Book Notes: Extreme Ownership

Principles of Extreme Ownership:

The leader owns everything in his or her world. If someone on the team isn’t performing it’s the leader’s responsibility to provide education and support to bring that person up to speed.

No bad teams, only bad leaders. The story of the two boat crews in BUDS training. One was performing extremely well, one was not. After swapping just the boat leaders, the “bad” boat became one of the strongest boats. It was all about the leader of the boat and the positive attitude.

Leaders must be a true believer in the mission. They must accept the plan fully if they are to inpsire their team, even if they don’t initially agree with the direction.

Check your ego. Be willing to admit your mistakes.

Cover and Move. Break down internally divisions and support your team. You need everyone working together to achieve success.

Simplify. If instructions about a plan get to complex, the important details get lost and people started heading in different directions. Make sure to keep things simple and keep everyone on the same page.

Prioritize and Execute - Figure out the most important thing that needs to be done and get it done.

Decentralized Command - Give people on your team the ability to make decisions and take control.

Plan - No plan survives contact with reality. Have a well thought out, written plan, and expect things to go wrong.

Discipline Equals Freedom - Do the hard work up front and, you’ll enjoy the freedom that comes as a result.