Turn the Ship Around Intent-Based Leadership Practice

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.

Group arrangement: Trios for role-play; groups of four with two observers if numbers do not divide evenly by three; plenary for debrief

Timing: 90 minutes matches the WorkshopBank source structure across 5 distinct phases

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...?').