Scalable Human Blog

🚀 The Book in 3 Sentences

1. SEAL leadership, with real stories from Jocko Willink’s and Leif Babin’s time on the battlefield.

2. Understanding the importance and application of ownership, as a leader and as a team member.

3. Outlining the dichotomy of leadership, where leadership is not an exact science, and requires balance in different situations.

🎨 Impressions

To start off, Jocko’s and Leif’s delivery on both of these books were crafted in a way that facilitates the best type of learning (in my opinion), as the learning material is all from scenarios that they have encountered where they have applied these leadership concepts successfully or unsuccessfully.

Additionally, you also learn about Jocko’s and Leif’s time served together in SEAL Task Unit Bruiser and in the Iraq war, particularly in battle for the city of Ramadi, which at the time was a highly strategic location.

Significantly, just by understanding the stakes they were under really compounds the leadership principles, as in some cases it was between life and death, so whilst understanding this you really trust what they are preaching on leadership.

⚡️ Who Should Read It?

This is for those who want to improve teamwork capabilities either as a leader or as a team member.

Disclaimer – these two books are not just for individuals who are in the military. Jocko and Leif show that the skills of being an effective leader or team member is universal within the military and civilian world too, and they demonstrate this with their time outside of the SEALs when they are brought into to large companies to train/improve teams and leadership positions.

There is a great emphasis on the principle of ownership in both of these books, which I believe is invaluable to those whom want to uphold integrity in a team environment, therefore helping a team learn and grow.

Both of these books were about a 10 hour read each. So to break this down, these books focus highly on real experiences with the goal to support what leadership and ownership can bring to a team.

☘️ How the Book Changed Me

• Taking ownership for other team members failures as a leader. Therefore, this will empower and cascade to other team members to step forward, as the example is set. Ultimately, this enables a team to grow and speak out so that they can learn from what went wrong, rather than hiding their mistakes as this is a symptom of fear and a culture of blame.

• Leading up the chain of command. Simply putting it, leaders above require help from their team to make key decisions. In addition, it is an obligation as a qualified team member to provide them with an abstraction of options detailing the advantages and drawbacks. This enables the leader to make the best possible informed decisions.

• Taking any leadership dichotomy to an extreme will often negatively impact the the team. When a leadership principle is applied it must be applied with balance. For instance, as a leader being so hands of a project you do not know what is going on can be just as a bad as micro managing. This requires balance, which as Jocko explains as being one of the most difficult skills as a leader to master.

• There is a set amount of leadership capital, don’t over enforce, spend it wisely. The team needs flexibility, if leadership is rigid and over enforcing, the team will end up resenting leadership, which will inevitably decrease the teams performance.

✍️ My Top 3 Quotes

“Discipline equals freedom”

“It’s not what you preach, it’s what you tolerate”

“Implementing Extreme Ownership requires checking your ego and operating with a high degree of humility. Admitting mistakes, taking ownership, and developing a plan to overcome challenges are integral to any successful team.”

📒 Notes + Nuggets of gold

1. Creating discipline. Early mornings, workout, study tactics, technology.

2. Discipline to get up early will reward you with free time.

3. Believe in the vision of your orders, find a reason why or ask why – emit this vision to the team.

4. Simplify the plan to the team.

5. Get the small things right.

6. Push back when things don’t seem right.

7. Humility is most important aspect of a leader.

8. Don’t be too humble and do not be too passive.

9. Things are only done well what the leader checks.

10. Be outside enough to see the bigger picture.

📚 Further Reading & Related Topics

If you’re interested in leadership, discipline, and high-performance team management, these related articles will provide deeper insights:

• Unveiling the Wisdom: A Review of 12 Rules for Life by Jordan Peterson – Explore structured life principles that emphasize responsibility, discipline, and leadership, aligning closely with Extreme Ownership.

• The Power of Your Subconscious Mind: Unleashing Potential – Book Review – Learn how mindset and belief systems influence leadership, decision-making, and personal effectiveness.