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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.

Jocko Willink

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

Discipline Freedom
You have to BE VIGILANT. You have to be ON GUARD. You have to HOLD THE LINE on the seemingly insignificant little things— things that shouldn’t matter—but that do.
JOCKO WILLINK

Importance Worth Yourself
If the plan is simple enough, everyone understands it, which means each person can rapidly adjust and modify what he or she is doing. If the plan is too complex, the team can’t make rapid adjustments to it, because there is no baseline understanding of it.
JOCKO WILLINK

Planning Simplicity Team Understand
When it comes to standards, as a leader, it’s not what you preach, it’s what you tolerate.
JOCKO WILLINK

Leadership Philosophy Tolerance
Even the most competent of leaders can be overwhelmed if they try to tackle multiple problems or a number of tasks simultaneously.
JOCKO WILLINK

Leadership Problem Try
The greatest of these was the recognition that leadership is the most important factor on the battlefield, the single greatest reason behind the success of any team.
JOCKO WILLINK

Greatness Leadership Team
Staying ahead of the curve prevents a leader from being overwhelmed when pressure is applied and enables greater decisiveness.
JOCKO WILLINK

Decision Force Greatness Leadership Stay
The goal of leadership seems simple: to get people to do what they need to do to support the mission and the team.
JOCKO WILLINK

Friendship Goal Simplicity Support Team
Departments and groups within the team must break down silos, depend on each other and understand who depends on them.
JOCKO WILLINK

Break Independent Team Understand
Most important of all, he believed winning was possible.
JOCKO WILLINK

Believe Himself Important Possible Win
If we could execute with a monumental effort just to reach an immediate goal that everyone could see, we could then continue to the next visually.
JOCKO WILLINK

Effort Goal See
Leaders must accept total responsibility, own problems that inhibit performance, and develop solutions to those problems.
JOCKO WILLINK

Acceptance Development Leadership Problem Responsibility
Calm but not robotic, logical but not devoid of emotions.
JOCKO WILLINK

Emotional Logic Technology
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.
JOCKO WILLINK

Action Blame Live People Problem
All animals, including humans, need to see the connection between action and consequence in order to learn or react appropriately.
JOCKO WILLINK

Action Animal Connection Human Learning
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.
JOCKO WILLINK

Best Decision Failure Leadership Possible 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.

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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.

Related Topics

Popular Authors

More Jocko Willink Quotes