Jocko Willink and Leif Babin, two decorated Navy SEAL veterans who served in Ramadi, discuss effective leadership as an intricate balance of seemingly opposing inclinations. They explore 12 dichotomies every leader must address to become successful leaders; examples and anecdotes are included throughout the book for added context.
Leadership and Followership
Leadership studies often place much of their attention on leadership itself; however, in order to be an effective leader, followership must also play an integral part of success for any group. Being a good follower requires understanding why effective followership matters so much in the workplace and being adept at being one yourself.
As such, many leaders often struggle to understand followership and its development within their team or company. To become an effective follower, one must comprehend both his/her role in contributing to a group’s success while being aware of and responding appropriately to any potential issues that may arise.
There are different aspects of followership, each with its own set of advantages and disadvantages. Some followers are very invested in an endeavor or organization and will work tirelessly for its success; on the other hand, other followers may remain more passive by simply letting the leader do his or her thing without providing input or providing any form of feedback from them.
Develop the ideal balance of dichotomies is key to becoming an effective follower and leader, in any context – be it combat or business. Jocko and Leif’s courses cover several such dichotomies such as “Taking Care of People vs Accomplishing Mission,” Mentoring vs Firing,” Being Humble Vs Passive” and Accountability Vs Hand Holding among many more – to help you understand these dynamic duopolies so that you can apply them in your own leadership journey.
Leadership and Accountability
Adopting accountability as an essential leadership trait can help your team establish a culture of trust and collaboration that leads to higher levels of performance and success. Accountable leaders are transparent with their teams and take ownership for both good and bad company results, giving team members a sense of ownership in turn increasing productivity.
The authors note that one of the key challenges of leadership lies in striking a balance between caring for your people and making decisions that may put them at risk in pursuit of a larger mission. Furthermore, it’s essential that leaders can transition between making strategic plans for long-term goals and tactical solutions to address short-term problems effectively.
Effective leaders strike a delicate balance between providing guidance to their team while still leaving them on their own (hands-off leadership) and making sure decisions they make align with overall objectives. They set clear expectations regarding information, inputs and outcomes they require as well as remaining open to discussing any misunderstandings that arise.
They understand the importance of not only cultivating and improving individual performance on a team, but also firing underperformers when necessary. Doing so helps avoid losing valuable team members while giving underperformers an opportunity to exit their current roles – not to mention increasing productivity by making sure tasks are completed more quickly and accurately.
Leadership and Discipline
Leadership requires being disciplined but not overbearing. Enforcing standards, making tough calls, ensuring team success while simultaneously encouraging innovation, creativity and autonomy is crucial in order to succeed in today’s environment. Great leaders possess both confidence and humility: capable of listening to new ideas while learning from mistakes they’ve made along the way.
As a leader, making decisions that might hurt members of your team can be tough and often requires courage and strength of character to stand by your beliefs even if that means disappointing some people. People respect leaders who stand up for what they believe in.
An important challenge of being a leader is finding an equilibrium between their expertise and ideas and those of subordinate leaders. Being too critical can derail your mission; failing to take into account team concerns could lower morale and compromise effectiveness as a leader.
Jocko Willink and Leif Babin, former Navy SEAL officers and #1 New York Times bestseller authors of Extreme Ownership, offer an outstanding method for leaders to recognise these dichotomies and find an optimal leadership balance essential to victory. Drawing upon examples from combat and training experiences, Extreme Ownership provides guidance in understanding nuanced dichotomy within high-stakes situations that leads to improved team dynamics and enhanced performance outcomes.
Leadership and Humility
Humility goes beyond simply setting aside one’s pride; it requires having the confidence and willingness to admit when you don’t know something and being open to learning from others. Being humble means having confidence in your abilities and taking risks while accepting constructive criticism without becoming defensive or offended – both characteristics required for true humility.
Leaders who possess this trait strive to foster and develop a team culture characterized by collaboration. They’re compassionate and willing to sacrifice themselves for the greater good – an especially essential ability for combat missions where outcomes could mean life or death.
Jocko Willink describes in his book “Extreme Ownership” how one manager of a mining company was faced with an impossible dilemma: their mines were losing money while none of his employees wanted their jobs lost; yet he must follow company policy and implement directives from headquarters.
Leadership must reconcile two seemingly contradictory tendencies within their teams. Although leaders should build strong relationships with their teams, they must still make decisions that put people in peril for the greater mission. Deliberately prioritizing when pushing back is necessary is key in keeping balance between these seemingly opposing impulses.
Leadership and Aggression
Highly aggressive leaders may not recognize how their aggressiveness is harming their teams or careers, leading to continued pressure to push ahead despite mounting issues. When expectations don’t meet up with reality, this can often result in escalated tension among subordinates – creating an eventual spiral which may ultimately end their careers.
This type of leadership requires a balance between taking charge and following suit, according to author Alan Cooper’s advice: stay focused on the mission while remaining present in front lines but detached enough so team members can do their job efficiently; evaluate effectiveness without getting bogged down in tactical weeds that threaten both their own safety and that of the mission itself;
Willink and Babin, veterans of military-style leadership consulting, examine the intricate dichotomies all leaders must negotiate as leaders. Balancing seemingly opposite principles such as leading and following, focusing and detaching, being aggressive yet prudent demands skill, awareness and understanding from its participants; by understanding and accepting them all individually can improve ones chances for success in any arena. A follow up to Extreme Ownership’s best-seller Extreme Ownership this book provides insightful advice that can help readers develop skills necessary to become the most capable leaders possible.
Leadership and Prudence
The authors use their experiences from military service and subsequent leadership consulting work to illustrate these contradictory realities and demonstrate why mastering them is vital for successful leadership. They highlight that effective leaders must balance seemingly opposing principles such as caring deeply about your team while making decisions that risk mission success; maintaining an eye on both big picture goals and tactical details simultaneously; or being assertive yet still leaving room for creativity and innovation.
Prudence, Courage, Self Mastery and Justice reflect a growing emphasis in leadership development on virtues and character – first inspired by positive psychology but more recently promoted by scholars such as Kim Cameron, Ron Riggio, Mary Crossan, Joanne Ciulla Bruce Avolio and Gerard Seijts. Virtuous leaders make judgements which reflect these core characteristics – these require practical wisdom (prudence), Courage Self Mastery Justice to do justly in each situation they face.
Aristotle defined prudence broadly, as “the state of being wise regarding the means to an desired end.” Prudential characteristics include having foresight to know what’s needed in any situation; understanding how various elements of a problem fit together and knowing what can be done about it; controlling emotional reactions or desires for self-gratification; and acting fairly toward others.
