Extreme Ownership by Jocko Willink and Leif Babin

You knew that a business leadership book written by a pair of Navy Seals would resonate with me.

At the Naval Academy each of us was eligible for Seal Training. A grueling fitness test to include a 500 yard swim, push-ups, sit-ups, pull-ups and a 1.5 mile run was offered to more than 1200 physically-fit young men. The (3) most fit would be offered the opportunity to train to become a Navy Seal where only about 1 in 3 completed initial training!

During five aircraft carrier deployments as a Navy Pilot I had numerous opportunities to watch and work with Navy Seals. These are very special people.
Jocko Willink and Leif Babin served together on the most violent battlefield in Iraq. They and their teammates of Task Force Bruiser were assigned the seemingly impossible mission to help U.S forces secure Ramadi.

In real estate when a “mission” goes wrong, you don’t get the listing or the sale does not close. On the battlefield, when something goes wrong people die.

After returning from Iraq Jocko Willink was assigned to spearhead the development of leadership training for all Navy Seals. Leif Babin was assigned as the primary leadership instructor to deliver that training to the next generation of Navy Seals.

In 2011 these two warriors teamed up to found Echelon Front, the business leadership company that builds strong leaders for business start-ups and Fortune 500 companies.

The book is intentionally intense. While the teaching moments in Extreme Ownership are drawn from combat in Iraq, the lessons learned are universally applicable to business. It’s about mindset!

The chapters of the book each do a deep dive into the 12 Principles of Extreme Ownership:
-Extreme Ownership
-No Bad Teams, Only Bad Leaders
-Believe
-Check the Ego
-Cover and Move
-Simple
-Prioritize and execute
-Decentralized Command
-Plan
-Leading Up and Down the Chain of Command
-Decisiveness amid Uncertainty
-Discipline Equals Uncertainty

Accountability is interesting. As soon as someone takes responsibility for the outcome of every action, great things begin to happen for the individual as well as the organization in which they lead or operate.

As real estate super star and coach Dianna Kokoszka states in “The BOLD Laws” you can have reasons or results and you can’t have both! Perhaps she was a Navy Seal?

I recommend the book. It fits in and fills many reading categories. Business. History. Personal Development. The life lessons in Extreme Ownership are transformational AND it’s a great and rapid read.