Extreme Ownership How U.S. Navy SEALs Lead and Win (New Edition)
Reviews
Jocko Willink and Leif Babin nailed this book. The layout of the chapters makes the principles easy to understand and learn from, and also makes the book an enjoyment to read from cover to cover. Absolutely an amazing book. I took notes the whole way through and will be reviewing those notes very many times as well as rereading the book in the future.
Great book detailing how Seals work together and how decisions are made abd analyzed.
Fun book on some basic leadership principles.
The books is inspiring and motivational, the idea presented in the book is expressed well and supported by solid examples from the authors' experience. The only issue I have is related to the "direct application to business" sections. The book assumes that the reader is smart enough to lead a business, but not smart enough to apply concepts presented in the book. At times these sections were redundant, often constructing unnatural dialogs that just repeat what has already been said in the previous (military) sections. Furthermore, the book assumes that readers are leading a business, while I read this book purely for self-development purposes.
Leadership principles are very similar across industries regardless of the profession. Leadership is more of a social experience, so it's always rich with situations, especially in military where you need to interact with team mates, direct reports , leaders on daily basis, this is why the book is full of so many important leadership lessons and situations. The organization of the book is really nice , each chapter starts with background/story then follow with the principle and at last business application, this is a very organized book. The principles and lessons here are great, really priceless. But when it comes to reading books no one can memorize an entire book or even 50% , you usually remember the effect those books leaves in you, probably one idea or two, that said, It will be hard to remember one or two main things only from the book, it's too much details , too much principles , too much situations, that maybe useful but one of the most important criteria of any book is idea cohesiveness, the principles in the book are overlapping but not cohesive. The overwhelming words that echoed in my head after reading the book (because of the excessive usage through the book) are "Iraq, ramadi, solider, commander, battle, enemy, war" , you will need to go a little bit beyond those overwhelming words to benefit from the book.
Definitely not shining for literary grandeur — there's some repetitive and somewhat sloppy writing to be found in here, but also a bunch of great, potentially life-changing takeaways. Worth reading even just for the war anecdotes and first-hand accounts.
I'd recommend reading a summary of the book. Also if you listen to the audiobook like I did, it's possible that Americans repeatedly pronouncing foreign names incorrectly with such brazen confidence might become a trigger for you too.
Didn't finish. Like the concept of EO, don't think other stuff is as useful.
Finished the Audible version of this book. The book is simply written. Nothing fancy. The narration by the authors themselves was straightforward. What made this a good read is that it used a simple framework of storytelling. Start with an anecdote, then highlight the principles, then end with an actual business situation where the principle is applied. Jocko and Leif had a lot of good examples where they applied what they learned on the battlefield to corporate situations. Some sounded too obvious, but upon introspection, they're not. I haven't been a big fan of military leadership until I started reading books written by ex-US Navy Seals. Their training – both physical and mental – was indeed top-notch because they are simple, easy to remember, and practical. One lesson that stuck with me is about teams: "There are no bad teams; Only bad leaders." That is Extreme Ownership.
I resonated with many of the leadership principles described in this book. I feel challenged by the idea of extreme ownership, which I like. There are also other concepts like “discipline sets you free” that make a lot of sense and that I would like to incorporate more into my daily ethos. Overall a good book. A lot of slogging through long war stories to get to the point, though.
3,5 stars actually. Good concepts, concise details, not much fluff. All nicely destilled. In a way a "for dummies guide" for being a responsible leaders. The overall take for me is the general concept of the name of the book: Extreme ownership. In other words, it's all your fault, the good or the bad, and learn to own your shit. Before blaming others or demanding anything, check yo'self first. The war references are straight to the point. Not a fan of classifying every insurgent as "The Devil" or "savages". I believe that some of the people at war, whether taliban or ISIS, some of them were just dragged there. There are always good people in the wrong place and time. Other than that, good read, I wouldn't say it's a must but close to there. It's worth it, yes. It's life changing, totally depends on how you deal with things.
