paperback
Published July 12, 2018 by Macmillan Us.
Jocko Willink and Leif Babin served together in SEAL Task Unit Bruiser, the most highly decorated Special Operations unit from the war in Iraq. Through difficult months of sustained combat, Jocko, Leif and their SEAL brothers learned that leadership -- at every level -- is the most important thing on the battlefield. They started Echelon Front to teach these same leadership principles to companies across industries throughout the business world that want to build their own high-performance, winning teams. This book explains the SEAL leadership concepts crucial to accomplishing the most difficult missions in combat and how to apply them to any group, team, or organization. It provides the reader with Jocko and Leif's formula for success: the mindset and guiding principles that enable SEAL combat units to achieve extraordinary results. It demonstrates how to apply these directly to business and life to likewise achieve victory.
Whew! Very cool. Very easy to agree with and relate to other parts of life. I listened to this and the authors' narration was really fantastic. Super cool.
Whew! Very cool. Very easy to agree with and relate to other parts of life. I listened to this and the authors' narration was really fantastic. Super cool.
Instructive and sometimes insightful glimpses from alien-yet-familiar military in a war situation.
Also: the army is probably producing more PowerPoints than your organization does.
I read this because I was making fun of a friend for reading it. Really fascinating to read a book by someone who thinks so differently from me in so many ways. Provokes some thoughts about how the mentality of warfare and the metaphor of the warrior really shape how these people approach life. Some scattered thoughts:
- dominating and winning is a constant theme; do these things, be an extreme owner, and you will dominate. I would say that dominance is not one of my goals.
- through seizing responsibility for failure you also seize the power for changing that failure, is kind of the message.
- something something serenity to accept what I cannot change, courage to change what I can. This book tries to tell you that the second part is a lot bigger than what you think it is.
Finally, just seeing the cover of this โฆ
I read this because I was making fun of a friend for reading it. Really fascinating to read a book by someone who thinks so differently from me in so many ways. Provokes some thoughts about how the mentality of warfare and the metaphor of the warrior really shape how these people approach life. Some scattered thoughts:
- dominating and winning is a constant theme; do these things, be an extreme owner, and you will dominate. I would say that dominance is not one of my goals.
- through seizing responsibility for failure you also seize the power for changing that failure, is kind of the message.
- something something serenity to accept what I cannot change, courage to change what I can. This book tries to tell you that the second part is a lot bigger than what you think it is.
Finally, just seeing the cover of this book made me feel more empowered at work so if you're reading this just scroll back up and look at the cover a bit more.
Extreme ownership builds leadership into every level of an organization, so this book is for everyone in any role. Extreme ownership is balanced by decentralized command - leaders must delegate up and down the chain. These are the first and last chapters and the most important.
The book is organized in twelve chapters, each chapter is a principle in these two Navy SEALs leadership philosophy. The twelve chapters are split into three sections - the war within, laws of combat, sustaining victory. Each chapter is split into three sections - a SEAL example, the principle in brief, the principle applied to business (the authors became leadership consultants after their service).
Winning the war within is the most important section. You need to take ownership. The responsibility for failure or success is on you. There are no bad teams, just bad leaders.
I loved the term tortured genius - if you โฆ
Extreme ownership builds leadership into every level of an organization, so this book is for everyone in any role. Extreme ownership is balanced by decentralized command - leaders must delegate up and down the chain. These are the first and last chapters and the most important.
The book is organized in twelve chapters, each chapter is a principle in these two Navy SEALs leadership philosophy. The twelve chapters are split into three sections - the war within, laws of combat, sustaining victory. Each chapter is split into three sections - a SEAL example, the principle in brief, the principle applied to business (the authors became leadership consultants after their service).
Winning the war within is the most important section. You need to take ownership. The responsibility for failure or success is on you. There are no bad teams, just bad leaders.
I loved the term tortured genius - if you think you are right, but no one listens to you then you may be a tortured genius. Leaders are measured by the success of their teams, and it pays to be a winner.
A lot of these concepts are not new - the chapter Believe can be seen in Simone Sinek It Starts With Why, Check the Ego can be seen in Ego is the Enemy by Ryan Holiday, Managing up and down the chain is just that - managing up. The authors acknowledge that. But their examples are gripping and their organization is easy to understand.
When Bama lost to Auburn in the Iron Bowl, Saban took total responsibility. Saban probably knew to do that without reading this book. Smart did the same thing after Auburn smoked Georgia in the Deep South's oldest rivalry. Smart and Saban met in the National Championship game while Auburn and the other 120+ teams sat home. You could take the principles and apply them to football, but the SEALs experience is more meaningful.
Finally, I couldn't help but see that the first endorsements are from right wing cable news personalities, nobody needs to read this more than the two people who ran for president in 2016. Writing a book blaming everyone else for your loss (I reviewed it on GR) or tweeting at law enforcement after national tragedies is as far from extreme ownership as you can get. And so the sycophants on both sides should also check this book out.
Jocko ends with a chapter Discipline Equals Freedom. Another great concept that he turned into a new book. I am looking forward to reading that next.
Marc Andreessen recommended โExtreme Ownershipโ as one of the recent good reads. It codifies the abstract and unspoken best practices of ownership in an elegant manner. Read more at medium.com/@santhoshguru/10-lessons-in-product-management-i-learnt-from-extreme-ownership-5c2ae2f2dcc
