Extreme Ownership (How U.S. Navy SEALS Lead and Win)

It seems I'm in the minority here but I didn't love this book. I love leadership and I love discipline and I was hoping to hear some unique thoughts about these subjects. I hadn't heard an interview from the author and was very excited about this book.I simply didn't find any of the principles on leadership or discipline to be anything more than common knowledge. If you read books on leadership before or on discipline or military books, there doesn't seem to be anything unique here, in my opinion.If you love War Stories especially in a modern context, this is an excellent book. It's well-written and fun to read. I just didn't particularly find it helpful.For leadership technique or principles of self discipline, I would not recommend this book. For stories of overcoming challenges in Modern Combat and conflict, I would recommend this book.But ultimately, given my expectations, I was pretty disappointed. I'm also disappointed at the great reviews it's got because I feel like I'm taking crazy pills here!* Edit: I went back and read some of the lower reviews and I concur with all of them. I'm glad at least a few people noticed that this book was heavy on bragging and light on principles. The 90% five star reviews are only right if you love War Stories and don't really care about leadership or self discipline.

This is not a 5 star book. There is some good information here, and some great stories about Navy Seals....but leadership advice...not so much. Let me save you some money - Extreme Ownership is taking complete responsibility for everything that happens in your organization, regardless of the circumstances. Just about everything else in the book surrounds anecdotal stories to drive this point home. Cheers.

If you were to judge a book by its cover, you would think that "Extreme Ownership: How US Navy SEALs Lead And Win" is a book which would only be applicable to military veterans and historians. You would be wrong.This isn't a self-help book from some "gurus", nor does it provide an ideology or set of steps for how to approach specific problems. Extreme Ownership is a mindset which applies to everything you do. Authors Jocko Willink and Leif Babin have crafted a guidebook for success in all ventures of life. They explain hard-learned principles of leadership, which they experienced first-hand as US Navy SEALs, specifically in and around their 2006 deployment to Ramadi, Iraq, one of the most dangerous places and times in the war. These principles can be applied to any relationships or walks of life; they are simple enough for anyone to understand, and broad enough to use in any situation.The book is separated into 12 chapters, each which highlights a principle of leadership. Each chapter is then broken into 3 seconds. The first section is an anecdote providing an example of how US Navy SEALs use their military experience to demonstrate each principle. The second section is how & why the principle works. The third section is an example of how that principle transforms from the battlefield, into world of businesses of all types & sizes, as experienced by the authors and their customers. It is very easy to read and understand, despite the regular use of military jargon (which is either footnoted or explained so even non-military readers can comprehend).Military recruits & officers, parents, corporate executives, students, low-level management, spouses, shop foremen, independent contractors, and sole proprietors will all benefit from the lessons of Extreme Ownership.If you feel you're stuck in a rut, lacking self-discipline, or perhaps know someone who simply needs to improve their lot, this book is an excellent starting point.I have personally read & completed this book, but I will never be done with the concept of "Extreme Ownership". Being able to take ownership and be accountable for the things around me has truly changed my life for the better.

This is not a good leadership book. First and foremost, not all decisions deliver immediate consequences as is clearly stated in this book.A great leader has to learn how to work with all factions of people. We don't get a heavily vetted group of individuals to mold such as they do in the Seals.I read leadership books to better myself. This is a book of very interesting war stories and that really is it.

Most leadership books simply talk about how to lead those in your charge. This book reminds us to first lead ourselves, and own our actions. (This is more than leading by example.) Whether you are the Chairman of the Board or just graduating from high school, there is something in this book for you (male or female). The principles in this book will make you a better person.

Extreme Ownership does what many books do. It takes common sense principles and tries to bring them to life through narrative. The handoff between narrative and principle was not convincing and with the exception of the first pillar, the book was not exceptionally impactful. It's made more interesting with it's descriptions of battle but the quality of writing made it hard for me to read. Too many superlatives and oorahs. The chapter for which the book is named is terrific and thought provoking however. I would have preferred to read an essay on extreme ownership and read the rest as a wartime memoir.

I believe the title is misleading. This book more about like military memoir.

This book was such a letdown. The very introduction states it is not just another book with war stories trying to magnify their achievements but guess what, that's exactly what it is. Literally 75% or more of the book is these guys war stories. They do somehow try to drive their leadership point but there's so much "useless" content. Perhaps for a military man learning on leadership it is useful, but for the avg person not interested in any of these stuff it becomes boring really quickly.This book could literally be 50 pages and make the same points clearly and concisely without all the theatrics like "I spoke on the radio to my commander that we had insurgents in the area, and he replied roger". Felt like a lot of content was made just for the sake of adding pages.That being said, the principles itself on extreme ownership are solid and I did understand them and enjoyed them. Unfortunately I had to deal with all the military out of context stories to get there. Maybe I would've liked it if my expectations for this book had been different.

The book makes excellent points, but those points could be presented on a few pages. I suspect the busy people at whom this book is aimed would be better off to google 'extreme ownership,' read the high-level topic points, think about how to apply those points in their life, and then save the time and money of buying the book. On the other hand, if you enjoy reading about the 'behind the scenes' of the US military and you're not purely after business self-help, then you'll probably enjoy the book.

Lots of praise for the US military and how wonderful they are. Every chapter is a war anecdote followed by a brief (and bleeding obvious) life/work lesson. The moral of the stories is 'everything can be your fault, but gain credibility with your men and superiors by taking responsibility even when it isn't demonstrably your fault' and 'make orders clear so everyone knows what they are doing (and it therefore becomes less likely that things become become your fault)'. Got bored and gave up around half way.

