1: “This new compensation plan is terrible,” said one of the mid-level managers.  “It will drive our best salespeople away,” write Jocko Willink and Leif Babin in Extreme Ownership: How U.S. Navy Seals Lead and Win.

The company’s leadership had recently unveiled a new comp plan for their sales force.  The new plan significantly reduced pay, especially for low-producing salespeople.

“This new compensation plan will push people to our … continue reading

1: “In order to convince and inspire others to follow and accomplish a mission, a leader must be a true believer in the mission,” writes Jocko Willink in Extreme Ownership.  Jocko was commander of SEAL Team Three’s Unit Bruiser, the most highly decorated Special Ops Unit of the Iraq War for their heroism during the battle of Ramaldi.

Yesterday we explored how Jocko responded when higher command sent down … continue reading

1: “This makes no sense at all,” Jocko Willink writes in Extreme Ownership.  

The mission statement from higher command was clear.  His elite Navy SEAL team would be required to execute their assignments “by, with, and through Iraqi security forces.”

Jocko and the rest of Task Unit Bruiser were stationed in Ramaldi, the epicenter of Iraqi insurgency, doing battle with hardcore mujahideen fighters determined to kill as many Americans … continue reading

1: “Some may wonder how Navy SEAL combat leadership principles translate outside the military realm to leading any team in any capacity,” Jocko Willink and Leif Babin write in their terrific book Extreme Ownership: How U.S. Navy SEALs Lead and Win. 

“But combat is reflective of life, only amplified and intensified,” they write.  “The leadership and teamwork concepts contained in this book are not abstract theories, but practical and … continue reading

1: In the spring of 2006, when Navy SEAL Task Unit Bruiser arrived in Ramadi, it was the deadly epicenter of the Iraqi insurgency.  A U.S. leaked intelligence report said the city was “all but lost.” 

“Virtually no one thought it possible that U.S. forces could turn the situation around there and win,” write Jocko Willink and Leif Babin in Extreme Ownership.

But win is what happened.  Enemy … continue reading

1: It was night three of the infamous Hell Week of SEAL training.  

The Navy SEAL candidates were exhausted.  They had slept less than one hour over the previous three days.  They were shivering from the cold ocean water and cool wind.  Their camouflage fatigues were “soaked to the bone and covered in gritty sand that chafed them until they were raw and bleeding,” Leif Babin writes in Extreme Ownership: … continue reading

1: Yesterday, we analyzed a “blue-on-blue” or friendly fire incident that happened in 2006 in Ramadi, the deadly epicenter of the Iraqi insurgency, involving Navy SEAL Task Force Bruiser and its commander Jocko Willink.

Today, we look at the principle Jocko demonstrated in the wake of what had happened.

Extreme Ownership.

This principle is the title of the book Jocko wrote with fellow SEAL Leif Babin.  It is also … continue reading

1: “Pushing open the heavy armored door of my vehicle, I stepped out onto the street.  I had a gut feeling that something was wrong,” writes Jocko Willink in Extreme Ownership: How U.S. Navy SEALS Lead and Win, which he co-wrote with Leif Babin.

Jocko’s mind was racing.  A veteran Navy SEAL, he had risen through the ranks to become commander of Task Force Bruiser.  It was his unit’s first major … continue reading