Adversity introduces us to ourselves
The People Formula Book Study # Five
“Extreme Ownership & The Dichotomy of Leadership”
By: Jocko Willink and Leif Babin
Background:
I came across “Extreme Ownership” in the first year it was released and didn’t actually dive into it until last year. I foolishly thought, “Hey, the authors were SEALS, I was a Marine, they probably are just sharing what I already have heard.” Like many humbling moments in my life, I didn’t know as much as I thought I did.
Both Jocko and Leif do an amazing job of relating not just their INTENSE combat experience, but they share those experiences from multiple optics and levels since they both held different leadership positions at the same time, with the same task unit, with the same mission. Next, they provide specific real world business scenarios where they apply their leadership skills and doctrines, they learned from the battlefield to solve the challenges the rest of the world faces every day. “Extreme Ownership” was such an excellent book that moving onto “The Dichotomy of Leadership” was the natural choice. Again, the book does not disappoint and does a deeper dive on the topic that was covered in the first. My humble thanks to both Jocko and Leif for their selfless service and sacrifice to our country but also their willingness and ability to share their humbling lessons with the rest of the world in an effort to make it a better place.
“Extreme Ownership”
Winning the war within
“Great leaders form a circle of safety for their people.”
“On any team, in any organization, all responsibility for success and failure rests with the leader. The leader must own everything in his or her world.” Jocko Willink
The concept of extreme ownership is really one of extreme leadership. For example, three pillars of leadership that set the course for leaders are:
- Leaders accomplish the mission, goals and priorities
- Leaders create an environment of safety and trust
- Leaders are a resource for the success of their people without expectation of reciprocity
When leaders exercise extreme ownership / leadership they acknowledge that each of these pillars is their responsibility and when any falter, it is THEIR responsibility and no one else’s. The war within can be our own ego and vanity that wants to push blame away from us and make excuses so that we save face. Unfortunately for the ego driven leader, nowhere in the three pillars does it say a leader will be infallible as well as a “scapegoat” finder.
“No bad teams, only bad leaders.” Leif Babin
There are some ego-driven leaders that have enjoyed success on their rise to their positions. When a leader believes their position was gained by themselves and not with a team of great people, they will often blame others when situations go sideways, and outcomes fall short of their expectations. In these moments leaders must remember to OWN IT. There are no bad teams, only bad leaders.
Laws of combat
“Complexity kills focus”
These fundamental laws of combat are simple to remember, and the concepts are straight forward. They keep people alive on the battlefield and they create a circle of trust inside organizations and allows them to overcome any challenges.
Cover and move: Simply put, this is teamwork. As one element of the team seeks to move forward, the other elements watch for threats and obstacles and stand ready to support. A great leader watches, observes and coordinates.
Simple: When plans are too complicated failure is inevitable. Plans must be communicated in as simple, clear and concise manner as possible. If the team doesn’t understand, the leader has failed simplicity and must correct their actions.
Prioritize and execute: “Relax, look around, make a call.” It is very easy to become overwhelmed with too many tasks. When this happens, a leader must take a step back, assess the highest priority challenge and then execute a plan.
Decentralized command: Humans are not capable of leading / managing more than six to ten people, particularly in times of stress. A leader must ensure each subordinate leader understands clearly the overall mission, ultimate goal and the leader’s intent. Then the leader must empower people to move forward and execute.
Jocko and Leif go on to explain in “The Dichotomy of Leadership” the balance a leader must make with each of these principles. When a leader recognizes that they have drifted too far in one direction it is imperative to not only correct but ensure you don’t overcorrect so you continue to have a problem.
Sustaining victory
Plan: What’s the mission? Leaders must first understand then impart clear directives for the team, up and down the chain of command: Simply, this comes down to ensuring situational awareness of EVERYONE so people understand not only the “why” but have the information they need to make decisions.
Decisiveness amid uncertainty: Leaders very rarely have all the information they need to make decisions when things are chaotic. Leaders must make decisions with the best information they have regardless. Continued movement and the ability to adjust as more information is learned is critical to success.
Discipline equals freedom: Leaders must walk the fine line between the dichotomy of leadership between discipline and freedom. As with all dichotomies a leader must find the balance:
- Confident but not cocky
- Courageous but not foolhardy
- Competitive yet a gracious loser
- Attentive to details yet not obsessed by them
- Strength with endurance
- Leader and follower
- Humble not passive
- Aggressive not overbearing
- Quiet not silent
- Calm but not robotic
- Close but not too close to those in their charge
- Exercise extreme ownership and decentralized command
Dichotomy of Leadership: Balancing People, the ultimate dichotomy
“The foremost requirement of leadership is humility.”
most impactful and compelling aspect of leadership is the closeness, empathy and compassion a leader has for his or her people. Without the strong bonds of leadership, teams, organizations and businesses will never be able to reach their full potential. Yet, when a leader loses the balance, they will also fail. From my first days at the Naval Academy to my years in the Marine Corps these principles were constantly and consistently reinforced. When leaders find the balance, amazing results ensue because a circle of trust has been created. This circle allows everyone in it to feel safe, protected by each other and supported. These are the facets that allows innovation, flexibility and resilience to come forth to overcome any obstacle or threat.
Jocko and Leif begin by describing the ultimate dichotomy. To be willing to trade your life with those in your care and yet send them into harms way. Building strong relationships yet knowing there is a job to do. If you care too much for your people, the mission fails. If you care too much for the mission your team falls apart. A failure of a leader to balance the mission with the people will result in the failure of all.
