{"id":43725,"date":"2025-12-19T16:08:34","date_gmt":"2025-12-19T20:08:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/?p=43725"},"modified":"2025-12-23T19:16:25","modified_gmt":"2025-12-23T23:16:25","slug":"leader-leader-model","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/leader-leader-model\/","title":{"rendered":"The Leader-Leader Model vs. the Leader-Follower Model"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>In today\u2019s 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 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/methods-of-decision-making-crucial-conversations\/\">decision-making<\/a> authority to those closest to the information, transforming a disengaged workforce into a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/proactive-mindset\/\">proactive team<\/a> of empowered problem-solvers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>By implementing a leader-leader model, organizations move away from a &#8220;one brain&#8221; 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 ownership and high performance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<!--more-->\n\n\n\n<p><em>Originally Published: August 8, 2021<\/em><br><em>Last Updated: December 19, 2025<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-yoast-seo-table-of-contents yoast-table-of-contents\"><h2>Table of Contents<\/h2><ul><li><a href=\"#h-the-leader-leader-model\" data-level=\"2\">The Leader-Leader Model<\/a><ul><li><a href=\"#h-the-alternative-the-leader-follower-model\" data-level=\"3\">The Alternative: The Leader-Follower Model<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"#h-why-the-leader-leader-model-works-better\" data-level=\"3\">Why the \u201cLeader-Leader\u201d Model Works Better<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/li><\/ul><\/div>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-the-leader-leader-model\">The Leader-Leader Model<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>In his book <em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/app\/book\/turn-the-ship-around\/preview\" rel=\"nofollow\">Turn the Ship Around!<\/a><\/em>, what Marquet calls the leader-leader model starts from this assumption: <strong>Everyone can <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/be-a-leader\/\">be a leader<\/a>, and organizations work best when everyone acts like one<\/strong>. Rather than dividing people into those who make decisions and those who follow orders, this model gives everyone ownership over decisions within their specific domains of responsibility. The person doing the work is also the person deciding how to do it. On a submarine such as Marquet\u2019s, the sonar operator decides when to activate the sonar. The navigation team decides the route. The chiefs decide when their crew members can take leave.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Marquet explains that, in this model, rather than asking for permission to act, people state what they intend to do and why, then proceed with their plan. The commanding officer (CO) still holds accountability for the ship\u2019s performance, but instead of making every decision, they give decision-making authority to the people closest to the information. The key difference is where thinking happens in the organization: In leader-follower, the leader\u2019s brain does the work and everyone else executes the leader\u2019s will\u2014135 people with one brain fully engaged and 134 on autopilot. In leader-leader, everyone is fully engaged in thinking, analyzing, and problem-solving.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-table\"><table class=\"has-fixed-layout\"><tbody><tr><td><strong>How Roles Become Identities<\/strong><br><br>Research on how the brain constructs identity accords with Marquet\u2019s observation that telling people they\u2019re just \u201cfollowers\u201d <a href=\"https:\/\/pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/articles\/PMC10295024\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">affects how they behave at work<\/a>. According to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/self-image-psychology\/\">self-perception<\/a> theory, people infer who they are by <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ebsco.com\/research-starters\/health-and-medicine\/self-perception-theory-spt\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">observing their own behavior<\/a>. When workers have to ask permission and wait for orders, they observe themselves behaving passively, and their brains conclude, \u201cI must be a follower.\u201d Neuroscience supports this: A <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/what-are-the-regions-of-the-brain\/\">brain region<\/a> called the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.scientificamerican.com\/article\/how-our-brain-preserves-our-sense-of-self\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">ventromedial prefrontal cortex<\/a> constructs our sense of who we are <a href=\"https:\/\/www.discovermagazine.com\/brain-scientists-probe-the-mechanisms-behind-self-identity-43182\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">based on our experiences<\/a>. Researchers have found that <a href=\"https:\/\/www.annualreviews.org\/content\/journals\/10.1146\/annurev-orgpsych-041015-062322\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">identity is \u201cenacted\u201d<\/a>: People literally become who they repeatedly perform being.