This is David’s most frequently requested keynote. David shares the origins and practices of Intent-Based Leadership®. He shares his unique perspective as the one who created the concept on board USS Santa Fe including the ups and downs and what was going on inside his head. He tells how this submarine went from worst to first, achieving the highest retention and operational standings in the U.S. Navy.

This interactive keynote invites audience participation. He will take the audience inside a U.S. Navy fast attack submarine, using photographs and stories from the USS Santa Fe, to describe the challenges and frustrations in changing the way of leading, and the successes the team experienced.

He works with the organization to select which of the practices of this leadership movement would be most important for the audience to hear, from among practices such as:

• Strive for five – the practice of stating intention
• The Ladder of Leadership
• Pushing authority to information
• Tips for inviting people to think more broadly about their jobs
• “No They on Santa Fe!”
• Deliberate Action
• Certify, Don’t Brief

The in-person keynote is typically 75 minutes; the live online keynote is typically 60 minutes, but both can be customized depending on your needs. Both the in-person and online keynotes are engaging and interactive and use polling (electronically or manually) to include the thinking of the audience into the event, as well as offering immediately actionable takeaways that will put the lessons of the event into practice.

Why do we organize the way we do? Why do we run meetings the way we do? Why do we use the words we use when communicating and asking questions? Turns out, most of us are using language, meeting formats and organizational design inherited from the industrial age where the leaders were the thinkers, and the workers were the doers.

In today’s work environment, we want every team member to be a thinker and a doer. This makes industrial age language obsolete. Instead of running industrial age plays better, we need to cast them aside for a new playbook.

Based on the WSJ Bestseller Leadership is Language, David Marquet explores the origins of our language at work, how it was shaped by the industrial age and the language we want to use in its place. The pattern that is revealed are the 6 “plays” that leaders run that will optimally balance the rhythm between thinking and doing.

Leaders will be equipped to build environments where people think deeply and broadly, and work is disciplined and focused. The structure results in adaptive, agile, and enduring organizations, even in volatile and uncertain times.

In the heat of decision-making, leaders often get stuck in the moment—overwhelmed by emotions, biases, and immediate pressures. But what if there was a superpower that allowed you to rise above the noise, see situations more clearly, and make better choices? In this keynote, David Marquet introduces Distancing, a transformative leadership approach that helps you break free from reactive thinking and sharpen your decision-making.

Using three key dimensions of distancing—Be Someone Else, Be Somewhere Else, Be Sometime Else—leaders see reality more clearly, reduce anxiety, and lead with greater foresight. Whether it’s becoming your own coach, observing situations from a broader vantage point, or thinking like your future self, this is the unlock leaders can use to navigate complexity with clarity and precision.

Key Takeaways

• Be Someone Else – Shift your perspective by adopting the mindset of a coach, mentor, or outside observer.
• Be Somewhere Else – Step onto the metaphorical “balcony” to see the bigger picture and make more strategic decisions.
• Be Sometime Else – Think like your future self to anticipate consequences and make choices you'll be proud of later.
• Practical Tools & Techniques – Walk away with actionable strategies to integrate distancing into your daily leadership habits.
• Sharper Decision-Making – Learn how to cut through cognitive biases, emotional traps, and situational blind spots.

This session will equip leaders with a new superpower, one that allows them to reframe challenges, see opportunities more clearly, and lead with confidence in uncertain times.