Extreme Ownership
By Jocko Willink
Extreme Ownership is written by Jocko Willink, a SEAL leader who explains how the lessons he learned in combat are relevant to leaders in any role.
Of the many exceptional leaders we served alongside throughout our military careers, the consistent attribute that made them great was that they took absolute ownership-Extreme Ownership-not just of those things for which they were responsible, but for everything that impacted their mission….Such a concept is simple, but not easy.
Winning The War Within
On any team, in any organisation, all responsibility for success and failure rsts with the leader. The leader must own everything in his or her world. There is no one else to blame. They don’t just take responsibility for their job.
This is the number-one characteristic of any high-performance winning team, in any military unit, organisation, sports team or business team in any industry… When subordinates aren’t doing what they should, leaders that exercise Extreme Ownership cannot blame the subordinates. They must first look in the mirror at themselves
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’ performance.
The best-performing SEAL units had leaders who accepted responsibility for everything. Every mistake, every failure or shortfall-those leaders would own it. During the debrief after a training mission, those good SEAL leaders took ownership of failures, sought guidance on how to improve, and figured out a way to overcome challenges on the next iteration.
‘My subordinate leaders made bad calls; I must not have explained the overall intent well enough’.
When this is done the entire team emulates the principles of extreme ownership throughout the organisation.
No Bad Teams, Only Bad Leaders
Jocko describes seeing SEAL teams compete in boat races. There was team which always finished №1 and others which always finished last.
“There are no bad teams, only bad leaders…Leadership is the single greatest factor in any team’s performance. The leader’s attitude sets the tone for the entire team”.
The idea that “there are no bad units, only bad officers” is an essential mind-set for building a high-performance, winning team.
Leaders must enforce standards. “It’s not what you preach, its what you tolerate… I f there are no consequences that poor performance becomes the new standard”.
Everyone has to believe in the mission — Commander’s Intent.
“In order to convince and inspire others to follow and accomplish a mission, a leader must be a true believer in the mission….Far more important than training or equipment, a resolute belief in the mission is critical for any team or organisation to win and achieve big results.”
Jocko describes how it is one of the main roles of a leader to make sure that all participants ,no matter there status, believe in the mission and its “why”. Jocko also points out that it is the responsibility of all employees to get clarification on matters they do not understand and that is requires true courage to knock on the CEOs door and ask a question.
Checking Your Ego
Ego clouds and disrupts everything: the planning process, the ability to take good advice, and the ability to accept constructive criticism…The most difficult ego to deal with is your own.
Simplicity
Combat has inherent layers of complexities. Simplifying as much as possible is crucial to success. When plans and orders are too complicated, people may not understand them….Plans and orders must be communicated in a manner that is simple, clear and concise.
Prioritize & Execute
Even the greatest of battlefield leaders could not handle an array of challenges simultaneously without being overwhelmed. Therefore you must prioritise and execute.
Decentralised Command
Front line leaders must have trust and confidence in their senior leaders to know that they are empowered to make decisions and that their senior leaders will back them up.
Jocko describes how how “Human beings are generally not capable of managing more than six to ten people”. Therefore, companies must be broken down into different units and the people who lead these teams must be empowered to make tough decisions.
Reflecting On Past Actions
After every SEAL mission, there is a “post-operational debrief”. “No matter how exhausted from an operation or how busy planning for the next mission, time is made for this debrief because lives and future mission success depends on it.”
Discipline Equals Freedom
Jocko describes that discipline is what separates good from exceptional.
Discipline starts every day when the first alarm clock goes off in the morning…There is no excuse for not getting out of bed. The moment the alarm goes off is the first test; it sets the tone for the rest of the day. The test is not a complex on: when the alarm goes off, do you get up out of bed, or do you lie there in comfort and fall back to sleep? If you are mentally weak for that moment and you let that weakness keep you in bed, you fail.
Although discipline demands control, it actually results in freedom. When you have the discipline to get up early, you are rewarded with more free time.
Instead of making us more rigid, discipline makes us more flexible