Own it all but empower others
Jocko and Leif highlight that “extreme owning” can lead to micromanaging. Leaders must find the balance. This is the balance between ownership and the practice of decentralized command or empowering your people. This balance is critical to the success of any organization or team because micromanagement kills innovation. The dichotomy and challenge is that if leaders empower too much with a “hands off” mentality teams can think too broadly and miss the objective entirely, act randomly and duplicate efforts result because of a lack of coordination.
Warning signs of micromanagement:
- No initiative
- Does not seek solutions to problems
- Even in emergencies will not take action
- Bold actions become rare
- Creativity grinds to a halt
- The team stays in their own lane
- An overall sense of passivity and failure to react
Too hands off warning signs:
- Lack of vision in what the team is trying to do and how to do it
- Lack of coordination between team members
- Initiative oversteps bounds of authority
- Failure to coordinate out of ignorance
- The team is focused on the wrong priority
- There are too many people trying to lead
Resolute but not overbearing – When to mentor when to fire:
“Build leadership capital”
of the most important resources a leader has is their “leadership capital.” This is the trust, goodwill, influence and ultimately the finite amount of power a leader has on those who follow. Leadership capital is built over time by being focused on the mission and the most important understanding and conveying of “why” to the team. Leadership capital can be cashed in from time to time as challenging situations present themselves but a leader that goes to the well too often will find that well empty and find themselves worse than when they began. Being firm but not overbearing is a dichotomy to master if you wish to build your leadership capital.
Jocko and Leif provide a great example of when to mentor and when to fire someone as well. This dichotomy is also a delicate balancing act but can continue to enhance the leadership capital if mastered. Most under performers don’t need to be fired; they need to be led. If this delicate balance is not maintained either the mission or the wellbeing of the team will be compromised. The closeness of close coaching relationships can make this even more challenging. Documentation of specifics, free from opinion and hearsay are critical to the process.
Balancing the Mission:
Train hard but train smart
“Every leader must be humble, or they will get humbled.”
Hard training is the solemn duty of trainers and leaders every day. A key function of leaders is to train, mentor and pass on lessons learned to those under them. The key dichotomy in training is to know when you have reached the point of diminishing returns. From this point, the most important part of all the training is the debriefing. Do not even begin to train unless you have time for the debriefing. Don’t think of engaging without training.
The strategic goal of training is to build capable leaders at every level. Train hard but train smart, there is no growth in the comfort zone. There is no excuse for prioritizing training last because training is the most effective way to build performance. High performance is built through focusing on fundamentals, realism and repetition. Ultimately, training is only as good as the instructor providing it.
Aggressive not reckless, disciplined not rigid
Jocko and Leif use a great example of understanding what guidelines and standard operating procedures (SOP) are for. They are for the perfect world and a starting point. They are to be adhered to but not rigidly when faced with the common sense of morals, ethics, law and situational awareness. The challenge of leaders is to know how to balance the dichotomy. When the guidelines prevent a leader from having the situational awareness to continue to lead and make mission focused and safe decisions it is time to adjust.
Leaders must hold people accountable but also not hold their hands. Leaders must understand the “why” from their superiors and convey the “why” to their people so they can take the actions necessary to execute. Leaders then spot check to ensure the execution is staying on point, supporting the mission and staying safe. Leaders can then step back and allow teams to self-regulate. An effective tool for leaders to encourage followers to self-regulate is to show how an individual’s actions negatively affect the whole team.
Balancing yourself; a leader and a follower
The weakest form of leadership is to win an argument based on your rank or position. Leaders must be willing followers as well, regardless of their title and position. A leader’s failure to follow creates an antagonistic attitude up the chain of command and undermines the mission and hurts the team.
Jocko and Leif highlight their motto of “There is no growth in the comfort zone.” Good leaders are rare and bad leaders are common. Do you actually know which one you are? The first step is to recognize your failures as a follower. Here are three things to strive for with every boss and ensure your actions and words support them:
- They trust you
- They value and seek your opinions
- They give you what you need to accomplish your mission and let you execute.
Whether you believe your boss to be good or bad, in order to be effective, you must have these three attributes. If you don’t, what aren’t YOU doing to achieve them.
Plan but don’t overplan; humble not passive
Jocko and Leif explain that you cannot plan for every contingency. The dichotomy is that under planning can compromise the mission and overplanning can cause even greater problems. It is the leader’s responsibility to account for contingencies and plan the best they can. It is the leader’s responsibility to mitigate the risk you can control. The challenge is understanding what you can and can’t control. The greatest risks can arise from previous successes because they can create overconfidence. For this reason, leaders must remain humble.
The dichotomy of humble not passive is critical for leaders who struggle thinking that humility is equated with soft-willed or meek. Being humble means seeing past even your own teams need and see how to support the greater good or mission. Humility must also be balanced when knowing when to make a stand. If a leader has built their leadership capital and carefully pick when and where to make a stand the likelihood of success is much greater. Take heed however, this is the rarest of exceptions and not the rule.
Staying humble is the key to building trust with the chain of command and others and a critical element for mission success. Blame casting and excuse making only creates more.
Focused but detached
“Adversity introduces us to ourselves.”
Leaders must maintain the bigger picture. An organization does well only in the things the boss checks but doesn’t micromanage. Leaders do not obsess over details but are attentive to them. The best indicator of when a leader should pull back and detach is when they begin to hit walls and obstacles. If a leader doesn’t know what is going on, they can’t lead. This is the final dichotomy, be close enough to know what is going on but pulled back enough to see what is going on.
It is the immense challenge of leadership that makes the reward of success so fulfilling. If you care for your people and your mission ahead of yourself, you will win at all costs.
