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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

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

Accomplishment Greatness Support Team Togetherness
There is no easy way.
JOCKO WILLINK

Easy Hard Time Inspirational
Cover and Move, Simple, Prioritize and Execute, and Decentralized Command.
JOCKO WILLINK

Act Simplicity
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

Accomplishment Development Focus Humility Leadership Mistake Simplicity
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
Decisively engaged?
JOCKO WILLINK

Decision Marriage
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.
JOCKO WILLINK

Born Fight Force Leadership Tough War
So how can a leader become great if they lack the natural characteristics necessary to lead? The answer is simple: a good leader builds a great team that counterbalances their weaknesses.
JOCKO WILLINK

Greatness Leadership Necessary Simplicity Team Weakness
Our egos don’t like to take blame.
JOCKO WILLINK

Blame Ourselves
As a leader, it is up to you to explain the bigger picture to him—and to all your front line leaders. That is a critical component of leadership
JOCKO WILLINK

Explanation Leadership Photograpgh
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
After all, there can be no leadership where there is no team.
JOCKO WILLINK

Leadership Team
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.
JOCKO WILLINK

Control Discipline Freedom Result Time
Don’t fight stress. Embrace it. Turn it on itself. Use it to make yourself sharper and more alert. Use it to make you think and learn and get better and smarter and more effective. Use the stress to make you a better you.
JOCKO WILLINK

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

Leadership Team
And the more you build your will by doing hard things, the stronger your will becomes.
JOCKO WILLINK

Strong Willing Yourself
Don’t let your mind control you. Control your mind.
JOCKO WILLINK

Control Inspirational Mindset Yourself
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

Decision Development Leadership Team
There is no one else to blame. The leader must acknowledge mistakes and admit failures, take ownership of them, and develop a plan to win.
JOCKO WILLINK

Blame Development Failure Leadership Mistake Oneself Win
Don’t expect to be motivated every day to get out there and make things happen. You won’t be. Don’t count on motivation. Count on Discipline.
JOCKO WILLINK

Discipline Expectation Motivational
The test for a successful brief is simple: Do the team and the supporting elements understand it?
JOCKO WILLINK

Success Team Understand
Trust is not blindly given. It must be built over time.
JOCKO WILLINK

Time Trust
A good leader has nothing to prove, but everything to prove.
JOCKO WILLINK

Deep Goodness Leadership
People do not follow robots.
JOCKO WILLINK

People Technology
Stop researching every aspect of it and reading all about it and debating the pros and cons of it, Start doing it.
JOCKO WILLINK

Reading Start
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

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

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