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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

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.
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Accomplishment Company Leadership Lesson People Team
When it comes to standards, as a leader, it’s not what you preach, it’s what you tolerate. When setting expectations, no matter what has been said or written, if substandard performance is accepted and no one is held accountable.
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Acceptance Expectation Leadership Tolerance
Remember: the enemy gets a vote.
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Democracy Enemy Remember
And the more you build your will by doing hard things, the stronger your will becomes.
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Strong Willing Yourself
Relax. Look around. Make a call.
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Action Breathe Inspirational See
The infamous they.
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Famous One Liner
We learned that leadership requires belief in the mission and unyielding perseverance to achieve victory, particularly when doubters question whether victory is even possible.
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Achievement Belief Leadership Learning Perseverance Possible Victory
Waiting for the 100 percent right and certain solution leads to delay, indecision, and an inability to execute.
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Ability Action Decision Right Wait
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.
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Decision Development Leadership Team
After all, there can be no leadership where there is no team.
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Leadership Team
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
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Myself Reputation Responsibility Right Time
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.
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Control Enemy Failure Goodness Important Thinking
Generally, when a leader struggles, the root cause behind the problem is that the leader has leaned too far in one direction and steered off course. Awareness.
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Direction Leader Problem Struggle
There is no easy way.
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Easy Hard Time Inspirational
There is only hard work, late nights, early mornings, practice, rehearsal, repetition, study, sweat, blood, toil, frustration, and discipline.
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Discipline Inspirational Morning Night Practice Success
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.
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Age Change Improvement Leadership Simplicity Technology
Motivation is fickle. It comes and goes.
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Motivational One Liner
In the business world, and in life, there are inherent complexities. It is critical to keep plans and communication simple.
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Business Life Simplicity World
The test for a successful brief is simple: Do the team and the supporting elements understand it?
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Success Team Understand
The Warrior Kid treats people with respect, doesn’t judge them.
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Judgement People Respect Warrior
The goal of leadership seems simple: to get people to do what they need to do to support the mission and the team.
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Friendship Goal Simplicity Support Team
There are no bad units, only bad officers. This captures the essence of what Extreme Ownership is all about.
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Bad Control Politics
His realistic assessment, acknowledgment of failure, and ownership of the problem were key to developing a plan to improve performance and ultimately win.
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Development Failure Himself Improvement Problem Win
The best leaders are not driven by ego or personal agendas.
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Leadership Virtue
Plans and orders must be communicated in a manner that is simple, clear, and concise. Everyone
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Planning Simplicity
Our egos don’t like to take blame.
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Blame Ourselves
Remember to keep your ego in check. Don’t judge people.
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Judgement People Remember Yourself

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.

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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.

Related Topics

Popular Authors

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