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Reference revision: 7e3c9ec4ee89868e9cfb75d7b687821581026cd8c54ea8b781f16c9054fe53bc

# Turn the Ship Around Intent-Based Leadership Practice

Participants reframe permission-seeking workplace requests into 'I intend to...' statements and rehearse decentralized decision-making through small-group role-play. They produce concrete language shifts and individual commitments to take initiative on recurring tasks.

**Time:** 90 minutes. 90 minutes matches the WorkshopBank source structure across 5 distinct phases
**People:** 6 to 15. Trios for role-play; groups of four with two observers if numbers do not divide evenly by three; plenary for debrief

## Choose this exercise

**Purpose:** Practice drafting and delivering intent-based statements instead of asking for supervisory permission.
**Use it when:** Use when a team is delayed by constant managerial sign-offs and needs practical language to shift toward distributed authority.
**Skip it when:** Skip when team tasks are strictly prescribed by regulatory compliance where deviation or individual discretion is legally prohibited.

## Materials and tools

- One scenario card packet per group of 3 or 4
- One intent-statement worksheet per participant
- Pen or pencil per participant
- Timer or stopwatch for the facilitator
- Flipchart or whiteboard with markers

## Before participants arrive

1. Print scenario packets and worksheets for all participants
2. Write the three pillars on a visible flipchart: Control, Competence, Clarity
3. Set up chairs in clusters of three to four to support small breakout groups

## Say this to open

Today we are exploring intent-based leadership, inspired by David Marquet's work in Turn the Ship Around. In traditional structures, people ask leaders for permission: 'Can I do this?' In a leader-leader model, team members state: 'I intend to do X, because Y.' This requires giving control while building competence and clarity. Today we will draft intent statements, rehearse them in realistic work scenarios, and agree on practical ways to use this approach.

## How to run it

### 1. Introduce pillars and intent mechanism (15 minutes)

Present the leader-leader model using three pillars: Control (giving authority to act), Competence (technical skill to make safe choices), and Clarity (understanding team purpose and operational goals). Read opening script. Show the formula: 'I intend to [action], because [reasoning/evidence].' Provide a neutral example: change 'Can I refund this shipping fee for an upset customer?' into 'I intend to credit the customer 15 dollars shipping because the package arrived 4 days late and our policy authorizes credits up to 25 dollars for delivery failures.'

### 2. Draft personal intent statements (15 minutes)

Direct participants to complete Part 1 of the worksheet individually. Each person identifies two frequent tasks where they currently wait for supervisor approval or advice. They rewrite both tasks into 'I intend to...' statements that include their reasoning, relevant checks, and risk mitigations. Allow 7 minutes of quiet writing. Then have participants turn to an elbow partner for 8 minutes to read their drafts and check that both action and reasoning are explicit.

### 3. Run small-group role-play scenarios (30 minutes)

Divide participants into trios. If the count is not divisible by 3, form groups of 4 with two observers. Assign roles: Initiator (uses 'I intend to...'), Manager (probes competence and clarity before agreeing), and Observer (tracks time and notes phrases). Groups run three rounds of 8 minutes using the scenario cards so everyone practices Initiator and Manager. Allow 2 minutes of feedback between rounds: Did the initiator state clear evidence? Did the manager probe rather than dictate?

### 4. Reflect and draft personal action commitments (15 minutes)

Regather the room. Ask participants to fill out Part 3 of their worksheet individually: identify one specific, recurring decision at work where they will begin using 'I intend to...' starting this week. In pairs, partners spend 5 minutes reviewing each other's chosen action to ensure it falls within realistic competence and clarity boundaries. If someone wishes to keep their task private, they may verify the linguistic structure without disclosing sensitive workplace details.

### 5. Plenary review and debrief (15 minutes)

Facilitate a plenary review. Ask 2 or 3 questions from the debrief list, taking 2 to 3 volunteer responses per question. Summarize how the three pillars of Control, Competence, and Clarity protect teams when authority is distributed. Conclude by having everyone place their written intent commitment into their notebook or desk planner.


## Debrief questions

- When you spoke as the initiator, how did framing your thought as an intent statement change your preparation before speaking?
- When you acted as the manager, what questions helped you test competence and clarity without simply telling the person what to do?
- What is one operational area where your team needs clearer boundaries before people can safely say 'I intend to'?