A lot of good leadership ideas in this book and I am glad that I purchased in and read it. However it did get a bit repetitive, and the military side was interesting but a bit overdone. I realize that marketing is necessary for promoting this idea, and I understood what the authors were getting at with "extreme ownership", and many of their ideas had a depth that is missing in traditional leadership lessons, but at times the term was overused. It would have been good if the authors attached more fine detail to the concept rather than throwing "extreme ownership" at every situation. However, all in all, it is an excellent book and the authors are onto something. Too bad it takes a war to understand some of the finer details of leadership!

Extreme ownership = Leaders take total and complete responsibility for their team.This is repeated over and over again using different examples from SEAL life. The example are interesting though.

I loved this book. I had first heard of Jocko and Leif from the Jockopodcast, I liked what I heard so I thought I'd buy the book. In the book Jocko and Leif give an account of their experiences from combat in Ramadi as part of SEAL team 3 task unit bruiser, they then explain the principle of the lesson learned and translate that into how it can be applied to the civillian world. Its well laid out, clear and concise.

Wer schon mal Führungsaufgaben in kleineren oder auch größeren Gruppen übernehmen durfte kennt die Situation:Man hat mitunter sehr viel Zeit in die Planung einer Stunde, eines Seminars, Kurses o.ä. investiert, nur ummit Erschrecken festzustellen, dass vieles, wenn nicht alles, nicht so läuft wie ursprünglich antizipiert...Dinge, die auch der Weitsichtigste nicht vorhersehen kann, wenn er nicht gerade Nostradamus heißt. Dinge,die sich schlicht der Kontrolle eines einzelnen kleinen Individuums mit seinem begrenzten Horizont entziehen.Nun wäre es ein leichtes dieses etwaige Versagen auf die äußeren Umstände zu schieben. Die Schuld und Verantwortungvon sich zu weisen. Was kann ich schon dafür, dass es regnet/ der Beamer nicht funktioniert/ die mir Anvertrauteneinen schlechten Tag haben?Hier Jocko's Ansatz (in a nutshell):Weg von der Schuldzuweisung an äußere Umstände.Hin zur VÖLLIGEN Verantwortungsübernahme. Und ja, auch der Dinge und Phänomene die ich nicht in der Hand habe.Denn dies verändert meine Perspektive entscheidend! Es setzt den Fokus auf rationale (nicht emotionale),konstruktive Reflexion und die Fragen: Was habe ich nicht bedacht? Was kann ich besser machen? Was ist Plan B?Man ist nicht länger gefangen in der Endlosschleife des Selbstmitleids und der Suche nach dem/der Schuldigen.Stattdessen sieht man die "Niederlage" als eine Lerngelegenheit, an der man wachsen darf! Nur wer vollends dieVerantwortung übernimmt, kann auch etwas verändern.Jockos Antwort auf schlechte Neuigkeiten: "Good!" (denn "Probleme" sind Möglichkeiten sich weiterzuentwickeln...)

"War Memorial" with life lessons !What I liked about the book ?1. War stories2. Simple principles in every chapter3. Easy read4. Blunt style of JockoWhat i did not like ?1. Too many military or technical terms (apart from those terms rest of the book is easy read)2. Not exactly a self help book. It is especially made for people who like war tactics or war stories as every chapter starts with a story involving Jocko or Leif- 90% of the chapter is covered with war stories and 5% with lesson learned from that story and 5% with application of that lesson to business.3. Book becomes boring after reading two three chapters. So I skipped all the stories and read just the "lesson" and its business application. :DConclusionNot exactly a self help book. It provides less principles. You will again more by listening to Jocko podcast. I was expecting something exceptional but book turns out to be just "good" not great. Give it a try, you will learn something different but not much.

Almost read the book and information in it can be really useful in everyday life, business, and sports. The writers (Jocko W. and Leif B.) share their knowledge, tactics, and stories from the battleground - in Ramadi, Iraq where they were fighting. Both individuals also push you into action, make you aware of how discipline equals freedom and stop you from wasting precious time on useless things.

These guys nail it. Forged in the crucible of repeated life and death situations, they identify and apply principles to live your life from. If you want to be empowered as a leader in your community, your career, your business, your family, your country or even simply in yourself, Extreme Ownership will set you apart and take your results to another level.

A fascinating read and some real ah-ha moments in here. I would recommend it to anyone who has responsibility for anyone else, no matter how big or small you perceive your role to be. The impact you can have on others and the way you think can go up a notch or two with this book. Brilliant!I have already bought another copy and passed it on to a young leader!

It's cool that these guys gave up so much of their lives to protect others - and I love people aiming for the positive... so apologies for the negativity... but this book repeats itself and bundles up the points in time wasting packages.... if you're in search of help (in any form)... go to the gym, eat healthy and just and just hold on, it will pass.... this book will not speed it up.

This book should be an essential read for leaders from different careers as it brings out very crucial points. The writers manage to put their messages across more vividly by using personal experience from the field. Despite the army references I feel like this can be applied to almost every career.

Good central themes, which are reinforced with stories and anecdotes. Easily readable. Maybe too much focus on war stories for some.

A brilliant book! Straight to the point, no waffle, no management speak, no BS. I wish this book was around a long time ago. It would have saved me a lot of heartache! The lessons and learnings in this book can be applied to almost every part of your life. “The mindset of no excuses”. “No one else is to blame”Have already recommended this to friends and colleagues.