‼️ How U.S. Navy SEALs Lead and Win by Jocko Willink and Leif Babin‼️

 27/∞

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/+⭐️

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“There are no bad teams, only bad leaders”

Right at the beginning I have to say I’m not a fan of strict hierarchies, sameness and of dull obliging. Which is the picture I have in my mind when it comes to the army. To be a part of army requires to put off your personality and to become just another piece of a larger picture. As the consequence your personality is suppressed. 

Coming out of the country where being “the same” was a norm for 40 years and where any disagreement with higher authority was awarded by a beautiful vacation in GULAG -like facility (yes, I refer to communism) means that any suppression of expressed free will more than scares me.

But there is the other side of the coin. 

In order to achieve higher “good,” you need to cooperate with others. You need to lead, to be led and to trust those who can lead. By all means, cooperation and coordination is what makes any army efficient. Or a company and this is exactly the point of why is this book unique. It brings the knowledge of army to the world of business. At first, those two have very little in common, but I was greatly impressed by seeing of how authors of this book solved various business related problems in big companies with help of army knowledge.

To my big surprise even soldiers who are being part of an army, need to know their WHY (similar to the people working for big corporations). Even commanders of platoons could be asked to fulfil dumb and stupid tasks which just do not make sense and it is up to them to politely and effectively question their superiors who might have NO combat experiences.

Those are the moments when this book helps. It bring the idea of extreme ownership and tells you how you should lead in a style of well respected army commander. Because you might be a commander, but if you have no respect, well…

…

The idea of extreme ownership

The army is strictly hierarchical institution. If somebody above gives an order, the order has to be fulfilled. 

At the same time you have to acknowledge that even you can make some mistakes… That you could be the person to give some wrong order. When you make a mistake, there is nobody else to blame. It is not your superior, it is not the fucking army, it is not the fucked up George Bush, it is not the American high demand for oil, no fucking Muslims in Iraq, but the first person to blame is YOU and only YOU!

I actually wonder, if I am the only person to whom is something like this happening, but let’s say. You are going to create a perfect plan and something goes wrong. Now, you get really upset, because you have put loads of time and effort into planning. Your very first reaction is probably going to be: This is not my fucking mistake!!! Consequentially, you are going to go on the shit blaming trip of why YOU are not responsible, but somebody else is (e.g. the government, fucking aliens etc…).

This is the moment when you have to accept the problem as your own.

In the book is a beautiful story of men going into a combat and hell loads of thing going wrong. The situation was described as blue on blue. It was soldiers shooting their own soldiers without knowing they are their own soldiers…

Whey the platoon returned to the basement, Jocko asked who’s fucking mistake it was… First soldier said it was his mistake. Wrong,, Jocko answered. Who’s mistake it was? My, said another solider. Wrong, said again Jocko. After few more rounds he finally said: it was my mistake and I will everything I can to not repeat it. 

And that is extreme ownership…

No bad teams, only bad leaders

During the SEAL’s training there was one exceptionally interesting fact observed. When leaders of winning teams were swapped for the leaders of loosing teams, the loosing teams become the winning teams. 

In the other words, leadership is an exceptionally important skill.

Believe

You have to believe in what you do. If you won’t believe, nobody will follow you. I will make a few nasty remarks about the school system here. In schools we are often taught unless, bullshit information. All students fucking know it will be useless as fuck, but teachers will eventually start to convince the students of how handy it might one day come in life. Consequently, “some” students start to believe it, too.

But let’s imagine more complicated scenario in military. You are suppose to do something you do not believe in. You know that some of your men might loose their lives while following the order you do not believe in.

This is the time for you to make yourself believe in the mission and higher purpose and then transfer this believe on your men. Those reasons are not given by somebody. You have to find them on your own.

But without believe, there will be no well coordinated and motivated platoon.

Check your ego

Sometimes we all get carried away. It is all about the mission, it is not about you and your ego.

Cover and move

Relates to the idea of working as one team together. This scenario applies not only to army, but also to big companies. Different divisions may start to work against each other instead of working together. It starts with extreme ownership. 

Simple

Especially in combat, there is no room for innuendos or even long sentences, the information has to be given clearly and precisely. Simple relates not only to communication in combat, but also to management style in larger companies. If CEO makes a decision, it is his or her responsibility to make sure that the information will be communicated in precise and simple way on to the rest of the company. Lack of clarity could be fatal…

Decentralise and command

In order to get the best to of your men you have to trust them with decisions they make. At the certain point, you cannot make all the decisions required. Therefore you have to surround yourself with people who are trustworthy and are capable to make good decisions.

When it comes to decisions. If you won’t make one, you might become paralysed by the decision you are about to make. Therefore make all the decision based on all available information at the given moment.

Leading up the chain of command

Military has a very strict hierarchy. Sometimes it can feel as one human being cannot influence the course of actions taken. But authors of this book had the patience, persistence and courage to step up and eventually discuss and adjust the course of events leading up in the cain of command.

In army, you might be obliged to follow up orders of somebody who is higher up, but has no real combat experience. It is then your responsibility to communicate, adjust and explain the situation.

Routine sets you free

It sounds like a paradox, but I think it is the ultimate truth. To do something what benefits your body and mind has great impact on your overall wellbeing. Action creates more action and more action. It won’t happen all in one day, but it takes continuous effort and discipline to get there. 

Finally, I say one more thing. The book mentions a guy who have lost an eye sight in combat. I always find interesting how glamorously it is described by others. It almost sounds like nothing happened at all and injured person found the way around it. I do not think it actually happens. You wake up every day and you cannot see a shit, mate. Are those people not bitter? Do they not blame George Bush Jr. for the war in Iraq? I will let you mediate on it on your own.

Conclusion:

As I am saying, this book was exceptional. I really liked it and I would recommend others to read it, too.

Next time I’m going to review a book which is going to suggest we know nothing and that the wold we live in is rather a creation of random events.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/+⭐️

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Feel free to like, share and comment or recommend books/courses you find inspirational yourself. I’m keen to hear about them.

Coming Up Next: 

The Black Swan by Nassim Taleb