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Notes from my February 2019 reading of Extreme Ownership by Jocko Willink.

  • Pg 14 – Extreme Ownership = leader must own everything in their world.  There is no one else to blame.
  • Pg 39 – Best leaders accept blame, seeks out constructive criticism and take lots of notes so they could improve.
  • Pg 49 – There are not bad teams, only bad leaders.  The leader sets the attitude of the team that drives performance.
  • Pg 54 – Leaders must drive high stand of performance.  It’s not what you preach, it’s what you tolerate.  If there is no accountability or consequence low performance becomes the standard.
  • Pg 56 – How can you apply extreme ownership in your teams?
  • Pg 57 – Leaders figure out a way to get it done and WIN.
  • Pg 58 – Leaders don’t blame anyone or make excuses.  They don’t wait for others to solve their problems.  They DO believe winning is possible.
  • Pg 77 – Leaders must have a resolute belief in the mission and impart that to their team.  They must understand how the tactics match up with the strategy (long term).  When they don’t understand the “why, they must ask up the chain of command and get that understanding.  Then, they must impart the “why” to the team.
  • Pg 104 – When someone does something wrong it’s still the leader’s fault.  They are responsible to make sure everyone know the parameters of the “mission.”
  • Pg 104 – Cover and move.  We have to remember the other teams we work with and do things that help them, which can be mutually beneficial.
  • Pg 176 – This section contains a good example of decentralized command and why it works. 
    • A team decided to occupy a different building than was planned because of intelligence gathered during the mission.  They reported back their deviation from plan.  They new building ended up being superior positioning to the planned course.
  • Pg 183 – Tactical leaders have to understand the “why” not just the “what” of a leader’s vision.
  • Pg 184 – Junior leaders must be proactive.  They need to understand the limits of their decision making authority. Senior leaders must constantly push information to the junior leaders, and vice versa.
  • Pg 204 – Planning must be delegated down the chain as far as possible to subordinate leaders.  Tactical-level leaders MUST have ownership of their own tasks.
  • Pg 205 – Senior leaders should supervise the planning, but not get bogged down in the details.  They should stand back and see the whole plan and identify gaps and weaknesses in the plan.
  • Pg 206 – Minimize risk, but leaders must be capable of accepting some level of risk.  “Those who can not risk can not win.” – John Paul Jones
  • Pg 206 – The best teams constantly analyze their tactics.
  • Pg 207 – Contains a great planning checklist.
    • Analyze the mission
    • Identify personnel, assets, resources, and time available
    • Decentralize the planning
    • Determine a specific course of action
    • Empower key leaders to develop the plan for the selected course of action
    • Plan for likely contingencies
    • Mitigate risk
    • Delegate
    • Continually check and question the plan against emerging information
    • Brief plan to all participants
    • Conduct post-operational debrief
  • Pg 229 – Leaders must show each junior leader and individual contributor how their role contributes to the bigger picture / success of the team.
  • Pg 230 – If your team isn’t doing what you need them to, you must look at yourself and figure out a better way to communicate to them in a simple, concise way so they understand.
  • Pg 236 – What would leading up the chain look like for me? What reporting would I do differently? What plans would I run past my manager?
  • Pg 237 – If your boss isn’t providing the support you need, blame yourself first. Are you providing critical information they need to give you support or to make good decisions concerning you and your team?
  • Pg 238 – Public display of discontent within leadership chain can be catastrophic.  You must understand why decisions are being made.  Debate them, then execute the orders as if they are yours, even when you disagree.  I liked the illustration of the SEALS getting lots of questions.  Instead of getting frustrated they determined those up the change must not be getting enough information.  So they resolved to preempt the questions in their briefs.  How can I do that better?
  • Pg 253 – Leaders must act on logic, not emotion.
  • Pg 271 – Discipline is getting out of bed with your alarm.  If you get up you have already got a win under your belt for the day, giving you the confidence for another win.  If you don’t get up, you FAIL. 
  • Pg 271 – Intrinsic Self-discipline is a matter of personal will.
  • Pg 274 – Discipline is the pathway to freedom. DISCIPLINE = FREEDOM.
  • Pg 274 – A true leader is not intimidated when others step up to lead and they are confident enough to follow another if the situation calls for it.
  • Pg 276 – A good leader doesn’t get bogged down by tactical details at the expense of strategic success.
  • Pg 276 – A Leader is humble but not passive, quiet but not silent.
  • Pg 278 – Leadership dichotomies
    • Confident but not cocky
    • Courageous but not foolhardy
    • Competitive but a gracious loser
    • Attentive to details but not obsessed by them
    • Strong but have endurance
    • A leader and follower
    • Humble no passive
    • Aggressive not overbearing
    • Quiet not silent
    • Calm but not robotic, logical bu not devoid of emotions
    • Able to execute extreme ownership while exercising decentralized command
  • Pg 286 – The goal of all leaders should be to work themselves out of a job.  They should be spending time preparing junior leaders to step up and take greater responsibility.