“Leadership requires finding the equilibrium in the dichotomy of many seemingly contradictory qualities, between one extreme and another.”

All animals, including humans, need to see the connection between action and consequence in order to learn or react appropriately.

In the SEAL Teams, the bond of our brotherhood is our strongest weapon. If you take that away from us, we lose our most important quality as a team.

A leader must lead but also be ready to follow. Sometimes, another member of the team—perhaps a subordinate or direct report—might be in a better position to develop a plan, make a decision, or lead through a specific situation.

The best leaders are not driven by ego or personal agendas.

Is this what I want to be? This? Is this all I’ve got—is this everything I can give? Is this going to be my life? Do I accept that?

The most fundamental and important truths at the heart of Extreme Ownership: there are no bad teams, only bad leaders.

Leadership isn’t one person leading a team. It is a group of leaders working together, up and down the chain of command, to lead.

Departments and groups within the team must break down silos, depend on each other and understand who depends on them.

We wrote this so that the leadership lessons can continue to impact teams beyond the battlefield in all leadership situations—any company, team, or organization in which a group of people strives to achieve a goal and accomplish a mission.

We learned that leadership requires belief in the mission and unyielding perseverance to achieve victory, particularly when doubters question whether victory is even possible.

If mistakes happen, effective leaders don’t place blame on others. They take ownership of the mistakes, determine what went wrong, develop solutions to correct those mistakes and prevent them from happening again as they move forward.

The U.S. Navy SEAL Teams were at the forefront of this leadership transformation, emerging from the triumphs and tragedies of war with a crystallized understanding of what it takes to succeed in the most challenging environments that combat presents.

Cover and Move, Simple, Prioritize and Execute, and Decentralized Command.

The most impressive thing about this improvement in performance was that it did not come from a major process change or an advance in technology. Instead, it came through a leadership principle that has been around for ages: Simple.

Establishing an effective and repeatable planning process is critical to the success of any team.

The test for a successful brief is simple: Do the team and the supporting elements understand it?

This piece is neither an endorsement nor an indictment of any leader, it’s just an open question!

I choose a lazy person to do a hard job. Because a lazy person will find an easy way to do it.

Leadership and learning are indispensable to each other.

A star wants to see himself rise to the top. A leader wants to see those around him rise to the top.

Leaders serve the people not themselves.

Anybody will do for you, but not for me. I must have somebody.

Leaders are those who empower others.

The challenge of leadership is to be strong, but not rude; be kind, but not weak; be bold, but not bully; be thoughtful, but not lazy; be humble, but not timid; be proud, but not arrogant; have humor, but without folly.