Elizabeth Whitworth

The leadership model most organizations still use was designed for a different era—one where work meant physical labor, not complex problem-solving. Retired US Navy Captain L. David Marquet explains why traditional leadership fails for modern knowledge work: It wastes human potential, creates organizational fragility, and can’t scale to meet today’s challenges. Keep reading to explore the deeper forces that keep this broken system in place—and what it would take to move beyond it.

Traditional leadership often operates on a “leader-follower” model, where those at the top hold the reins while the front lines simply execute orders. To build a resilient organization, leaders must shift this power dynamic and decentralize authority to the people actually doing the work. By moving decision-making closer to the source of information, organizations can move faster and more effectively. Read on to see how L. David Marquet’s transformation of the USS Santa Fe reveals how decentralizing authority creates a culture of ownership where every team member is empowered to act like a leader.

In today’s fast-paced knowledge economy, traditional top-down management often stifles innovation by treating employees as passive followers. Transitioning to a leader-leader model fundamentally shifts this dynamic by distributing decision-making authority to those closest to the information, transforming a disengaged workforce into a proactive team of empowered problem-solvers. By implementing a leader-leader model, organizations move away from a “one brain” system where only the top executive thinks and everyone else executes. Instead, every individual is encouraged to take initiative and act as a leader within their own domain of responsibility. Continue reading to see how this approach fosters a culture of