Review of "Extreme Ownership--How Navy SEALs Lead and Win"

This compelling and thought-provoking leadership book, written by Navy SEALs Jocko Willink and Leif Babin, demonstrates through their war experiences in Iraq that leadership at every level is the most important factor in whether a team succeeds or fails.  Their combat experience in the Battle of Ramadi was some of the toughest urban combat in the history of the SEAL teams.  Their task unit remains the most highly decorated Special Operations unit from the war in Iraq.  Extreme Ownership shows how to apply their leadership principles to any team organization.  Each chapter focuses on a specific topic, such as Cover and Move, Decentralized Command, and Leading Up the Chain, explaining what they are, why they are important, and how to implement them in any leadership environment.  Their first-hand accounts of their life-and-death battle experiences kept me turning page after page, wanting to know how each battle would end.  The photographs in each chapter also brought me into the battles, as I could almost in my mind see and smell the action.  In summary, Extreme Ownership increased my respect for our American military in general, and our Navy SEALs in particular.