Extreme Ownership – Book Review
Reading this book crystalized that leadership is a valuable quality in any arena. Heads of State, CEOs, business owners, both large and small, department heads, coaches of teams, team captains, the list is limitless, all must have leadership qualities.
Navy SEALs, Jocko Willink and Leif Babin took their leadership skills to battle and have shared their stories and lessons. The book is a raw, reflective and vulnerable look at the skills needed to move forward, take responsibility, learn from losses and to recognize what went right.
Kevin Nolan, at Nolan Painting, has taken the concept of ideal team size and leading up and down the chain of command from the book and applied it to his organizational chart and how information is shared all throughout Nolan Painting. Everyone at Nolan Painting, from the CEO to the team in the field is assigned on the organizational chart. This organizational chart allows for small teams in the field with concentrated leadership to be nimble and creates a cascading level of communication up to and down the organizational structure. The idea of cascading information flow empowers the team and engenders empowerment. The quality of feedback and the ability to solve problems quickly has increased due to this implementation.
The main leadership skills discussed, as first learned in combat and then applied to the business world:
#1 — Leaders don’t blame the team for mistakes/failure.
#2 — Leaders instill belief in winning in the team members, one-and-all.
#3 — Leaders take the most difficult job on the boat.
#4 — Leaders prioritize and execute. Move to the next priority and execute. Single initiative.
#5 — Leaders make sure the plan is shared up and down the organization chart.
#6 — A good leader has nothing to prove, but everything to prove. (Willinick & Babin)
These leadership skills, that were battle-hardened, are shared in this book. Businesses of any size will benefit from the attitudes and values that SEAL teams train and embrace to build a team and achieve the business vision.
All the best,
Chris Adams