A good leader has nothing to prove, but everything to prove. https://myhighlightz.blogspot.com/202... In Extreme Ownership, Jocko Willink and Leif Babin share hard-hitting, Navy SEAL combat stories that translate into lessons for business and life. I have read an updated edition of the blockbuster bestselling leadership book that took America and the world by storm, two U.S. Navy SEAL officers who led the most highly decorated special operations unit of the Iraq War demonstrate how to apply powerful leadership principles from the battlefield to business and life. It is a great read of the lessons on the battlefield and how they can be applied to everyday business efforts. Sent to the most violent battlefield in Iraq, Jocko Willink and Leif Babin's SEAL task unit faced a seemingly impossible mission: help U.S. forces secure Ramadi, a city deemed "all but lost." In gripping firsthand accounts of heroism, tragic loss, and hard-won victories in SEAL Team Three's Task Unit Bruiser, they learned that leadership—at every level—is the most important factor in whether a team succeeds or fails. Below you may find out my key take-aways from each part of this book. I hope you will enjoy and learn from my highlights. https://myhighlightz.blogspot.com/202...
I really enjoyed this book. The concept has helped me at work, in my marriage, even with caring for my dog. Extreme ownership, in ways big and small, pushes you to see the world in a new light.
#DNF I must say I got through the first chapter that was a lot of militaristic dramatic chest thumping as an audiobooks and then I just gave up. I could not.take.one.more.word But I'm sure they have good things to impart, so I read an executive summary of the book and indeed they did have some good points (https://paulminors.com/blog/extreme-o...) I particularly liked this quote ”When leaders who epitomize Extreme Ownership drive their teams to achieve a higher standard of performance, they must recognize that when it comes to standards, as a leader, it’s not what you preach, it’s what you tolerate.” That is so true - in leadership in organisations and as teachers / parents. But I couldn't plough through all that extreme testosterone just to get that one nugget out.
Like Team of Teams, this leadership book weaves first hand accounts of combat leadership and direct applications of lessons learned to business. Each chapter unfolds in those three parts: story, principle, and application. By the end, I skipped the application portion, partly because it was obvious from the first two sections and partly because the first person dialogue felt contrived. That's the only thing keeping me from giving this one all five stars.
You are responsible for everything. Yep. Your kid not graduating? You didn’t explain well the important things in life. Your book is not selling well on Amazon? You failed to market it right. Your teammates are organizing a riot against you and they are not willing to listen? It’s all on you. You failed to inspire them and lead them in difficult times. You might think I’m kidding but I am not. Neither are the authors. You’re directly responsible for your efforts and for the efforts of the people you manage. Don’t hide inside your corner office. Go outside and speak with your troops. Show them how it’s done if you want to see results. That’s the Extreme Ownership mantra. To be honest, I thought that this book will be one of those overly praised copies that are successful because the marketing budget of the publisher was abnormally high this quarter. Fortunately, that wasn’t the case. I was quite amused by the content and the overall format of the copy. After each short story where the authors shared what happened on the battlefield, there’s a section of how to apply the leadership principles mentioned by the authors in real life. Definitely recommend reading the book if you’re managing a team or if you struggle to find clarity in your life. Or, if you simply want a motivation boost. My main takeaway: Discipline equals freedom. I can talk about this in length but I believe the message is clear: If you’re able to convince your body and mind to perform tasks that are not so interesting, every single day without complaining, you achieve admirable results. Read more: https://durmonski.com/book-summaries/...
While I appreciate the message of the book, I felt like it could have been much shorter like a long essay. It took the same key points and just hammered them home with examples. I understand some people need or appreciate it but I felt like I could have read a summary and gotten just as much out of it. I do like Jocko and consume his other content.
Book takeaways: Discipline equals freedom
Books that take lessons from the military to apply to business are a familiar sight and usually, they work if the balance is right. This isn't the case with this one, unfortunately -- it can't decide whether it wants to be a book about the NAVY Seals or a business book. Even that might have been passable, has it not been so so light on the leadership insight. The lessons it shares all fall within the "No shit, Einstein" category... Finally, the cases from real-life companies might have been useful, haven't they all been anonymized and with no real numbers to show how the application of the leadership wisdom, imparted by the authors, helped the companies they worked with.
