Ego, Judgement, and Leadership Pitfalls

• Leading up the chain requires more skill than leading down because you can't rely on positional authority and must use influence, experience, knowledge, communication, and professionalism.
• Even junior personnel should ask questions, seek clarification, and participate in discussions during planning and briefing.
• When leading up the chain, exercising caution and respect is crucial.
• Recognizing the need to balance opposing forces to find equilibrium is one of the most powerful tools a leader has.
• Supporting your own immediate leadership is one of a leader’s most important jobs.
• A leader's resolute belief in the mission is more important than training and equipment.
• When overwhelmed, leaders should prioritize and execute.
• Ego can prevent leaders from conducting an honest and realistic assessment.

Ego, Judgement, and Leadership Pitfalls

• Ego becomes destructive when it clouds judgment and prevents seeing the world clearly.
• Lack of focus, ineffective execution, and mission creep are caused by a broad and ambiguous mission.

Military and Historical References

• John Paul Jones (father of the United States Navy) said, "Those who will not risk will not win."
• Col. David Hackworth said, "There are no bad units, only bad officers."
• The SEAL team platoon that got into friendly fire in Vietnam, and whose name is now banned, was X-Ray platoon.

Military Terminology and Concepts

• QRF stands for Quick Reactionary Force.
• Jundhi refers to an Iraqi troop.
• Mujahideen are those engaged in jihad.

Personal Growth and Organizational Development

• Discipline is the pathway to freedom.
• Leading up the chain involves pushing situational awareness and critical information for decision-making up the chain.
• Team participation is critical to developing bold, innovative solutions.

Leadership Principles & Decision-Making

• Leaders taking on too much themselves results in chaos.
• A commander's intent guides each decision and action on the ground.
• Effective decentralized command is enabled by contingency planning.
• Contingency planning enables decisiveness and prevents overwhelm by staying ahead of the curve.
• A leader's attitude determines whether a SEAL unit succeeds or fails in a bad situation.
• Maintaining perspective above micro terrain and avoiding getting bogged down in details allows a leader to "stand back and be the tactical genius."
• Waiting for the 100% right solution prevents execution, causing delay and indecision.
• To remain calm and make the best decision possible, leaders should prioritize and execute.
• Leaders ensure troops prioritize efforts appropriately by communicating routinely to help them understand their role in the mission.
• Clear guidance and distinct boundaries are necessary for decentralized command.
• Understanding the dynamics of decentralized command is supremely important from a leadership perspective.
• Accomplishing the strategic mission is the highest priority.
• Leadership is the single greatest factor in any team's performance.

Team Performance & Discipline

• Contingency planning is a critical characteristic of any high-performing team.
• Discipline is the most important quality for an individual or team.
• More disciplined SOPs lead to more freedom to practice decentralized command.
• The standard you tolerate is what matters -- not what you preach.
• The first test in everyone’s day, and a decisive moment, is, what do you do when the alarm goes off?
• Cover and Move is essentially teamwork.
• Extreme Ownership is the number one characteristic of any high-performance winning team.

Command & Control

• Decentralized command through proper positioning, balanced involvement (not too involved or too aloof), is key to what's working.
• Proper Command and Control is Decentralized Command in a nutshell.
• Cover and Move is the most fundamental tactic.
• Giving negative officers invested in the mission some ownership of plans and explaining how they're contributing addresses their negativity.
• Leaders pushing information down the chain and junior leaders pushing information up is necessary for Decentralized Command.
• Leaders must make educated guesses based on experience, knowledge of the enemy, likely outcomes, and available intel, rather than waiting for a perfect solution.
• A leader's purpose is to lead and win.
• A leader can manage 4-6 people effectively and lead 4-6 people ideally.
• Humans are capable of managing 6-10 people.

Planning & Execution

• The test of a good brief is whether the troops executing the operation (the lowest common denominator) understand.
• Explaining Commander's Intent is the most important part of the brief.
• Plans should be geared toward frontline troops charged with executing the mission.
• Plans and orders must be communicated simply, clearly, and concisely.
• Mission analysis is the first step in mission planning.
• Contingency planning is an effective way to prioritize and execute under pressure.
• Waiting for the 100% right and certain solution causes delay, indecision, and inability to execute.
• A leader's default setting should be aggressive, and proactive not reactive.
• Prioritize and Execute is basically just relax, look around, make a call.

Leading up the chain requires skill beyond authority, relying on influence and expertise. Junior staff should engage in planning, seeking clarity. A leader's belief in the mission outweighs resources, while managing ego ensures clear judgment.