Another great business book. I would argue that everyone should read this book. This applies to leadership in sports, business, relationships, and families. The well organized and written narrative covers military principles in action. They follow with an explanation of the principle, as well as its application in business. It's clear, easy to follow, and easy to understand. It doesn't matter if you're a busboy or a CEO, you'll find something worthwhile in this book.
Key Takeaways
Memorable Quotes
Rating: 10/10
Hands down required reading. I'll recommend this to anyone who will listen
Key Takeaways
- No matter where you are in the chain of command, you need to take ownership over what you can.
- No matter where you are in the chain of command, it is your responsibility to lead both up and down.
- Good communication underlies all aspects of leadership. As a leader, it's your responsibility to make sure your subordinates understand. As a leader, it's your responsibility to ask clarifying questions of your superiors.
- If you wish your team to be effective, you have to implement decentralized command.
- If something is going wrong, look at yourself first. Understand how you can own the situation and make it better.
- Prioritize your problems and execute one at a time in order.
- Simplicity in plans is paramount.
Memorable Quotes
- Discipline equals freedom.
- It’s not what you preach, it’s what you tolerate.
- Implementing Extreme Ownership requires checking your ego and operating with a high degree of humility. Admitting mistakes, taking ownership, and developing a plan to overcome challenges are integral to any successful team.
- the most fundamental and important truths at the heart of Extreme Ownership: there are no bad teams, only bad leaders.
- Extreme Ownership. Leaders must own everything in their world. There is no one else to blame.
- When setting expectations, no matter what has been said or written, if substandard performance is accepted and no one is held accountable—if there are no consequences—that poor performance becomes the new standard.
- Leaders should never be satisfied. They must always strive to improve, and they must build that mind-set into the team. They must face the facts through a realistic, brutally honest assessment of themselves and their team’s performance. Identifying weaknesses, good leaders seek to strengthen them and come up with a plan to overcome challenges. The best teams anywhere, like the SEAL Teams, are constantly looking to improve, add capability, and push the standards higher. It starts with the individual and spreads to each of the team members until this becomes the culture, the new standard. The recognition that there are no bad teams, only bad leaders facilitates Extreme Ownership and enables leaders to build high-performance teams that dominate on any battlefield, literal or figurative.
- Belief in the mission ties in with the fourth Law of Combat: Decentralized Command (chapter 8). The leader must explain not just what to do, but why. It is the responsibility of the subordinate leader to reach out and ask if they do not understand. Only when leaders at all levels understand and believe in the mission can they pass that understanding and belief to their teams so that they can persevere through challenges, execute and win.
- Prioritize your problems and take care of them one at a time, the highest priority first. Don’t try to do everything at once or you won’t be successful.” I explained how a leader who tries to take on too many problems simultaneously will likely fail at them all.
- Ego clouds and disrupts everything: the planning process, the ability to take good advice, and the ability to accept constructive criticism. It can even stifle someone’s sense of self-preservation. Often, the most difficult ego to deal with is your own.
- Regardless of how you think an operation is going to unfold,” I answered, “the enemy gets their say as well—and they are going to do something to disrupt it. When something goes wrong—and it eventually does—complex plans add to confusion, which can compound into disaster. Almost no mission ever goes according to plan. There are simply too many variables to deal with.
Rating: 10/10
Hands down required reading. I'll recommend this to anyone who will listen