Book Review : Extreme Ownership — How U.S. NAVY SEALS LEAD and WIN
When I was growing up , for every thing I did my Father used to quote me the famous words of Swami Vivekananda i.e “Stand up ,Be Bold and take the whole responsibility on your own shoulders”.
I understood the literal meaning of these words very well but many times failed to implement them in my day to day life.
I always liked War Movies ,and to re-start my reading habit again (which died slowly due to extreme hectic office schedules and trying to do the work-life balancing tasks) I picked up one of the book which was one of the #1 New York Times Bestseller
“Extreme Owenership — How U.S Navy Seals Lead and Win”
The book was written by two former (and pretty hardcore) U.S. Navy SEALS COMMANDERS, Jocko Willink and Leif Babin.
To my surprise , this book just completely changed my perception about Leadership skills and how it can be improved by everyone at each instance of our lives.Extreme Ownership is an eye opening, unique and insightful book into leadership. Outlined from a military perspective, the book provides lots of fascinating and inspiring incidences that can be transferred into business workings as well as in our daily lives.
I think it’s always an age-old question whether the Leaders are Born or Made , and can Leadership skills be really taught ?
Jocko Willink and Leif Babin describes through their book that “COMBAT” , the most intense and dynamic environment imaginable , teaches the toughest leadership lessions with absolutely everything at stake.
The authors emphasizes that every person
→With willingness to learn,
→with a humble attitude that seeks valid constructive criticism in order to improve,
→with disciplined practice and training,
→And even those with less natural ability,
And in short with “Extreme Ownership” can develop and transform into highly effective leaders.
One major takeaway from the book is — leaders are responsible for everything within their jurisdiction, whether it be in a military or a boardroom of an organization, a small team or even your own life.
I highly recommend this book which has been very well designed by the authors who have shared multiple real-life examples from their time in Iraq.
The book is divided into three parts
Part 1 — Winning the War within:
→ This describes that Leaders must own everything in their world and have no one else to blame i.e to take extreme ownership.
→ They believe in the mission and pass that information down the chain so they can execute the mission. That is leadership.
→ They always keep their ego and know that they own all the faults.
Part 2 — Laws of Combat :
→ Simplyfy the plan , prioritize ane execute and help in establishing decentralized command
Part 3 — Sustaining Victory :
→ Proper planning , leading up and down of the chain of command and ability to decide the right thing in the middle of all chaos and uncertainty.
In short each chapter is beautifully organised into following 3 outlines:
→ A practical military example from their tours in Iraq
→ The leadership principle on which they worked
→ Application of their combat experience into the real life Business world.
Thank you Jocko and Leif for this wonderful gift to all the potential leaders in this world.
