Marcel Schwantes: Building a Culture of Shared Leadership

Episode recap: 

Marcel explored the servant leadership principles and practices of shared leadership and decision. He presented a case study about former U.S. Navy Captain David Marquet's successful transformation of a submarine crew by shifting to a leader-leader model that empowered team members to make decisions. Marcel emphasized the importance of competence and clarity when sharing leadership, while challenging the audience to consider how they can empower others to lead and offered follow-up discussions. 

To  dig deeper into a strategy-based discussion about shared leadership, book your free, 30-minute discovery call with Marcel here: 

https://calendly.com/marcelschwantes/discovery-call?month=2025-08 

Bio:

Marcel Schwantes is a speaker, author, and acclaimed executive coach with a global following. Marcel delivers presentations, workshops, courses, and coaching programs about the human side of business and how cultures of care, connection, and belonging power companies to thrive and outperform the competition.

Quotes: 

• "Leaders sometimes push people like cattle, and a lot of companies still operate this way, right? But if you think about it, cattle have no say. They're herded in one direction, pushed to where the cattle rancher wants them to go. And honestly, that's not very empowering." 
• "When you share leadership, you're not losing control. You're actually multiplying it. You're creating leaders at every level, and when people feel ownership, engagement and performance will go through the roof for you." 
• "That's the power of releasing control—it turns employees into owners, and owners don't need to be driven. They lead themselves."

Key Takeaways:

• Ask “What would you do?” instead of issuing commands to invite insight and autonomy.
• Make your strategy meetings collaborative—let team members help shape direction.
• Identify areas in your org chart where decision-making can move closer to frontline work.
• Delegate leadership intentionally—challenge yourself to let one team member lead this week.

Episode Highlights:

• [00:00] Welcome and Introduction
• [02:22] Why Driving Results Isn’t Real Leadership
• [04:12] Sharing Power with Intention
• [06:40] Leading Without Pulling Rank
• [08:19] How Pushing Authority Down Unlocks Performance
• [10:41] Why Clarity Must Come Before Delegation
• [12:03] 3 Ways to Start Sharing Leadership This Week
• [13:39] Final Challenge: Step Back So Others Can Step Up

Conclusion:

True leadership isn’t about control—it’s about multiplying influence through trust. Empowering those closest to the work results in quicker decisions, stronger performance, and more engaged teams. Great leaders create clarity, offer support, and step aside so others can lead.

Resources:

• Book: Humane Leadership
• Substack
• LinkedIn
• X/Twitter
• YouTube

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