Extreme Ownership

Chapter 2 – No Bad Teams, Only Bad Leaders

What I really enjoyed about this chapter, again, is the reflection on myself as a leader and on how we need to constantly strive to be better. The success and failure of the team depend on how well we lead within the organization.

If we’re not leading well, then the team fails. For me, the biggest key to being a good leader is understanding the talents and personalities of the people on my team and knowing which ones need more guidance and which ones are self-directed and responsible. We’ll get more into that in later chapters when we start talking about decentralized command and some of the other principles within this book.

We have to look at how we are developing as leaders. What are we reading? What are we using to move ourselves forward? How are we working to become better leaders for those around us?

In this chapter, six excerpts really stood out to me.

  1. “Ultimately, how my boat crew performed was entirely on me. The concept that there were no bad teams, only bad leaders was a difficult one to accept but nevertheless a crucial concept that leaders must fully understand and implement to enable them to most effectively lead a high-performance team. Leaders must accept total responsibility, own problems that inhibit performance, and develop solutions to those problems. A team could only deliver exceptional performance if a leader ensured the team worked together toward a focused goal and enforced high standards of performance, working to continuously improve. With a culture of Extreme Ownership within the team, every member of the team could contribute to this effort and ensure the highest levels of performance.”
  2. “No matter how obvious his or her failing, or how valid the criticism, a Tortured Genius, in this sense, accepts zero responsibility for mistakes, makes excuses, and blames everyone else for their failings (and those of their team). In their mind, the rest of the world just can’t see or appreciate the genius in what they are doing. An individual with a Tortured Genius mind-set can have catastrophic impact on a team’s performance.”
  3. “When leaders who epitomize Extreme Ownership drive their teams to achieve a higher standard of performance they must recognize that when it comes to standards, as a leader, it’s not what you preach, it’s what you tolerate.”
  4. “Leaders should never be satisfied. They must always strive to improve, and they must build that mindset into the team.”
  5. “It’s not what you preach, it’s what you tolerate.”
  6. “Their success illustrated once again that leadership is the most important thing on any battlefield; it is the single greatest factor in whether a team succeeds or fails. A leader must find a way to become effective and drive high performance within his or her team in order to win.”

Here are a few questions to help you dive deeper into this chapter:

  1. If I assume there are no bad teams, what specific leadership behaviors of mine might be limiting this team’s performance right now? (This forces leaders to start with self-examination, not team critique.)
  2. What standards do I consistently preach—but fail to enforce—and how has that shaped the culture and results of my team? (Directly confronts the gap between stated values and lived reality.)
  3. Where might I be acting like a “tortured genius”—believing my intent or expertise excuses poor communication, lack of clarity, or team confusion? (Targets ego and intellectual pride that quietly poisons teams.)
  4. Are our goals truly focused and understood at every level of the team, or am I assuming alignment without verifying execution? (Exposes false alignment and weak ownership of clarity.)
  5. If I were removed from this team tomorrow, would performance improve, decline, or stay the same—and what does that reveal about my effectiveness as a leader? (A sobering test of real leadership impact.)

If your team is failing, maybe it is time to look inward, take ownership, and work to be an example to your team.

3 Why do you see the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? 4 Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when there is the log in your own eye? 5 You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother’s eye. – Matthew 7:3-5

Go – Be the Hero of Your Story

Links

Overview

Extreme Ownership
Purchase Extreme Ownership
Chpt. 1 – Extreme Ownership
Chpt. 2 – Only Bad Leaders
Chpt. 3 – Believe