Cover of Turn the Ship Around!

Turn the Ship Around!

L. David Marquet

“One of the 12 best business books of all time…. Timeless principles of empowering leadership.” – USA Today "The best how-to manual anywhere for managers on delegating, training, and driving flawless execution.” —FORTUNE Since Turn the Ship Around!

13.5 score
#149 overall

Score based on developer article recommendations — not sales data or reviews.

Career & GrowthBackendmanagementcareerleadership
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🟢 Developer Verdict

A practical, story-driven guide to leadership, emphasizing empowerment and distributed decision-making from a submarine commander's unique experience.

Read this if

  • You want to shift from command-and-control to empowering leadership.
  • You seek practical strategies for delegating and fostering team ownership.
  • You appreciate learning leadership through a compelling real-world story.

Skip this for now if

  • You are looking for hands-on technical content or coding examples.
  • You prefer theoretical frameworks over practical, narrative-based lessons.
  • You are already proficient in fostering leader-leader organizational structures.
Developer signal: Overwhelming Consensus · 100% 7 analyzed mentions PracticalCareer Changing

🔄 Compare & Reading Path

📊 Why Developers Recommend

1.

It develops engineering leadership and management skills.

2.

Cited by 5 different developers, each bringing their own experience and perspective.

3.

Valued for its practical approach — concepts connect directly to real-world engineering decisions and daily work.

Top signals: PracticalCareer Changing

💬 What Developers Say

"These are my notes on Turn the Ship Around! by [L. David Marquet]."

— danlebrero · Book notes: Turn the Ship Around! · Apr 20, 2022

"This is the amazing and entertaining story of how a first-time submarine commander took over the worst sub in the fleet and made it into the best in 2 years."

— bosepchuk · How to Manage Programmers Without Losing Your Damn Mind · May 5, 2019

"I have since read that same phrase in the excellent book, Turn the Ship Around."

— virtualmackem · Delivering · Feb 12, 2019

Based on 7 developer article mentions

👤 Who Should Read This

Best for

  • Senior engineers deepening their expertise
  • Tech leads making technology and architecture decisions
  • Developers looking to grow their careers
Difficulty: Intermediate Style: Practical

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Recommended in 7 Articles

Score Trend

Last 90 Days

Articles

0

vs prev 90d

+3

Unique authors

5

Total mentions

7

Source Platforms

DEV 7
📰 About this signal · 7 analyzed mentions · Mostly High confidence

Article Types

Book List 3
Book Review 2
Personal Story 1
Opinion Piece 1

Confidence

High 6
Medium 1
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