Extreme Ownership: How U.S. Navy Seals Lead and Win

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Remember the story with Chris Kyle and the blurry outline in the building across the street. They could not shoot the outline without knowing who it was. They had to send someone into the building to find out whether it was friendly or enemy.

They see Extreme Ownership in their leaders, and, as a result, they emulate Extreme Ownership throughout the chain of command down to the most junior personnel. As a group they try to figure out how to fix their problems — instead of trying to figure out who or what to blame. [3] As Leader, you must explain not just what to do, but WHY. Find out If You don’t know.

Remember the story about the corporation that had subsidiaries. The subsidiaries had to work together, but they didn’t take care of each other. It was “Us vs Them.” Once they started working together, they radically improved their company. With all that you have planned, do you think your team is clear that this is your highest priority?” I asked. “Probably not,” the CEO admitted. Plan, but Don’t Overplan — You cannot plan for every contingency. If you try to create a solution for every single potential problem that might arise, you overwhelm your team, you overwhelm the planning process, you overcomplicate decisions for leaders. Rather than preventing or solving problems, overplanning creates additional and sometimes far more difficult problems. It is important, however, that leaders manage the dichotomy in planning by not straying too far in the other direction — by not planning enough for contingencies. When leaders dismiss likely threats or problems that could arise, it sets the team up for greater difficulties and may lead to mission failure. direct the execution of that solution, focusing all efforts and resources toward this priority task.

I do a little sign on the court every time I make a shot or a good pass and i pound my chest and point to the sky – it symbolizes that I have a heart for God. It’s something that my mom and I came up with in college and I do it every time i step on the floor as a reminder of who I’m playing for.” – Stephen Curry Something that all leaders need to keep in mind is that you are entirely responsible. It all comes down to you. Willink explains that this responsibility is at the core of being an effective leader, that’s why he calls it extreme ownership – you really have to own the actions and outcomes of the team behind you. I’ve been a Colt for almost all of my adult life, but I guess in life, and in sports, we all know nothing lasts forever. Times change, circumstances change, and that’s the reality of playing in the NFL.” – Peyton Manning Human beings are generally not capable of managing more than six to ten people, particularly when things go sideways and inevitable contingencies arise. No one senior leader can be expected to manage dozens of individuals, much less hundreds. Teams must be broken down into manageable elements of four to five operators, with a clearly designated leader. Those leaders must understand the overall mission, and the ultimate goal of that mission — the Commander’s Intent. Junior leaders must be empowered to make decisions on key tasks necessary to accomplish that mission in the most effective and efficient manner possible. Teams within teams are organized for maximum effectiveness for a particular mission, with leaders who have clearly delineated responsibilities. Every tactical-level team leader must understand not just what to do but why they are doing it. If frontline leaders do not understand why, they must ask their boss to clarify the why. Business Application It is important to have strategic briefs for your junior leaders to give them context of the full mission.You must understand the strategic impact of what you are doing and why. This information must be explained to your junior leaders. It’s important to remember that a bad team is credited to bad leadership. If they are not given the proper guidance and training then you cannot expect them to be effective. Willink emphasises the importance of a leader who establishes their expectations from the beginning. Make it known what is expected of every team member and be constantly striving for improvement. This is how a leader should lead. The team should be able to continue on their own without further instruction, even in the absence of their leader. Willink and Babin returned home from deployment and instituted SEAL leadership training to pass on their harsh lessons of self-discipline, mental toughness and self-defense learned in combat to help forge the next generation of SEAL leaders. After leaving the SEAL Teams, they launched a company, Echelon Front, to teach those same leadership principles to leaders in businesses, companies, and organizations across the civilian sector. Since that time, they have trained countless leaders and worked with hundreds of companies in virtually every industry across the U.S. and internationally, teaching them how to develop their own high-performance teams and most effectively lead those teams to dominate their battlefields. By having faith and trust in junior front line leaders, you can let them make decisions that you know will help the team fulfill their mission. Leaders must be able to trust their suboordinate leaders to take charge of the smaller teams within the team and allow them to execute based on a good understanding of the broader mission and standard operating procedures.