a team that starts each job by confirming their roles, the risks they can see, and what each person will be doing. Anyone can call a pause if they see a problem developing, and the team reviews and learns from the work together. The result is fewer delays, fewer escalations, and people who speak up about safety because their leader makes it easy to do so.
Manufacturing
On a manufacturing floor, it looks like operators who state their intent out loud and point to what they’re about to do before they act on a machine. Shift handovers are clear about what’s been done and what’s coming next. Problems are flagged and fixed on the line by the people who run it, rather than waiting for a supervisor to decide. Safety improves and so does output, because the people closest to the work own it.
Services
In a services business, it looks like people moving from asking permission to sharing their intent. Meetings work better because the most senior people in the room don’t do most of the talking. Customer problems get solved faster because people have the clarity, competence and control to work through issues themselves rather than escalating them.
IT and Product Development
In an IT or product development team, it looks like people who are clear on their roles and share their intent with colleagues. Retrospectives become real learning, not a box-ticking exercise. Risks are raised and discussed openly. And decisions come with a sell-by date, so teams revisit them on schedule rather than sticking with a choice long after it’s stopped working.
What It Isn't
Not another leadership course
It isn't another executive leadership course.
Traditional programs take people away from the office to an off-site, and without anyone noticing, start to separate what they learn from the reality of their day-to-day work. Intent-Based Leadership can start in a room, but development happens in the workplace: in job briefings, meetings, handovers and the decisions people make every day.
It isn't about a small number of people at the top.
It’s about building leaders at every level, from the front line to the boardroom, because that’s where most of the decisions in a business actually get made.
It isn't handing over control and hoping for the best.
Control grows only as fast as people’s competence and clarity do, so leaders stay involved and accountable throughout.
For many leaders, reading Turn the Ship Around! is where it begins. The ideas make sense straight away, and the next step is making them part of how a whole organization works. That happens when people inside the business are equipped to lead it, so the change belongs to you and keeps going long after any outside help has gone.
Common Questions
Frequently Asked Questions
Why is it so hard to make empowerment work?
Many organizations talk about the importance of an empowered workforce but find it hard to make it work in practice, and everyone ends up frustrated. Intent-Based Leadership is a systematic approach that gives leaders the tools and language to create the conditions for people to take more control and make decisions.
Does it work in safety-critical environments?
It started on a nuclear submarine, and some of its strongest results have come in manufacturing, construction and utilities. When people at the front line own their work and are expected to speak up, problems get raised before they become incidents. Intent-Based Leadership uses specific practices, like stating intent before acting, that keep people actively thinking and engaged, however routine the task.
Does it mean leaders give up authority?
No, and this is critical. Leaders stay accountable. What changes is where decisions get made and how leaders spend their time: building capability in their people rather than answering every question themselves. Intent-Based Leadership isn’t about leaders giving up control. It’s about giving people more control to make decisions, while leaders stay clearly in the loop.
How long does it take?
After a one-day introduction workshop, people report almost immediate benefits: meetings work better, and people start stating their intent instead of asking for permission. Making it stick across an organization takes sustained practice. Some people say it’s like learning a new language, and it is. The difference is that you also have to unlearn the language that has sustained the leader-follower model for decades.
How do organizations get started?
Many start with a keynote to spark interest across the business, or with a one-day workshop that gives a team a shared language and a few practices to try straight away. From there, the organization develops its own people to lead the approach internally, so it becomes part of how the business works.
Who is it for?
Any organization where decisions slow down at the top, people wait to be told, or good ideas don’t surface. It’s used in sectors from manufacturing, construction and energy to financial services, technology and professional sport.
Proof
What it looks like in results.
Specialty chemical distribution
Palmer Holland
80-85%
Of commercial decisions made at the account manager level.
96% rolling 18-month retention.
Utilities
National Grid New York
+26 pts
Decision-making scores above benchmark.
Zero fatalities over several years.
Specialty chemical distribution
Equitable
$70M
In additional sales.
Psychological safety up 25%.