<br><br>Marquet\u2019s leader-leader model may work because it changes people\u2019s daily experiences in ways that reshape their work identities. By changing what people do, you change who they think they are, which changes how they perform. For example, when you treat workers as leaders within their domain, asking them to think through problems and make their own decisions, they observe themselves acting autonomously and conclude that they are decision-makers. This <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/identity-shift\/\">identity shift<\/a> leads to stronger <em>self-efficacy<\/em>\u2014the belief in their capability to succeed\u2014which makes them more likely to take initiative, think critically, and fully engage their intellect.<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-the-alternative-the-leader-follower-model\">The Alternative: The Leader-Follower Model<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>What Marquet calls the leader-follower model is the default structure in most organizations, from corporations to nonprofits to the military. <strong>This model divides people into two roles: one leader who makes decisions, and followers who implement those decisions<\/strong>. The leader figures out what needs to be done and decides how to do it. Everyone else waits for direction, then executes the leader\u2019s orders. The leader gives those orders down the chain of command, and as followers implement those orders, they report information back up the chain. When things go right, the leader gets credit for good decision-making. When things go wrong, the leader adjusts course and issues new orders.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-table\"><table class=\"has-fixed-layout\"><tbody><tr><td><strong>The Birth of the Leader-Follower Model<\/strong><br><br>Management scholars trace the origins of the organizational structure that Marquet calls the leader-follower model to the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.businessperspectives.org\/index.php\/journals\/problems-and-perspectives-in-management\/issue-318\/industrial-revolutions-and-their-impact-on-managerial-practice-learning-from-the-past\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Industrial Revolution<\/a>, when the rise of factories created an unprecedented need to <a href=\"https:\/\/hbr.org\/2014\/07\/managements-three-eras-a-brief-history\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">coordinate large workforces<\/a>. Before industrialization, most work took place in family units or artisan workshops where owners and workers labored side by side. The factory system changed this: Owners needed managers to <a href=\"https:\/\/education.nationalgeographic.org\/resource\/industrialization-labor-and-life\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">control hundreds of workers<\/a> performing specialized, repetitive tasks on expensive machinery. Early management theorists such as Frederick Taylor explicitly designed the leader-follower approach\u2014which Taylor called \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.business.com\/articles\/management-theory-of-frederick-taylor\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">scientific management<\/a>\u201d\u2014to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/making-the-most-of-your-time\/\">maximize efficiency<\/a> in manufacturing.<br><br>For Taylor, the goal was to extract the maximum <em>output<\/em> of physical products (such as steel beams, textiles, or assembled goods) from <em>inputs<\/em> such as raw materials, machinery, and workers\u2019 time. Success meant standardizing processes, dividing complex work into simple, repetitive tasks, and maintaining top-down control to ensure consistency. For example, instead of one craftsman building an entire product, each worker would perform one small step in an assembly line under a manager\u2019s supervision. But economies have since shifted. By the mid-20th century, \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/corporatefinanceinstitute.com\/resources\/valuation\/knowledge-workers\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">knowledge work<\/a>\u201d\u2014where value comes from information, analysis, and ideas rather than physical production\u2014became increasingly central to developed economies.<br><br>Today, the service sector\u2014where most work is knowledge work\u2014employs the vast majority of workers in industrialized nations. Service jobs include roles such as teachers, healthcare workers, financial analysts, software developers, customer service representatives, and consultants: positions where the \u201coutput\u201d is expertise, problem-solving, care, or information. But organizations still use management structures meant to optimize factory production to coordinate work that requires judgment, creativity, relationship-building, and adaptation.