The Dichotomy Of Leadership

A summary of the book from Jocko Willink and Leif Babin  

1. The Ultimate Dichotomy

Finding the balance ..

Taking extreme ownership of everything that impacts the mission … but also empowering others to lead with decentralized command

Leadership requires balance .. simple .. not easy

 A leader must be close with subordinates .. but not too close

The best leaders understand the motivations of their team members and know their people .. their lives and their families.

 But a leader must never grow so close to subordinates that one member of the team becomes more important than another, or more important than the mission itself.

Leaders must never get so close that the team forgets who is in charge

 A leader must employ extreme ownership …. And decentralized command

Extreme Ownership is the foundation of leadership. It means that for any team or organization, all responsibility for success and failure rests with the leader

Even when leaders are not directly responsible for all outcomes, it was their method of communication and guidance, or lack thereof, that led to the results.

That doesn't mean, however, that leaders should micromanage. It's why the concept of decentralized command exists

2. Own It All But Empower Others

The next tension is between micromanagement and hands-off leadership styles. You have to take ownership, but at the same time, give ownership. With Extreme Ownership you are responsible for everything in your world. But you can’t make every decision. You have to empower your team to lead, to take ownership. So you have to give them ownership. Leaders set the destination but ownership comes when people can help set the course.

3. Resolute, But Not Overbearing

When and where do you hold the line? “There is a time to stand firm and enforce the rules and there is a time to give ground and allow the rules to bend.

Leaders must set high standards, but they cannot be domineering or inflexible on matters of little strategic importance.

It’s all about your leadership capital. Leadership capital is the recognition that there is a finite amount of power that any leader possesses.

It can be expended foolishly, by leaders who harp on matters that are trivial and strategically unimportant.

Prioritizing those areas where standards cannot be compromised and holding the line there while allowing for some slack in other, less critical areas is a wise use of leadership capital.

It’s an act of strength for a leader—the opposite of insecurity.

4. When To Mentor, When To Fire

Knowing when to work with someone and when to let them go isn’t easy.

Most underperformers don’t need to be fired, they need to be led. It takes a team to achieve the mission successfully .. if one person is making the team miserable .. they have to go.

Instead of focusing on one individual, there is a team .. and that the performance of the team trumps the performance of a single individual. Instead of continuing to invest in one subpar performer, once a concerted effort has been made to coach and train that individual to no avail, the leader must remove the individual.

5. Train Hard, But Train Smart

Training must be hard. Training must simulate realistic challenges and apply pressure to decision-makers. There is no growth in the comfort zone.

Training must focus on the fundamentals.

Training must be repetitive.

The best training programs are not orchestrated from the top down, but driven from the bottom.

We don’t have the budget .. we don’t have time ..

These are not valid excuses. Role-playing is free and training is important .. make time.

6. Aggressive, Not Reckless

A leader must be aggressive … but not overbearing

There is a big difference between being a powerful presence to the team & being an intimidating figure.

It is the leaders responsibility to ensure that everyone below him in the chain of command feels comfortable approaching him with concerns, ideas, thoughts, and especially disagreements.

7. Disciplined, Not Rigid

Rules can be imposed with too much rigidity that it stifles the team’s ability to think and adapt. Leading isn’t about following the exact procedure, but being able to think and do what makes the most sense so that you can support and lead your team.

Disciplined standard operating procedures, repeatable processes, and consistent methodologies are helpful in any organization.

The more discipline a team exercises, the more freedom that team will have to maneuver by implementing small adjustments to existing plans.

8. Hold People Accountable, But Don’t Hold Their Hands

Use accountability as a tool when needed, but don’t rely on it as the sole means of enforcement, lest it consume all a leader’s time.

Balance accountability with educating the team on why and empowering members to maintain standards even without direct oversight from the top.

9. A Leader & A Follower

Following is a part of leading well.

Leading doesn’t mean pushing your agenda or proving you had all the answers. It is about collaborating with the rest of the team and determining how we can most effectively accomplish the mission.

There are times when, in an effort to prove our leadership, we fail to follow … this is the I know best … my way or the highway … I’m in charge … ego driven leadership philosophy.

This ego driven philosophy erodes trust & undermines good leadership.

Good leadership not only includes encouraging junior members of the team to step up and contribute but to support the boss even when you disagree with the decision and execute the plan as if it were your own. 

Easier said than done …

Those who plan the battle … rarely battle the plan

10. Plan .. But Don’t Overplan

Trying to plan for every contingency can create more problems than it solves. Plan you must, but you cannot plan for every contingency. If you try to create a solution for every single potential problem that might arise, you overwhelm your team, you overwhelm the planning process, you overcomplicate decisions for the leader. Therefore, it is imperative that leaders focus on only the most likely contingencies that might arise for each phase of an operation. Choose at most the three or four most probable contingencies for each phase, along with the worst case scenario.

11. Humble .. Not Passive

Humility is the leader’s most important quality. Be humble or get humbled. An important part of being a leader is to be humble enough to see beyond his or her own needs.

And while humility means that you need to recognize that you are part of a larger whole and don’t have all of the answers, being humble doesn’t mean being passive. It doesn’t mean to not push back when it truly matters. Humility has to be balanced by knowing when to make a stand.

That is, willing to push back, voice their concerns, stand up to the good of the team and provide feedback. Humility means knowing when to lead and when to follow.

Being able to talk about the elephant in the room .. the threat & challenges that the team will face when executing the mission is the key to success.

Staying humble is the key to developing trust with the chain of command.

12. Focused, But Detached

A leader must be attentive to details but not obsessed with them. The most effective leaders learn how to quickly determine which of their team's tasks need to be monitored in order for them to progress smoothly, but cannot get sucked into the details and lose track of the bigger picture. 

When you find that you are not managing well .. one of these tensions, the tendency can be to overcompensate.

When a leader moves to rebalance, however, caution must be exercised not to overcorrect. This is a common error.

When leaders sense they have gone too far in one direction, they can react by going too far in the other direction. This is ineffective and can make the situation worse.

So instead, make measured, calculated adjustments, monitor the results, and then continue to make small, iterative corrections until balance is achieved.

Balance is never achieved once and done. You will need to move back and forth along these continuums to achieve the results you need because circumstances are always changing.

The leader must continue to monitor the situation, readjust as changes happen, and restore balance.