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

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I’ve been being asked about my legacy since I was about 25 years old. I’m not sure you can have a legacy when you’re 25 years old. Even 37. I’d like to have to be, like, 70 to have a legacy. I’m not even 100 percent sure what the word even means.” – Peyton Manning There are many concepts in this book that can be applied to leaders of any kind, whether it be a leader in battle, of a sports team, of a business or even of a family. See what you can take away from this and apply into your own leadership role. I don’t feel pressure. I like if anybody has interest in what I have to say, especially if they’re younger. If they like me, respect me, I’m honoured and I’ll give them my opinion.” – Robert De Niro On what capture/kill direct-action raid can you be certain there are no IEDs buried in the yard or bunkered machine gun positions in the house?” To assume otherwise was a failure of leadership. That was what mission planning was all about: never taking anything for granted, preparing for likely contingencies, and maximizing the chance of mission success while minimizing the risk to the troops executing the operation. Leadership Principle Everything is clouded and disrupted by ego: the planning process, the capacity to accept excellent counsel, and the ability to accept constructive criticism. The hardest ego to cope with is often your own. It can even suffocate a person’s sense of self-preservation.

This was fixed by creating a simple plan to give everyone a task, break down and label every room, and standardize their evidence collection and marking. This cut the time down to 20 minutes and they were able to keep everything organized. When a leader’s confidence breaks, everyone that is following him can see this, and will begin to question the mission. 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. What exactly is the mission? The study of the mission is the first step in planning. Extreme Ownership leaders must establish clear guidelines for the team. Once they grasp the task, they may pass this information on to their key commanders and frontline troops entrusted with carrying it out. The mission must be carefully revised and streamlined so that it is unambiguous and mainly focused on achieving the larger strategic goal of which it is a part. The assignment must clarify the operation’s overarching purpose and ultimate outcome, or “end state.”Instead of a junior leader asking if they can do something, they should just be telling you what they are going to do. These principles empower those teams to dominate their battlefields by enabling leaders to fulfill their purpose: lead and win.” Where Should You Start? The plan must describe the overall purpose of the mission. The front line troops must understand the intent of the mission, and where it fits into the big picture.

If you take time to realize what your dream is and what you really want in life — no matter what it is, whether it’s sports or in other fields — you have to realize that there is always work to do, and you want to be the hardest working person in whatever you do, and you put yourself in a position to be successful. And you have to have a passion about what you do.” – Stephen Curry 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 I am also not one for regrets. I don’t regret any film I’ve made, because there was a reason for making it at the time. If it hasn’t worked out, then don’t spend time worrying about why and how. Just move on to the next project.” – Robert De Niro Your boss will grow more comfortable with you and establish trust in you when you show you are capable. The leader must ask the question why? Why are we being asked to do this? If they don’t understand, then they must ask questions to the people that are higher on the chain to understand why.If a team member isn’t performing, it’s up to the leader to try and mentor them. If they continue to under-perform, the leader must consider the whole team and let the member go. Application to business: the company that created a crazy difficult to understand bonus plan for the assembly line. None of the assembly technicians understood the bonus plan.

Application to business: The nationwide company that had multiple branches. Some branches had 20 and some had 3. All sizes only had one manager. They needed to adjust their teams to groups of 4-6 to be more successful. close to the members but not so close that one becomes more important than another or more important than the good of the team; not so tight that they forget who is in Command. The leader must believe in the mission before his suboordinates and junior leaders can believe it in.

A leader must develop the trust and confidence from their team that they will make the right decisions when it matters most.