<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Marquet points out that the leader-follower structure assumes the leader has all the expertise and perspective needed to make the best decisions, while all that followers need to do is comply. <strong>This discourages people from fully engaging<\/strong>. In the US Navy, a ship\u2019s CO holds total accountability for everything that happens aboard, so the CO maintains tight control: Subordinates ask permission before acting, and the CO approves or denies each request. On Marquet\u2019s submarine, this meant that of 135 people aboard, only the captain and senior officers were involved in making decisions. Everyone else operated in a \u201cwhatever they tell me to do\u201d mode, waiting for instructions rather than thinking independently.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>(Shortform note: Scholars say knowledge in military organizations is <a href=\"https:\/\/sjms.nu\/articles\/10.31374\/sjms.378\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">hierarchically determined<\/a>: Research on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/military-culture\/\">military culture<\/a> shows that rank, not evidence or logic, determines what\u2019s considered \u201ctrue\u201d\u2014senior officers declare how the organization should think, and doctrine sets the boundaries within which thinking is allowed. This explains what Marquet saw on the <em>Santa Fe<\/em>: It wasn\u2019t just that subordinates waited for orders about <em>what to do<\/em>\u2014they\u2019d learned that their own observations and judgments about <em>what was true<\/em> didn\u2019t matter. When everyone accepts that authority determines truth, <a href=\"https:\/\/chroniclesmagazine.org\/view\/americas-unthinking-military\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">there\u2019s no need for critical thinking<\/a> at lower levels, and attempting it can feel like challenging the hierarchy itself.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-why-the-leader-leader-model-works-better\">Why the \u201cLeader-Leader\u201d Model Works Better<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Marquet contends that the \u201cleader-leader\u201d model addresses the flaws of the \u201cleader-follower\u201d model by changing how the entire organization thinks about work and responsibility. First, <strong>it engages everyone\u2019s intellectual capacity.<\/strong> In a \u201cleader-follower\u201d system, workers can do their jobs without really thinking\u2014they wait for instructions, execute them, and report back. But when they have authority over decisions in their work, thinking becomes unavoidable. They have to analyze situations, consider options, anticipate consequences, and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/accepting-responsibility\/\">take responsibility<\/a> for the outcome. They\u2019re no longer just mindlessly executing on someone else\u2019s thinking\u2014they\u2019re doing critical thinking for themselves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>(Shortform note: When we stop actively thinking at work\u2014whether others micromanage us or technology does the thinking for us\u2014we risk losing our capacity for independent thought. Studies show that people in intellectually demanding jobs score higher on cognitive tests decades later, suggesting that their work <a href=\"https:\/\/time.com\/3595997\/complex-jobs-mental-cognition\/\">builds durable mental reserves<\/a>. Conversely, chronic workplace boredom leads to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/worklife\/article\/20210701-the-damaging-effects-of-boreout-at-work\">depression, anxiety, and stress<\/a>. AI may exacerbate this problem: By outsourcing our thinking to AI, we risk creating a feedback loop that <a href=\"https:\/\/nautil.us\/ai-already-knows-us-too-well-1220707\/\">narrows our thinking patterns<\/a>, and if AI replaces many jobs involving <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ctvnews.ca\/sci-tech\/article\/godfather-of-ai-says-intellectually-mundane-jobs-will-disappear\/\">basic intellectual labor<\/a>, as some experts predict, it\u2019s an open question how we\u2019ll maintain our cognitive capacity.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Second, Marquet explains that the \u201cleader-leader\u201d model works better than the \u201cleader-follower\u201d model because <strong>it develops leaders throughout the organization.<\/strong> In a \u201cleader-follower\u201d system, you only need to understand your specific task, while your supervisor worries about the bigger picture. But when you have authority to make decisions, you have to weigh whether it\u2019s the right thing to do given the broader context and think through the questions your supervisor is likely to ask\u2014considering competing priorities, resource constraints, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/organizational-goals\/\">organizational goals<\/a>, and risks. In effect, you\u2019re practicing leadership at the next level before you get promoted to it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>(Shortform note:&nbsp; When Marquet notes that workers learning to be leaders do so in part by learning to anticipate their supervisor\u2019s questions, he\u2019s describing