October 23, 2018
The James Altucher Show – How Navy SEALS Lead with Jocko Willink & Leif Babin
Key Takeaways
- To be a good leader, you must also be a good follower
- Communication is the way to bridge the dichotomies of leadership
- People gain respect for the leaders who put their ego in check
- “When you get on a path, it’s easy to stay on it. When you get off the path, it’s a slippery slope.”
Introduction
- Jocko Willink: (Jocko’s website, Twitter:@jockowillink)
- Podcaster, author, and retired United States Navy SEAL
- Awarded the Silver Star and Bronze Star for his service in the Iraq War
- Willink was commander of SEAL Team Three’s Task Unit Bruiser during the Battle of Ramadi
- Here’s Jacko’s first appearance on the James’ podcast.
- Podcaster, author, and retired United States Navy SEAL
- Leif Babin (Leif’s website, Twitter: @LeifBabin)
- Former U.S. Navy SEAL officer, Author
- President/COO/Co-Founder of Echelon Front
- Books by both Jocko and Leif
Lessons
- Problems found in the biggest corporations are correlated to issues in smaller corporations
- Solutions can be learned from both military and corporate experiences.
- Rules are made to be broken! Don’t be afraid to step out of your comfort zone.
- Solutions can be learned from both military and corporate experiences.
- Grasping a good understanding of both sides of an issue (dichotomy) is the building block of leadership
Flexibility
- It is hard to change and adopt creative solutions in organizations, because you are constantly trained to perform a standard procedure
- Train yourself in a way that does not rely on a standard procedure
- For example, Jimmy Page, one of the top rock and roll artists, began his career as a studio musician. He was disciplined in that practice, and when he was let loose, he saw he was free to create his own materials. (Trained away from his standard procedure).
- Train yourself in a way that does not rely on a standard procedure
- “You can’t be experimental unless you know the rules of grammar” – Kurt Vonnegut
- Your understanding of a topic stems from earlier experiences
Self-Important/Self-Worth
- Ego causes so many problems
- Ego can be good in the sense that you want to be the best at what you do, but you don’t want to put yourself before the mission or team
- If you can take a step back and ask what the best decision is for the group/team you can start thinking productively
- You begin to listen to valid constructive criticism
- You are not above anyone because of a title
- Leaders must be humble and take a stand, get out of your office get to the details and solve issues
- You must not compromise standards unless it is for the benefit of the group
- Anger is a good indicator that you need to check your ego. Articulate those feelings to the individual/group.
- Is this worth expending leadership capital?
Leadership Capital
- Understand what your followers bring to the table
- For example, the Navy Seals
- Go out and risk their lives daily
- Constant pressure
- Always professional
- Get no sleep
- Eat crappy food
- Are away from family for long periods of time
- You have a fixed set of Leadership Capital, knowing how to manage it properly is detrimental
- Do not daily micromanage followers. (Negative Leadership Capital)
- Trust your followers to manage themselves at times. (Positive Leadership Capital).
Solving Issues
- First thing is to get over your ego and find out what the real problem is
- “If there is a problem, it is a leadership problem”
- The first reaction to an issue may be ego and anger, but you must step back and ask yourself… “Why?”
- If the why is not good enough, then you should ask yourself if you communicated it properly. If this is important for the group, why would someone not listen?
- “Being disappointed in someone rather than being angry can be a more effective manner of punishment. No one wins by yelling or allowing ego to win.”
Taking Ownership
- As a follower, you must explain to your boss why something might be wrong
- You have an obligation to understand why you are doing something
- One of the hardest decisions to do is to terminate an individual. People feel guilty when firing because they wonder if it was partly their fault.
- When an issue arises, don’t expect someone to change without displaying the issue (they need to be aware of it)
- Letting someone know they need to step up is hard, but if you have the hard conversations earlier, they are easier
- Scaling people can be very difficult, train people to meet up to your expectations. Put people into leadership positions.