**Finished output:** Each participant completes a personal worksheet with at least two rewritten intent statements and one committed workplace task to run under intent-based communication.

## Remote

Use breakout rooms of three (or four with an extra observer) for the role-play. Share the scenario text and worksheet via a shared digital document or downloadable PDF. Run a central digital timer visible in all rooms. For the plenary, use digital chat or raised-hand queues to manage speaking turns.

## Hybrid

Seat in-person participants together in physically separated room clusters. Assign remote participants to remote-only breakout rooms so audio channels do not cross or create echo. Ensure digital copies of the scenario packet and worksheet are accessible simultaneously across both formats.

## Access and participation choices

- Participants may write their intent statements privately without reading them aloud to the full room.
- During role-play, a participant who prefers not to act out a character may opt to serve exclusively as an observer and note-taker across rounds.
- Scenario texts are provided in writing on cards or screens to avoid reliance on purely auditory memory.

## If the session gets stuck

**The manager automatically gives orders or says yes without checking competence or clarity.**

Intervene during group check-ins. Remind managers to respond with diagnostic questions first: 'What leads you to believe this is safe?' or 'How does this align with our quarterly objective?'

**Participants create intent statements that are reckless or lack necessary context.**

Emphasize the second half of the formula: 'because [reason/evidence]'. If the evidence is missing, the manager's job is to decline assent until competence and clarity are demonstrated.


## Terms used here

- Leader-Leader Model: An organizational approach where decision-making authority is distributed across all team levels rather than concentrated solely in appointed managers.
- Intent-Based Communication: Speaking by stating what you plan to do along with your reasoning ('I intend to...') instead of asking an authority figure for permission ('May I...?').

## Participant material: Leader-Leader Intent Worksheet and Scenarios

PART 1: INTENT REFRAMING WORKSHEET
Formula: 'I intend to [proposed action], because [data, policy, or observations that justify it].'

Current permission-seeking question 1:
Reframed Intent Statement:

Current permission-seeking question 2:
Reframed Intent Statement:

---

PART 2: ROLE-PLAY SCENARIO CARDS

Scenario A: Client Deadline Risk
A major deliverable is scheduled for Friday. A vendor delay means the final asset will arrive Thursday afternoon. Traditional reflex: Go to the manager and ask, 'Should we tell the client we will be late, or pay for weekend overtime?'
Initiator Task: Use 'I intend to...' by presenting a selected recommendation, your reasoning, and how quality is preserved.
Manager Task: Probe for competence and clarity. Do not simply pick an option for them.

Scenario B: Budget Allocation
A software subscription renewal is due in three days. You have located a substitute tool that costs 30% less but requires four hours of migration effort. Traditional reflex: Ask the manager, 'Can we switch tools to save money?'
Initiator Task: Formulate an 'I intend to...' statement outlining the timeline, cost trade-off, and continuity plan.
Manager Task: Verify technical clarity and workflow risks before assenting.

Scenario C: Process Deviation
A standard procedure requires two manager sign-offs for an internal knowledge base update, causing a two-week publication backlog. Traditional reflex: Ask, 'Can we bypass the sign-offs for routine edits?'
Initiator Task: Present an 'I intend to...' plan establishing clear criteria for self-publishing routine updates while routing only high-risk policy changes for review.
Manager Task: Question how error prevention and technical competence will be maintained.

---

PART 3: WORKPLACE COMMITMENT
Select one concrete recurring task from your actual job:
'Starting this week, when dealing with [situation], I intend to say: I intend to [action], because [evidence/justification].'

## Sources and adaptation

Observed in WorkshopBank as 'Turn the Ship Around Workshop', which attributes the foundational leader-leader concepts to the book 'Turn the Ship Around!' by L. David Marquet.

The run sheet retains the 90-minute structure, 5-phase breakdown, and core concepts (three pillars: Control, Competence, Clarity; 'I intend to...' statements) from the WorkshopBank outline. Complete participant materials, explicit role definitions for trios and groups of four, step timing, facilitator scripts, concrete neutral examples, and hybrid delivery specifications have been added to make the outline runnable.

[WorkshopBank](https://workshopbank.com/workshops/turn-the-ship-around-workshop)

Current run sheet: https://unitedwetransform.com/exercises/turn-the-ship-around-workshop-workshop-workshopbank/