Let Them Say “YES!”

Guest Post by L. David Marquet

Note from Bob:   When David Marquet became the captain of the USS Santa Fe, one of the U.S.’s nuclear submarines, it was the worst performing submarine in the fleet.  Captain Marquet began treating his crew as leaders, not followers, and giving control, not taking control. It wasn’t long before operations took a dramatic turn. Santa Fe went from “worst to first,” achieving the highest retention and operational standings in the Navy.  Captain Marquet retired from the Navy in 2009 and is now the author of  “Turn the Ship Around!” a true story of turning followers into leaders. Fortune magazine called the book the “best how-to manual anywhere for managers on delegating, training, and driving flawless execution.”

Today you will have opportunity to get just a tiny glimpse into David’s genius at turning followers into leaders as you have opportunity to both watch and read one of his weekly Leadership Nudges:

You can click on the image below to watch and you will find the transcript below that.

Let’s talk about how we ask questions as leaders.

Some questions are better than other questions.

You don’t want to ask a question where your people will have to respond negatively:

• “Have you completed the project yet?”
• “Well, no but we’re almost done.”

Instead, ask a question that they can respond positively to:

• “Have you made progress on the project?”
• “Well, yes and we’re almost done.”

Perhaps, even better, could be, “Tell me how the project is going.” This is guaranteed not to put them in a bad position because they can talk about what progress they’ve made. That will make them feel good about what they are accomplishing.

So, today’s Leadership Nudge is:

Ask questions that people can respond affirmatively to.
Avoid the “No, but…” questions.

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Yesterday I was privileged to be Adam Rudder’s special guest on his “Play to Win” video series.  Click “HERE” to watch and listen!  (This link will only remain active through tomorrow – Tuesday, July 2)

Note from Bob:  Happy 4th of July!  Our next post will be next Monday, July 8!