Extreme Ownership
Think you might want to read this book?
If you have respect for both those who serve in the military and sound business practices, then Extreme Ownership is the book for you. Each chapter relays an actual combat story from their time as SEALs in Ramadi, Iraq, and then connects the principle and application to leadership. Want war stories? Check. Want to live in the intersection between military tactics/strategies and leading a school? Check. Looking to step up your leadership game by taking responsibility for everything that happens in your school? Triple check!
What Would Socrates Ask?
What if every meeting agenda had an open forum item where the variables/strategies behind decisions could be explained to all?
What if we built a culture where clarity in messaging was the responsibility of the messenger and the receiver?
What if the purpose of every meeting were written at the top of the agenda and spoken at the start?
What if the expectation was that all communication was responded to with questions or an “understand” answer?
Concepts
Extreme Ownership: not just of those things for which they are responsible, but for everything that impacts their mission. These leaders cast no blame. They make no excuses. Instead of complaining about challenges or setbacks, they develop solutions and solve problems.
Prioritize and Execute: We verbalize this principle with this direction: “Relax, look around, make a call.”
Decisively engaged: a battle in which a unit locked in a tough combat situation cannot maneuver or extricate themselves. In other words, they cannot retreat.
Human beings are generally not capable of managing more than six to ten people, particularly when things go sideways and inevitable contingencies arise.
The Dichotomy of Leadership: A good leader must be:
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 not passive;
Aggressive not overbearing;
Quiet not silent;
Calm but not robotic, logical but not devoid of emotions;
Close with the troops but not so close that one becomes more important than another or more important than the good of the team; not so close that they forget who is in charge.
Able to execute Extreme Ownership, while exercising Decentralized Command.
Quotes from the author
“The principles of good leadership do not change regardless of the mission, the environment, or the personalities of those involved.”
“By leadership, we do not mean just the senior commanders at the top, but the crucial leaders at every level of the team.”
“When setting expectations, no matter what has been said or written, if substandard performance is accepted and no one is held accountable… that poor performance becomes the new standard.”
“Far more important than training or equipment, a resolute belief in the mission is critical for any team or organization to win and achieve big results.”
“If you don’t understand or believe in the decisions coming down from your leadership, it is up to you to ask questions until you understand how and why those decisions are being made. Not knowing the why prohibits you from believing in the mission.”
“Situations will sometimes require that the boss walk away from a problem and let junior leaders solve it, even if the boss knows he might solve it more efficiently. It is more important that the junior leaders are allowed to make decisions-and backed up even if they don’t make them correctly.”
“As a leader, if you are down in the weeds planning the details with your guys, you will have the same perspective as them, which adds little value. But if you let them plan the details, it allows them to own their piece of the plan. And it allows you to stand back and see everything with a different perspective, which adds tremendous altitude, and you will see more. As a result, you will catch mistakes which enables you to look like a tactical genius, just because you have a broader view.”
“One of the most important jobs of any leader is to support your own boss-your immediate leadership.”
“But, a leader must control his or her emotions. If not, how can they expect to control anything else? Leaders who lose their temper also lose respect. But, at the same time, to never show any sense of anger, sadness, or frustration would make that leader appear void of any emotion at all-a robot. People do not follow robots.”
“Confidence is contagious, a great attribute for a leader and a team.”
“As with many of the dichotomies of leadership, a person’s biggest strength can be his greatest weakness when he doesn’t know how to balance it.”
Quotes from others
“Those who will not risk cannot win.” - Father of the U.S. Navy, John Paul Jones
Organizations/schools working on answers
Gateways to further learning
Referenced books with the potential to impact leading and learning in education
The applicability of this book to education is ….
Resources
