Every problem is a leadership problem - Learn to Lead and Win

Happy Sunday Friend,

In this week’s edition of our newsletter, we delve deep into the essence of leadership, inspired by the groundbreaking book Extreme Ownership authored by the dynamic duo, Jocko Willink and Leif Babin. This transformative work has proven influential across a broad range of professions, and we hope it will resonate with you, no matter the field you are in.

🔍Unveiling the Leadership Mysteries

Have you ever found yourself in a team lacking direction or a group of disengaged and underperforming individuals? If the answer is yes, the problem lies within leadership. From defining the challenges to driving the mission, the role of leaders is integral, and their responsibility permeates every aspect of the organization.

📝Six Core Principles from Extreme Ownership

We have curated six pivotal principles from the book that can help leaders catalyze change and foster growth:

1) Extreme Ownership: The onus falls on leaders to take complete responsibility of everything within their sphere. Blame games are futile. Instead, admitting mistakes, accepting failures, and strategizing to overcome the hurdles paves the path to victory.

Cultivating a personal leadership style is an ever-changing challenge, and leading a team is dependent on working with the people of the team to reach a desired outcome. If I had to boil my leadership style into a couple words, it would be servant ownership. My goal is to focus on the people, developing their skill and empower them to execute the mission. I want to learn as much technically as I can, to give the team flexibility and convey challenges to higher leadership.

2) No Bad Teams, Only Bad Leaders: Team formation often involves working with pre-existing members or those assigned to you. The key lies in understanding their unique strengths and weaknesses, and creating a conducive environment that nurtures their growth.

Maximizing your team is a fine balance of understanding the people in the team and understanding the mission. One of my strategies for the last year is to encourage cross training and be ready to support dynamic events and needs. Mission first, people always.

3) Believe: To lead effectively, you must believe in your mission. If the leader doesn’t believe, the team won’t either. Convey the mission’s greater purpose to your team to inspire commitment and success.

Believing in the mission and the team is vital for mission success. I leverage my belief in the mission to prioritize the team and seek resources to meet their needs. Without believing the mission convincing people to do the hard work and the undesirable tasks is difficult at best and impossible at worst. People that believe military leaders have it easy with issuing an order and personnel blindly following are severely mistaken. The military is a microcosm of society, if people don’t want to do things they find a way to shirk responsibilities. Believing in the mission inspires people to do the things that are often unseen and difficult but required.

4) Cover and Move: Emphasize collective effort over individual achievements. Every member and function interconnects, making teamwork the foundation of success.

Understanding the team makeup and the functions allows the leader to guide the team to a singular goal and vision. I have worked to focus my teams on team achievements, individually thanking each member of the team, and if needed to admonish in private.

5) Simple: Keep communications and directives as simple and clear as possible. Regularly verify team understanding and remember: a leader leads and is ready to follow. Passionate but not emotional, logical but not robotic, quiet but not silent.

I struggle with this the most. I try to keep a flying mantra in mind, “Think, Key, Speak” meaning be intentional with your communications. Use clear concise and standardized communication to deliver directions and expectations.

6) Prioritize and Execute: Maintain composure, make informed decisions based on available data, and remember that the final decision lies with the leader. Establish clear priorities, execute effectively, and stay flexible enough to adapt as situations evolve.

Every team has dozens of demands of their time and attention. Keeping the team focused on the most important and critical to mission success is vital to thwart overwhelm and burnout.

🧠Closing Thoughts

In summary, the keys to effective leadership, as outlined in Extreme Ownership, revolve around taking responsibility, fostering teamwork, believing in the mission, clear communication, and prioritization. It is a challenging journey but an incredibly rewarding one when done right. We hope you found this issue insightful and look forward to your feedback. Should you wish to delve deeper into leadership paradigms, we recommend giving Extreme Ownership a read. Stay tuned for our next edition and remember, good leaders inspire individuals, great leaders inspire teams.

➰Stay in the Loop!

Please feel free to share your thoughts on this week’s newsletter by leaving a comment. If you enjoyed this read, we’d appreciate a thumbs up or a share! We look forward to accompanying you on your journey toward self-improvement and success.

📖What’s Next?

Next week, I will complete the Austin Kleon Trilogy with Steal Like an Artist. If there is something you want me to review, or if you have any questions or comments, shoot me an email. I work to reply to every email related to my YouTube channel and newsletter.

Until next time, keep creating, keep sharing, and stay inspired. Thanks! -Cyle H.

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