Extreme Ownership: How the Navy Seals Lead and Win by Jocko Willink and Leif Babin
2015 / 320 pgs. (95,680 words) Leadership and Team Management

Extreme Ownership is a leadership book-based on lessons given by the management consulting firm Echelon Front which was founded by the authors Jocko Willink and Leif Babin. The layout of the book is designed similar to all management/leadership books. First, the title of the lesson. Then, an event, in this case, a combat event, that displays the importance of that lesson. Finally, a business perspective that shows how a leader decides to follow the lesson after the authors emphasized the importance of it and the corrected direction the company is going in.

The lessons are all based on the author’s experience in the military. For those that have military experience and attended the many leadership courses the service requires or offers, much of these lessons are not new for you. For those that never served, these lessons could be completely new and inspirational.

The stories that relate to the lesson are very interesting as most of them come from the authors time in Iraq as members of task force Bruser. For some of these lessons, the fundamentals are the same as other courses that may have been taught in other courses. For example, one lesson is called, Cover and Move, in other leadership courses, it would be called Teamwork.

I enjoyed a lesson called No Bad Teams – Only Bad Leaders, as I would always tell my junior Non-Commissioned Officers (NCO) and Airmen that there is no such thing as a bad NCO, all NCOs are great at teaching you what type of leader you want to be. Some NCOs will teach you the lessons that you will add to your toolbox. Others will teach you things that you will say you never want to do as a leader.

This book is interesting. The authors break down each lesson to its simplicity for the reader to understand. For those of us that served, knowing everything we learned is still being taught to leaders of fortune 500 companies, illustrates that the service does leave you with wonderful toolbox that still applies in the outside world. 

Enjoy a good cup of coffee and a delightful book!

Lopaka