What is leadership? It’s different than management or hierarchy. Even if we tend to call groups highly ranked people “leadership” teams, they may not be skilled leaders.
Navigating the differences between management, leadership, titles, and promotion tracks tend to overcomplicate what leadership really is. As much as I’ve studied and struggled with leadership, I don’t think I settled on a unifying theory until I read Jocko Willink and Leif Babin’s Extreme Ownership: How U.S. Navy SEALs Lead and Win. This TEDx video does a great job summing it up.
To hit the highlights:
There is no one else to blame; you must own problems along with solutions; commit to lead up and down the chain of command.
The 4 Laws of Combat
- Cover & Move
- Simple
- Prioritized & Execute
- Decentralized Command
Mindsets for Victory
- Default: Aggressive
- Innovate & Adapt
- Humility: Check Your Ego
- Discipline = Freedom
I read/listen pretty broadly, and I know a subset of managers love pointing to the military as a cure-all. Almost everything Jocko shares on leadership reiterates humanity and that the best soldiers/employees are not and should not be robots. There are two reasons I love Jocko and Leif’s approach to leadership. The first is its simplicity. If everything is my fault, I always know where to start:) The second reason is that these are stress-tested principles. The number of leaders the U.S. military trains, nevermind the missions they’re entrusted with, likely makes them the biggest training pipeline in the world.
Relating this back to leadership, you are always a leader. You might not be in charge of the meeting, a project, or the first name on a presentation, but you’re still leading. To borrow from Seth Godin, leadership is a posture. A way of holding yourself constantly. How do you try this posture more consistently?
Looking to nature, a flock of geese isn’t lead by the lead goose. They rotate this position throughout the migration process and draft off of each other to save energy. Whatever your organization is, I’m guessing it’s similar.
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