Extreme Ownership – by Jocko Willink and Leif Babin
Date read: 11/2/19. Recommendation: 9/10.
One of the best books on leadership that I’ve ever come across. And this is one of those books that I happened to read at the perfect time when I needed these lessons the most. Willink and Babin, two Navy SEALs officers, recall their time leading the most highly decorated special operation unit of the Iraq War. Each chapter highlights one of their leadership principles in action before relating it back to the business world. I found the most relevant section to be on the laws of combat: cover and move, simple, prioritize and execute, and decentralized command. If you want to win, teams must not only know what to do, but they must also know why. As a leader, your job is to ask questions until you understand why. There are also great lessons in empowering yourself by accepting total responsibility, no matter your position, and the importance of being aggressive (not overbearing). As Willink and Babin suggest, there are no bad teams, just bad leaders.
See my notes below or Amazon for details and reviews.
My Notes:
Leadership:
A team’s performance hinges on its leader. The leader’s attitude sets the tone for the team and ultimately determines success or failure.
“There are no bad teams, only bad leaders.” LB
“Leaders must accept total responsibility, own problems that inhibit performance, and develop solutions to those problems.” LB
Victimization is the opposite of ownership and leadership. Place blame on externals, instead of turning attention towards what’s within your control and areas you can actually make a measurable difference.
Unless it’s a matter of ethics, take the blame. “It’s my fault because I wasn’t as clear as I should have been with X. You’re a talented Y. It was up to me to make sure you knew Z.” Disarms ego.
Be aggressive, not overbearing.
The Laws of Combat:
-Cover and move
-Simple
-Prioritize and execute
-Decentralized command
Prioritize and execute:
This is about building a systems mentality. It’s easy to become overwhelmed if you lack a sense of priorities and you’re facing too many tasks at once. Pick the top priority, execute, then move on to the next problem. Same thing holds true for individual product teams.
Decentralized command:
If you want to win, teams must not only know what to do, but they must also know why.
Alignment comes only when leaders at all levels understand and believe in the vision so they can pass the same understanding to their teams.
If you get direction you don’t believe in, as a leader, your job is ask questions until you understand the why. Otherwise you’re letting your team down. Why helps get you to a place where you can believe in what you’re doing.
For your teams to make the best decisions and for you to operate in complete trust and confidence with them, they need to have a fundamental understanding of the mission, the strategy, and the ultimate goal of that mission (Commander’s Intent). Without this, they will not be able to confidently execute.
Maximum number of people anyone can directly manage is 6-10.
“Junior leaders must know that the boss will back them up even if they make a decision that may not result in the best outcome, as long as the decision was made in an effort to achieve the strategic objective.” JW
Planning:
“A broad and ambiguous mission results in lack of focus, ineffective execution, and mission creep.” LB
Talk through each phase of the mission in plain English, stop at key points and ask questions, have individuals brief back portions of the plan.
Decision making:
Always evaluate decision in terms of reversibility. Be aggressive with decisions that can be easily reversed. Be deliberate with those that cannot.
As a default, be aggressive – proactive rather than reactive. Need to be seen as someone who is decisive and can make tough decisions.
Remember, teams are far more willing to forgive a wrong decision than indecision.