Extreme Ownership

Extreme Ownership is the book that changed the trajectory of my career. The lessons I drew from the book are fundamental to my understanding of leadership, and spill over into key values about how I live my life.

“Good” - has become something of a mantra.

Despite its impact on me, I struggle to recommend Extreme Ownership to others though. The book’s author, Jocko Willink, a retired US Navy SEAL delivers all the testosterone, bravado, and military jargon you might expect - plus a little more. Each key principle comes front loaded with a mission synopsis from Afghanistan or Iraq, and the tone is more drill sergeant than coach.

Today, I stumbled across my notes from when I initially read the book which I’ve reproduced below - if they resonate, and you think you can look past the form then Extreme Ownership has some great substance.

The Notes

On any team, in any organisation, all responsibility for success and failure rests with the leader. The leader must own everything in his or her world. There is no one else to blame. The leader must acknowledge mistakes and admit failures, taking ownership of them, and develop a plan to win.

If an individual on the team is not performing it at the level required for the team to succeed, it is up to the leader to mentor and train the individual person until they perform at the required level. Or remove them.

There are no bad teams, only bad leaders. It’s not what you preach - it’s what you tolerate. If you tolerate a poor performance or no one is held accountable - it becomes the new standard.

Teams need a forcing function, which gets the team to work together and accomplish their goal.

In order to inspire others to a goal, the leader must be a true believer. Not being a believer causes a leader to not take the necessary risks to overcome challenges.

Leaders must impart the bigger picture to their team. Knowing the “why” empowers the team and inspires them.

Ego must be left at the door in order to achieve goals. It’s important to be confident, and tackle challenges, but not to be cocky.

Work as a team - break down silos and communicate well.

Simplify. Prioritise. Execute. Pass on responsibilities

When planning, take a step back to see the bigger picture. Delegate the detail to junior leaders. Pitch to the people in your team. Make sure each person in your team can repeat back the plan.

Push vision down the chain and push information up the chain.

Thoughts A Few Years Later

Everything here rings as true as it did when I took these notes, but time has shifted the focus of the message. When I initially read the book, the themes around accountability and responsibility felt the most important. However, this time around, this time the themes of empowerment, inspiring others, and delegation stand out the most.

There are a few books on the list to read first - but it might be time for a fresh read.