“All elements within the greater team are crucial and must work together to accomplish the mission, mutually supporting one another for that singular purpose.”

As a leader, you have to balance the dichotomy, to be resolute where it matters but never inflexible and uncompromising on matters of little importance to the overall good of the team and the strategic mission.

Leaders must accept total responsibility, own problems that inhibit performance, and develop solutions to those problems.

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

Once people stop making excuses, stop blaming others, and take ownership of everything in their lives, they are compelled to take action to solve their problems.

There are no bad units, only bad officers. This captures the essence of what Extreme Ownership is all about.

Although discipline demands control and asceticism, it actually results in freedom. When you have the discipline to get up early, you are rewarded with more free time.

More than a decade of continuous war and tough combat operations in Iraq and Afghanistan gave birth to a new generation of leaders in the ranks of America’s fighting forces.

Whether on the battlefield or in the business world, leaders must be comfortable accepting some level of risk.

Most important of all, he believed winning was possible.

I had to take ownership of everything that went wrong. Despite the tremendous blow to my reputation and to my ego, it was the right thing to do—the only thing to do. I

The infamous they.

To not move around, observe, and analyze, in order to make the best decisions possible, was to fail as a leader and fail the team.

Calm but not robotic, logical but not devoid of emotions.

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.

I have always felt strongly about empowering women. I’m living proof that, with confidence and by believing in yourself, you can accomplish any goal.

First you train the followers to accomplish the mission. Second, you resource them: Make sure that they have the tools to do the job. Third, you reward them: You give them medals or bonuses.

I try to only commit myself to things that I think I can accomplish and commit myself to 100 percent. I try not to bite off more than I can chew.

Most of the important things in the world have been accomplished by people who have kept on trying when there seemed to be no hope at all.

No one can sum up all God is able to accomplish through one solitary life, wholly yielded, adjusted, and obedient to Him.

The essence of strategy is that you must set limits on what you’re trying to accomplish.

There is nothing that God has judged good for us that He has not given us the means to accomplish, both in the natural and the moral world.

Fit no stereotypes. Don’t chase the latest management fads. The situation dictates which approach best accomplishes the team’s mission.