Extreme Ownership Summary & Analysis

Author: Jocko Willink, Leif Babin

Synopsis
Extreme Ownership (2015) is a guide towards dealing with the extreme and complex situations that a leader faces two Navy SEAL commanders. It calls for all leaders to become more composed, forthcoming, and active.
extreme ownership summary
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Detailed Summary of Extreme Ownership

Extreme Ownership identifies and gives suggestions for the tough circumstances leaders go through every day. It acts as a call for all the leaders out there so that they take their responsibility seriously without getting overwhelmed.

The position of an owner, leader, and manager is demanding and exhausting but there are ways to reduce the stress. Planning your moves, managing your priorities, trusting your instincts, and providing higher authorities with the right information are a few to name. Discipline is another thing that you will require to attain freedom and lead your team to victory.

 Jocko Willink and Leif Babin invite all the leaders to identify and calculate the possible risks, stay calm in the face of adversity, look around at the possibilities, access their priorities, and execute the decisions.

A managerial position comes with a lot of responsibilities. Everyone relies on you to make the best decisions, lead them toward victory and success, and assess the possible fallbacks. And keep their morale high. When you have so many responsibilities lying over your shoulders at once you also need to act smart, confident, calm, and collected.

Extreme Ownership Summary Key Points

Taking ownership of something makes you realize what are real responsibilities. Everyone can do some work but only a few can take ownership. This skill will directly lead you to success and that is why all successful people take ownership even for their mistakes. The great leaders in history leave their footprints to take extreme ownership.

The advantages of extreme ownership are more to describe. Any company always finds a manager who can take ownership. So, if the company needs any help so he can lead, if there is any risk he will guide, and if there is any collapse he will accept. As acceptance of mistakes is direct ownership. Any company can easily rely on this kind of manager.

In this book, the author explains all these points beautifully and in a comprehensive way. It will help you to take ownership of what you do and be successful.

You might also like to read Capitalism and Freedom Summary.

Maybe your Boss isn’t Micromanaging maybe You are Macro-managing

As a boss, it is not deemed efficient if you keep nudging your employees every minute of every day. Many business gurus and consultants advise against trying to manage everything in the workplace. But sometimes it is the lack of involvement by the employees that risk the company and their relationship with their bosses. If you feel like you do not have enough support; communicate with your leaders.

If you feel that the idea that was improved for your new product lacks some research and you do not convey it just because your leader did not ask for your opinion; you are contributing to the company’s failure equally. As an employee, you are responsible for the company’s success and growth as much as your leader is. Remember cooperation goes a long way.

Access the Risks and Act Accordingly

Reducing damage is another important factor toward success that is emphasized in the Extreme Ownership book summary. As a leader, you should always be ready to create a plan that ensures maximum stability and minimum loss for your company or organization. But what about looking at a situation beforehand and mitigating risks ahead of time? When you account for the ‘possible’ dangers you ensure less risk.

For example, You read all the sales reports and you analyzed the numbers of sales of your company. This analysis brought you to the conclusion that if the sales kept going down like the mentioned figures. You will face a twenty percent loss in your easy profits.

By accessing this danger before, you can employ a number of strategies so that the numbers do not go down more. You might be able to use social media ads, free customer care services, and gift cards to lure customers. As a leader, you need to have an eye that is able to look at the future and generate a plan that identifies and mitigates all the possible failures and risks. This will also increase the confidence of your team because they will feel prepared to challenge the worst.

Relax, look around, and make a Call

When you are deep into a situation with multiple things happening at once, it can become hard to choose and adjust your priorities. In this situation, the mantra of SEAL is to calm yourself down, prioritize and execute. Instead of getting overwhelmed or panicking that so much is happening, you can start by calming yourself down.

As a leader, it is your job to keep everyone composed, and safe and assist them toward the best possible solution.

 Let us say you are a boss of a leading travel agency and you are informed that thirty of your clients have pulled their bookings. The hotel you usually book accommodation services are closing their services, and your lead travel agent has handed in his resignation due to some personal issues.

In such a situation where everything is falling, you are bound to feel overwhelmed but as a leader, it is your job to prioritize and act accordingly. In such a situation as above, your priority will most probably be hiring a new travel agent. So that he can help you with the other two issues you are facing.

Your second priority will be signing a contract with a new hotel so that you can convince your customers who have backed off. This process of taking the whole situation one step at a time will help you to perform your job under pressure and adversity. Remember,  “A leader is one who knows the way, goes the way, and shows the way.”

Extreme Ownership Quotes

“Extreme Ownership. Leaders must own everything in their world. There is no one else to blame.” –Jocko Willink

We learned that leadership requires belief in the mission and unyielding perseverance to achieve victory, particularly when doubters question whether victory is even possible. –Jocko Willink

Extreme Ownership Summary Review

Extreme Ownership has excellent advice for all those who are in a leading or managerial position. Although the examples and anecdotes are from Navy SEALs. The lessons can be applied in business, politics, and many other fields. The book can be dry sometimes, but the way Jocko Willink and Leif Babin handle situations will keep you invested.

To Whom I Would Recommend Extreme Ownership Summary?

  • To the thirty-two-year-old manager who wants to lead his team towards success in a better way.
  • Anyone who is trying to take more responsibility for their actions.
  • And to the CEOs and leaders who want to learn about better ways in which they can handle the stressful and ever-changing industry trends.

Link: https://amzn.to/3Q6B3QY