I've mentioned the leadership consultant, author, and retired U.S. Navy Captain David Marquet and his book, Turn the Ship Around, in the past (see "Classic Rookie Manager Mistakes", "The definition of power is the transfer of energy...", "The power of empowerment", "Turning around the ship...", and "Empowering employees doesn't mean leaving them alone..."). It's a great book, and I would highly recommend it to anyone who is interested in learning about leadership. Captain Marquet had a very promising Navy career up to the point when he was selected to command the USS Olympia (SSN-717), a nuclear-powered attack submarine. However, as sometimes happens in the military (and occasionally in the civilian world I suppose), he was unexpectedly ordered to take command of the USS Santa Fe (SSN-763) instead. As one of my former bosses in the Navy once told me, "We don't work in a democracy, Derek, we work for one." Unfortunately, while the USS Olympia was considered a "choice command", the USS Santa Fe was anything but that. The USS Santa Fe ranked dead last in both operational efficiency and staff retention, and Captain Marquet felt that he had been given an impossible task and that his future career prospects for promotion were at risk.
Captain Marquet knew that the traditional leadership approach of "take control, give orders" was not going to work. Rather than treating his crew as followers, he treated them as leaders. As opposed to the traditional model of "pushing information to authority" where front-line managers and crew sent information up the "chain of command" and the leaders at the top of the hierarchy made all the decisions, Captain Marquet built a culture around "pushing authority to information". In accordance with the High Reliability Organization (HRO) principle of "Deference to Expertise", Captain Marquet ceded decision-making authority to those who were the closest to the information and to the action, his front-line leaders and managers.
Captain Marquet's unique leadership approach took the USS Santa Fe from "worst to first" (in terms of ranking the best in terms of operational efficiency and staff retention throughout the entire U.S. Navy). The USS Santa Fe continued to win awardsm even after Captain Marquet's departure from the ship as a result of his promotion, and ten of his former officers went on to command positions of their own. It's a great success story, and an even better example of the impact of leadership specifically high reliability leadership, on an organization's success.
Captain Marquet's book is a "must read" primer on leadership in general and high reliability leadership in particular. I've thoroughly enjoyed reading and continuing to learn from Captain Marquet. In today's post, I want to specifically dive into one of his quotes on engagement. Clearly, the USS Santa Fe had an engagement problem. They don't typically measure employee engagement or employee satisfaction in the Navy. Instead, engagement is measured largely by the outcomes of operational efficiency, promotion to higher rank (for both enlisted sailors and officers), and retention (re-enlistment rates, or how many sailors and officers stay in the Navy). By every measurement available then, engagement in the USS Santa Fe was terrible. Here is what Captain Marquet said about engagement though - "A leader's job is not to fix disengaged people. A leader's job is to fix the environment that results in disengaged people."
Employee engagement is loosely defined as an employee's involvement and enthusiasm in their work and their workplace. Press Ganey specifically measures employee engagement in health care organizations based upon a six-item index covering someone’s intent to stay (over the short and long term), willingness to recommend (for care or work), and overall pride and satisfaction with the organization. Employee surveys conducted by Gallup show that (1) organizations with higher engagement have better outcomes (regardless of industry), (2) engagement in organizations across the U.S. (and again, regardless of industry) is not great - only 33% of all employees in the U.S. fall into the "engaged" category (compared to 70% in high-performing organizations).
Research (and anecdotal experience) suggest that employees need more than a happy "warm-fuzzy" feeling and a good paycheck to be fully engaged and productive. They need a sense of purpose and meaning to their work. And they want relationships with managers who can help them grow and develop both personally and professionally. Again, research by Gallup suggests that the manager or team leader accounts for up to 70% of an employee's level of engagement. As frequently stated, people don't leave organizations, they leave bad bosses. Employees want to trust their leaders, and they also want to feel that their leaders trust them to do their jobs well (mutual trust and empowerment are two of the top drivers of employee engagement). Just as important, they want to be recognized appropriately when they do their jobs well! Finally, employees want to work in a hassle-free environment - they don't want to encounter barriers (either related to technology or processes) that make it difficult for them to be able to do their jobs well. As W. Edwards Deming wrote more than 40 years ago, "Eighty-five percent of the reasons for failure are deficiencies in the systems and process rather than the employee. The role of management is to change the process rather than badgering individuals to do better."
As leaders, it is our responsibility to create a culture of mutual trust, empowerment, and support for our teams. Leaders in highly performing organizations know and understand this, and they also know that it is also their responsibility to eliminate hassles, minimize friction, and remove the "pebbles in the shoe" that make it difficult for individuals to do their jobs well. As Captain Marquet so eloquently states, it is our job as leaders to "fix the environment that results in disengaged people." Fix the environment, not the people...
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