the active processes of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.isls.org\/research-topics\/cognitive-apprenticeship\/\">learning by doing<\/a>\u2014and by developing a mental model of expert decision-making. This also aligns with \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.aft.org\/ae\/winter1991\/collins_brown_holum\">cognitive apprenticeship<\/a>,\u201d a method for teaching complex thinking skills. In <a href=\"https:\/\/archive.nytimes.com\/learning.blogs.nytimes.com\/2013\/02\/26\/guest-post-five-key-elements-for-a-new-model-of-apprenticeship\/\">traditional apprenticeships<\/a>, you watch a carpenter build a cabinet or observe a tailor sew. But in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/peter-drucker-knowledge-worker\/\">knowledge work<\/a>, thinking processes are invisible, so you have to <a href=\"https:\/\/eric.ed.gov\/?id=EJ1272730\">make them visible<\/a> to help others learn. To do this, an expert <em>models<\/em> their thinking; provides <em>scaffolding<\/em>, or support, as learners practice; <em>fades<\/em> that support as skills improve; and <em>coaches<\/em> them through the process.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Third, <strong>the \u201cleader-leader\u201d model also creates lasting organizational excellence.<\/strong> Marquet explains that in \u201cleader-follower\u201d organizations, performance depends on having an excellent leader at the top and often collapses when that leader leaves. But when decision-making authority is distributed throughout the organization\u2014when the systems, procedures, and culture all reinforce people taking ownership\u2014performance doesn\u2019t depend on any one person. The capability is embedded in how the organization operates.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-table\"><table class=\"has-fixed-layout\"><tbody><tr><td><strong>How Distributing Authority Also Distributes Knowledge<\/strong><br><br>Marquet\u2019s insight about lasting organizational excellence connects to a problem familiar in startups: the founder\u2019s curse. This occurs when a charismatic founder becomes <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sciencedirect.com\/science\/article\/abs\/pii\/S1007570420300253\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">the sole source of innovation and decision-making<\/a> in a company, rewarding people who execute their vision efficiently while discouraging <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/independent-thinking\/\">independent thinking<\/a>. When this happens, the startup grows rapidly in the short term but collapses after the founder leaves. By then, everyone has learned how to execute the founder\u2019s decisions, but all the crucial decision-making knowledge stays locked in the founder\u2019s head.<br><br>Organizations <a href=\"https:\/\/blog.smart-tribune.com\/en\/institutional-knowledge\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">preserve different types of knowledge<\/a> in different ways: Explicit knowledge like documented procedures transfers easily through manuals, but the most valuable knowledge is often tacit: the judgment developed through experience that\u2019s difficult to articulate or transfer. In organizations that are overly dependent on their founder, this knowledge never gets distributed. Marquet solves this by distributing not just authority but the knowledge people gain as they make decisions and articulate their reasoning. Research confirms that this matters: Startups become <a href=\"https:\/\/knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu\/podcast\/this-week-in-business\/what-happens-to-a-business-when-the-founder-leaves\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">50% less likely to successfully adapt<\/a> after losing their founder, but when knowledge is distributed, the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/ability-to-adapt\/\">ability to adapt<\/a> persists even as people come and go.<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-the-leader-leader-model-on-the-santa-fe\">The \u201cLeader-Leader\u201d Model on the <em>Santa Fe<\/em><\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p>Marquet explains that his experience on the <em>Santa Fe<\/em> demonstrates all three advantages of the \u201cleader-leader\u201d model. When he took command in January 1999, the submarine was the worst performer in the fleet, and he had six months to prepare it for a high-stakes combat exercise. Instead of introducing stricter discipline or closer supervision, he gave decision-making authority to the chiefs and crew, changed how people communicated, and made them responsible for tracking their own work. Marquet explains that the transformation was dramatic: Crew members who had operated in \u201cwhatever they tell me to do\u201d mode became active problem-solvers who noticed inefficiencies and proposed improvements.