Extreme Ownership
·2 mins
Ideas that stood out the most for me:
- No bad teams, only bad leaders: that’s an interesting idea. Leaders should do whatever it takes to make their team successful.
- It follows that leaders shouldn’t blame anyone other than themselves.
- For example, if someone junior made a mistake and screwed things up, the leader is at fault (and should own that). Maybe the junior thought they were doing the right low-level thing but didn’t realize how it impacted things at higher level - in that case, the leader failed to communicate the big picture.
- Mission comes first, then the team.
- So, performance management (i.e. handling individuals that show a pattern of poor performance) is as important as encouraging the team to do their best work.
- Leaders also need to enforce high standards within the team.
Other ideas:
- Understand the “why” behind a mission because, without that, you can’t get the team behind you. If you don’t, then it’s still your responsibility to get the answer by asking upward.
- Keep ego aside. If you make a mistake, own it. If there’s a better team that can help you accomplish your mission, that’s great - use them (instead of trying to sidestep them) because the mission comes first.
- Simple plans are much better than complex plan because, when things go wrong, complexity compounds problems.
- Prioritize and execute: when there are multiple burning fires, try not to get overwhelmed. Instead, relax, look around, make a call.
- Decentralized command: there is a chain of command but leaders, instead of giving orders, let subordinates make decisions and communicate upwards. That way, leaders can focus on big picture and coordinate with other peer teams.
- Manage up the chain: what you can do to influence? Tell them what you want to do and why.
- Decisiveness: make decisions and execute them, even if you don’t have enough information. (You likely never will.)
- There will be risk involved but moving forward, even when risky, is what leaders need to do.
- Discipline is important in a leader. The author gave a few examples of “dichotomies” that leader should navigate in a balanced way. For example, be close to subordinates (such that you know a little about their personal life, family etc.) but not too close (such that they forget who is in charge or you, as a leader, put people over the mission). Another was attention to details, but not to a level where the leader forgets or ignores the big picture.