I was fortunate to have been a curriculum director in the largest leadership school in the U.S. Air Force. In my experience leadership is misunderstood in our culture, because it is a reactive, rather than a proactive, phenomenon. If a leader is effective, followers will do as he directs. Leadership, then, is a set of people skills that instills trust and loyalty in those the leader wants to follow her. Leadership is never a right nor is it an organizational imperative. I have even privileged to sit snd talk with several veterans of Patton's 3rd Army. Today, if he came from the grave and told his men he was going to march on hell this vets would fall in behind them.Extreme Ownership take the experiences of SEALS to demonstrate that kind of leadership and the vital roll that effective leadership plays in any organization.

I met Jocko Willink about 4 years ago in San Diego. The company I was working for at He time had hired him to come out and speak at our large annual event. I was impressed not only by the leadership lessons he helped instill, but by the kind of man he is. Extremely kind and humble and really made people feel important. I had a chance to talk to him one on one and he took the time to look me in the eyes and listen intently which is a talent when you are pulled in so many directions. I am a huge fan of the Jocko Podcast and look forward to listening to every single one. Extreme Ownership was very well written (I ended up highlighting half the book!), with lessons taught by 2 people that I have the utmost respect for...Jocko Willink and Leif Babin. I am so grateful for them fighting for our freedom and for passing along the lessons they have learned. Life can be very stressful at times, but as Jocko likes to say "Relax, look around, and make a call." Decide to take the time to read this book, if you want to learn, want to get better, you absolutely will.

If you want to be the best at something, start with the fundamentals. This is of course my personal opinion after a decade of working in a demanding profession where peoples lives are actually on the line. Mr. Willink and Mr. Babin have essentially compiled an orderly list of fundamentals to successful leadership.For me, the book was enlightening in that, it finally revealed to me that which I have been searching for so long. I have spent countless hours deep in thought on what problems plague the organization I work for. What the root causes of dysfunction truly are, and how to fix them. In one fell swoop this book laid it out. The truth of it was somewhat too simple to believe at first. It can't all be the leadership after all, can it ? But, if you are open minded, and you truly dig deep and are able to embrace the concept, then you realize it would be difficult to cultivate anything other than success by using the strategies laid out within this book.Remember, you are an example to others whether or not your are a chosen leader, or an informal leader. Do yourself a favor and pick up a copy of this book. Its not just about leadership in business or military, but leadership in your life. Here's to you and your chosen career path, and remember, the fundamentals always win !

Simple idea with profound consequences when you and your team buy into the strategy. If you have one thing you want to do to change the dynamic of your company, this book will give you a powerful tool to reshape everything. That said, it means you'll have to change too or it won't work. It's probably one of the pivotal ideas that you'll read that has the power to transform your company's or even your performance, this is it.Entertaining, for us guys anyway, since it has a lot of stories from their Seal Team career that illustrate the points they make and show the difference thinking clearly and right about your role changes the game. Get it.

Having led teams for almost 20 years in product development and change management, it is refreshing to finally see a book that does an effective job of identifying the keys to leadership. Over the years, I have seen so much leadership garbage in the press - books from professors and consultants who are trying to take advantage of this topic to make, finally we have a book providing principles that have been proven to work in the most stressful of situations, when individuals lives are on the line.One last thought: I think that our so called "leaders" in Washington, DC need to read this book at follow these principles. Instead of no ownership that is currently experience in Washington, DC, Extreme Ownership would be a refreshing change. Wouldn't it be great if someone in Washington, DC took responsibility for something?