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For leaders, the humility to admit and own mistakes and develop a plan to overcome them is essential to success. The best leaders are not driven by ego or personal agendas. They are simply focused on the mission and how best to accomplish it.

Jocko Willink

leadership is the single greatest factor in any team’s performance.
JOCKO WILLINK

Leadership Team
Waiting for the 100 percent right and certain solution leads to delay, indecision, and an inability to execute.
JOCKO WILLINK

Ability Action Decision Right Wait
But we can’t ever think we are too good to fail or that our enemies are not capable, deadly, and eager to exploit our weaknesses. We must never get complacent. This is where controlling the ego is most important.
JOCKO WILLINK

Control Enemy Failure Goodness Important Thinking
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.
JOCKO WILLINK

Important Lose Quality Relationship Strong Team Weapon
Leadership requires finding the equilibrium in the dichotomy of many seemingly contradictory qualities, between one extreme and another.
JOCKO WILLINK

Leadership Quality
Don’t try to plan for every contingency. Doing so will only overburden you and weigh you down so that you cannot quickly maneuver.
JOCKO WILLINK

Quick Try Willing Yourself
Trust is not blindly given. It must be built over time.
JOCKO WILLINK

Time Trust
Leaders must always operate with the understanding that they are part of something greater than themselves and their own personal interests.
JOCKO WILLINK

Greatness Leadership Understand
Leaders must accept total responsibility, own problems that inhibit performance, and develop solutions to those problems.
JOCKO WILLINK

Acceptance Development Leadership Problem Responsibility
There are no bad units, only bad officers. This captures the essence of what Extreme Ownership is all about.
JOCKO WILLINK

Bad Control Politics
People do not follow robots.
JOCKO WILLINK

People Technology
The only meaningful measure for a leader is whether the team succeeds or fails.
JOCKO WILLINK

Failure Success Team
But, in fact, discipline is the pathway to freedom.
JOCKO WILLINK

Discipline Freedom
I can remember many times when my boat crew struggled. It was easy to make excuses for our team’s performance and why it wasn’t what it should have been. But I learned that good leaders don’t make excuses. Instead, they figure out a way to get it done and win.
JOCKO WILLINK

Goodness Leadership Learning Myself Remember Struggle Time Win
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.
JOCKO WILLINK

Challenge Leadership Present Success Team Tragedy Transformation Understand War Win
Whether on the battlefield or in the business world, leaders must be comfortable accepting some level of risk.
JOCKO WILLINK

Business Comfortable Leadership Risk Understand War World

For leaders, the humility to admit and own mistakes and develop a plan to overcome them is essential to success. The best leaders are not driven by ego or personal agendas. They are simply focused on the mission and how best to accomplish it.

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For leaders, the humility to admit and own mistakes and develop a plan to overcome them is essential to success. The best leaders are not driven by ego or personal agendas. They are simply focused on the mission and how best to accomplish it.

Related Topics

Popular Authors

More Jocko Willink Quotes