Extreme Ownership by Jocko Willink and Leif Babin
Version: 2015 Original
Rating: 4.5/5
Notes:
Leaders are responsible for everything that occurs
When something bad happens, they take complete responsibility for it
When something great happens, they give credit to their team and those leaders under them
No blaming others or circumstances for it
You will get more respect if you take responsibility for your mistakes and you blame yourself
There are no bad teams, only bad leaders
Event the worst of teams can be made better with the change of the leader
The leader must place himself in the most difficult position and lead
Setting immediate goals that are tangible instead of pursuing the actual gigantic goal will help the team perform better because it will allow for better performance and focus
Push individuals harder and farther than they thought they can go
“It’s not what you preach, it’s what you tolerate” (pg: 61) (when dealing with someone that is stubborn, let them know the consequences of their actions)
Believe
You’ve got to get your team to understand why they are doing what they are doing so they can believe in the mission
The leader’s attitude and belief will carry on to the team’s
The leader needs to understand why they should carry on the mission in order for the leader to believe it
Sometimes, team members that seem useless can be useful in unexpected ways
Leaders need to step back, analyze the strategy and try to understand the why behind a task/plan
If leaders cannot determine the why, they should ask questions so that they can explain to their subordinates
Ask senior management questions if necessary
Check the ego
Leadership involves dealing with other people’s ego
It’s not about you, it is about the mission and how best to accomplish it
If team holds this attitude, they are highly likely to win
Cover and Move
When all options are not good options, choose the least bad option
Similar to the idea of picking the lesser of two evils
Make sure to look out for all of your team, they are all trying to accomplish a common mission
Protect your fellow team mates from any danger they may be facing
Focusing too much on your problems and individual team rather than on the overall big picture team (like a country or business) will lead to ineffectiveness when dealing with the big picture and accomplishing the overall goal
Simple
Your team not being able to understand the plan will lead to disaster and not being able to execute on it
Minimize complexity to ensure that problems that will eventually arise won’t compound themselves
Simple, clear, and concise communication and plan
No matter how well you think you explained it, if your team does not understand it, then it is too complex and you failed
Prioritize and execute
Find the highest priority task and complete that task with full focus
Make sure to not fall for hyper target fixation and stay alert to the big picture to avoid missing priority shifts
Do not try to solve different problems and tasks at the same time, the leader and their team will get overwhelmed and won’t execute anything effectively
It is crucial that leaders “pull themselves off the firing line” (pg: 162) by stepping back and looking at the bigger strategic picture
When planning a lot of helpful tasks/initiatives to complete, focus all energy on highest priority, then on next highest priority… etc.
Decentralized command
You will miss the bigger picture and fail to perform higher level strategic thinking if you focus too much on trying to control and operate everything without trusting subordinates to take charge of specific situations
Your subordinates should not ask what they should do, they should say what they are going to do
For this to happen, subordinates need to be able to make strategic decisions themselves
Subordinates need to know that their leaders respect and trust them to execute effectively
The leader should set clear and simple boundaries and guidance to prevent subordinate groups from doing whatever
The leader should allow subordinates to make decisions and perform tasks, even if the leader can do it more efficiently and better themselves
Plan
Although it appears burdensome and unnecessary, a plan is key to helping the success of any mission
A successful plan brief test is if your team and supporting elements understand it
Steps for planning: (pg: 207-208)
Analyze the goal
Identify people, assets, resources, and time available
Decentralized planning process
Determine specific courses of action
Allow leaders to identify courses of action in plan
Plan for disruptions
Minimize risks that can be controlled
Delegate plan portions to junior leaders
Continually improve plan as more info comes in by analyzing it and questioning it’s effectiveness
Go over plan to anyone that needs to know about it (which is usually everyone on the team)
Make an analysis and debrief to find any shortcomings and things that were done well so that team can improve in the future
Not all risks can be controlled, focus on minimizing controllable risks
“Those who will not risk cannot win.” (pg: 206)
Leading up and down chain of command
Your subordinates need to be part of the planning process in order to be effective
If team members can’t connect the dots on what they are doing to the bigger picture, they will not be as effective
If your leaders above you are asking a lot of questions, asking for paperwork, and questioning your plan, it may mean that they do not understand it and thus, you need to explain it better
Again, your leaders are not there to make you fail or miserable on purpose
If you do not understand why support is not given to you, ask
If you don’t know why an action, plan or allocation is being made, ask
Decisiveness and uncertainty
Leaders need to think logically even in the face of incredible pressure to act
Some decisions can be changed/altered later, some can never be changed
Example in book is a sniper shooting (irreversible) vs not shooting (modifiable) when they can’t identify an individual (pg: 251)
There will never be a 100% complete picture and waiting for such results in inaction, indecision and delays
A leader must learn to make decisions with the information available
A lot of answers will not be immediately clear or answerable when making a decision
This “incomplete picture” principle applies to life, not just combat (pg: 255)
A leader needs to adjust the direction/plan as more information is obtained
Leaders should not let fear overwhelm them because it will lead to indecision
Discipline equals freedom - the dichotomy of leadership
More disciplined approaches, as long as they’re not excessively restrictive, increase effectiveness, efficiency, and freedom
Excessive focus on pure discipline can lead to problems
When a leader struggles, it probably means they are off track and going too far in one direction
Leaders do not need to prove anything because of their rank, but they have a lot to prove everyday by showing their team that they are competent enough for the task
Leaders need to know that they are in charged of balancing extremes in multiple scenarios
Leaders need to know when to follow and not let their egos take over
Good leaders must balance both extremes when it comes to any character trait like confidence and cockiness
Citation:
Willink, Jocko, and Leif Babin. Extreme Ownership: How U.S. Navy Seals Lead and Win. St. Martin’s Press, 2015.