“The best leaders are not driven by ego or personal agendas.  They are simply focused on the mission and how best to accomplish it.” – Extreme Ownership

I believe that we are all leaders in some form or fashion.  At the very least we are  leaders in our own lives so I think this concept of Extreme Ownership applies to everyone.

This book was written by Jocko Willink and Leif Babin. Willink and Babin are Navy SEALS who use their battlefield experience in Iraq to teach leadership principles.

Most of us would be thinking:  What does being a Navy Seal have to do with my industry or my life?”

You might be surprised (like I was) to realize that even the military at war is full of paperwork.I had no clue that military battles included tons of Power Point presentations and so many reports.

My biggest takeaway

The biggest takeaway for me from this book was that you must get clear on the mission and then do everything possible to accomplish that mission.  In order to accomplish the mission to get rid of the bad guys and make sure American and Iraqi soldiers went home to their families the SEALS had to

  • Prepare
  • Train
  • Be Meticulous in all things
  • Learn to work with others
  • Develop Standard Operating Procedure
  • Own EVERYTHING you do
  • Careful even when making split second decisions.
  • Only Tolerate the Highest Standards

In this day and age, most people are easily distracted and completely lose sight of the mission. There is no time for that in a war because you’ll end up dead and perhaps taking a whole lot of others with you in the process.

When Navy SEALS go into battle they are beyond prepared.  They undergo other worldly training (You get a sneak peek into this into the book) and since anything can happen on the battlefield, they prepare for everything that can happen.

They are meticulous in everything that they do and relationship oriented because nobody goes to war by herself.

There is close attention to standard operating procedures.  (Systems and Standard Operating Procedures make life and business so much easier)

The leaders own EVERYTHING that they do and they are careful even when making split second decisions in the middle of gun fights.  Imagine every decision you’re making could bring life or death to everyone you’re in charge of.  There is no time to blame others.

At the end of every chapter there is a review of the principle and they also go through real world business applications. The business applications seamlessly translate to life application.

Read this book and Get After It!