Extreme Ownership: How US Navy SEALs Lead and Win. This is a book available on Amazon and written by Jocko Willink and Leif Babin. These two gentlemen served the United States as U.S. Navy SEAL officers. They participated in the Battle of Ramadi in Iraq, which will go down in history as some of the toughest urban combat SEAL teams have faced to date. Both of these guys were not only SEALs but leaders within the SEAL teams. They also basically rewrote the book on SEAL training and leadership development and then went on to form their own company Echelon Front where they pass these lessons down to us civilians.
So when I said multiple fronts, not only have they served the United States in the war on terror, they are also serving the US by helping businesses become more effective and efficient.
Let’s look at that for a second right from the book, “Extreme Ownership: Leaders must own everything in their world. There is no one else to blame.”
This book is about leadership and the team and has 3 parts; Winning the War Within, Laws Of Combat, and Sustaining Victory. The 12 chapters in the book out line 12 key principles of leadership.
Keep in mind, a principle is a fundamental truth or proposition that serves as the foundation for a system of belief or behavior or for a chain of reasoning.
So at this point, from the very beginning of the book, you realize that it (leadership) all starts with you. You, regardless of your rank, position in the company or status in society ARE a leader. How do you lead you?
Then they go outward. Now, how do you lead in a group setting?
Finally, how much are are you doing to continue winning?
Reminds me of Grant Cardone’s Formula For Success: A3. Attitude, Approach and Action.
In fact, there’s an entire chapter in The 10X Rule dedicated to this very concept. Assume Control For Everything
And just so we’re clear – control is a good thing. Because of a few certain weirdos like Sadam and Hitler and probably a few ex-boyfriends and ex-girlfriends people can get weirded out about that word. Control is a good thing. You want to be in control of your life, your car, your situation. Right?
So here’s how this book rolls out:
It takes their experiences as SEALs and as SEAL leaders and the principles they learned and then plugs them into real business settings.
Every one of the principles can be applied to business – but as you look closer, you will find that there are some major life lessons here that go way beyond the battlefield and the boardroom.
I’m going to give you 3 quotes. One from each part of the book:
DISCLAIMER: The are NOT the top 3, these are NOT the best 3, these are just 3 quotes that moved me, inspired me and hopefully will inspire you – I want to challenge you to read this book for yourself and find your own 3…
ONE: “Total responsibility for failure is a difficult thing to accept, and taking ownership when things go wrong requires extraordinary humility and courage. But doing just that is an absolute necessity to learning, growing as a leader, and improving a team’s performance.”
TWO: “…That is what this is all about, the overall mission, the overall team. Not just your team, but the whole team; the entire corporation – all departments within your company, all subsidiary companies under the corporation, outside contractors, the whole enterprise. You must work together and support each other as one team.”
THREE: “Jocko had taught me that, as a leader, my default setting should be aggressive – proactive rather than reactive. This was critical to the success of any team. Instead of letting the situation dictate our decisions, we must dictate the situation.”
