Intent-Based Leadership (IBL)® is a language for high performing teams used on nuclear submarines which enables both distributed decision-making and organizational alignment. The language stresses the word intent, where leaders convey to teams what they are trying to achieve (organizational intent), and teams report how they intend to achieve these goals.

Since “I intend to…” is level 5 on the Ladder of Leadership® we say, “Strive for Five.” The result is a leader-leader organization rather than a leader-follower organization, where everyone thinks of themselves as a leader, leading toward organizational success.