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Reenlistments also skyrocketed from three to 36 in one year\u2014people <em>wanted <\/em>to stay because their work finally required and valued their full capacity. <strong>The submarine went from worst to first in the fleet,<\/strong> earning the Arleigh Burke Fleet Trophy for the unit that improved in battle efficiency the most in a year. It produced far more promoted officers and senior enlisted personnel than comparable ships, and 12 years after Marquet took command, one of his former weapons officers became the <em>Santa Fe<\/em>\u2019s commanding officer, while several other officers went on to command their own submarines.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>After Marquet left, the <em>Santa Fe<\/em> continued performing at the highest level, earning the Battle \u201cE\u201d award for most combat-effective submarine three times in 10 years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-table\"><table class=\"has-fixed-layout\"><tbody><tr><td><strong>Different Types of Excellence May Require Different Leadership Structures<\/strong><br><br>Marquet\u2019s results on the <em>Santa Fe<\/em> demonstrate <em>operational excellence<\/em>: getting complex equipment to run reliably, maintaining combat readiness, and keeping people engaged in executing well-defined procedures. But achieving different types of organizational goals may require different leadership structures. Consider Bell Labs, the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nature.com\/articles\/s42254-022-00426-6\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">industrial research laboratory<\/a> that <a href=\"https:\/\/www.forbes.com\/sites\/quora\/2017\/07\/19\/why-bell-labs-was-so-important-to-innovation-in-the-20th-century\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">earned 10 Nobel Prizes<\/a> and invented the transistor, laser, and solar cell. Bell Labs\u2019 work was fundamentally different from the operational procedures Marquet\u2019s crew performed. Neither Bell Labs\u2019 researchers nor its development engineers were executing established protocols\u2014they were <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2012\/02\/26\/opinion\/sunday\/innovation-and-the-bell-labs-miracle.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">creating new knowledge<\/a> and translating it into new products.<br><br>Bell Labs\u2019 director Mervin Kelly <a href=\"https:\/\/www.inventionandtech.com\/content\/what-made-bell-labs-great-1\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">structured the organization<\/a> accordingly. Kelly gave <a href=\"https:\/\/www.construction-physics.com\/p\/what-would-it-take-to-recreate-bell\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">extraordinary freedom<\/a> to an elite group of researchers who received no deadlines, filed no progress reports, and had the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/freedom-to-choose\/\">freedom to choose<\/a> their own methods and collaborators. Kelly would identify important problems within the field of telecommunications, then give researchers <a href=\"https:\/\/1517.substack.com\/p\/why-bell-labs-worked\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">complete freedom to solve those problems<\/a>, sometimes only checking back years later.<br><br>Outside of this research group, many Bell Labs employees were development engineers who translated research discoveries into manufacturable products. These engineers worked within <a href=\"https:\/\/www.freaktakes.com\/p\/bonus-more-details-on-how-bell-labs\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">more traditional hierarchies<\/a>, with managers who assigned projects and set goals. Yet within their assigned work, these engineers had significant technical autonomy. They made <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/complex-decisions-2\/\">complex decisions<\/a> balancing functional performance, manufacturing costs, and service requirements, and could freely consult expertise across the organization.<br><br>This suggests that \u201cdistributing authority\u201d isn\u2019t an all-or-nothing choice\u2014it\u2019s multiple choices about different types of authority. You can distribute technical problem-solving (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/how-to-do-hard-work\/\">how to do the work<\/a>) while centralizing strategic decisions (what work to do). You can give people access to organizational expertise while maintaining hierarchical reporting structures. The question isn\u2019t whether to distribute authority, but which types of authority to distribute, to whom, and under what conditions.<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In today\u2019s 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 &#8220;one brain&#8221; 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<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":146900,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[439],"class_list":["post-43725","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-management","tag-turn-the-ship-around","","tg-column-two"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v24.3 (Yoast SEO v24.3) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>The Leader-Leader Model vs. the Leader-Follower Model - Shortform Books<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The leader-leader model fosters a culture of ownership and high performance. 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