How to Build a Team That Runs Without You | Jon Rennie, Former Nuclear Submarine Officer

How do you build a team that runs without you? Jon Rennie spent ten years letting go, then stepped down as CEO.Jon served as a US Navy nuclear submarine officer through seven Cold War deployments, then ran eight manufacturing businesses for three global companies before co-founding AccuGrid Technologies and leading it for a decade. In January he stepped down. The company did not miss a beat.Three years earlier he spent a month in a cabin in Maine, deliberately hard to reach, to find out whether the business actually needed him. It performed better while he was gone.We get into why most leaders never reach that point: the instinct to grab the ball back the second something goes wrong, and the boss who wants to be the genius surrounded by helpers instead of building a team of geniuses. Jon's fix is simple and uncomfortable. Stop being the answer guy, let your team make real mistakes, and ask questions instead of making statements.We also cover the seven years it took him to find his purpose after the Navy. At 25 he was crawling inside a nuclear missile to inspect the warhead. Six months later he was in a cubicle with no computer and no authorization to buy a stapler.Jon Rennie, PhD, is Professor of Business at Thales College and the former CEO of AccuGrid Technologies. He is the author of I Have the Watch, You Have the Watch, and All in the Same Boat, and hosts the Deep Leadership podcast. More at jonsrennie.comI'm David Fung, an executive coach working with technical leaders stepping into executive roles. Coaching for individuals, coaching for teams, and speaking engagements at coachfulcoaching.com