Extreme Ownership
Chapter 5 – Cover and Move
Chapter 5 uses the battlefield principle of Cover and Move to drive home a simple but often overlooked truth: success depends on effective teamwork. No team wins alone. In business, just like in combat, teams must work together, support one another, and move toward a shared objective.
But this chapter goes beyond teamwork within a single group. The real danger arises when departments begin competing internally and lose sight of the real opponent—the challenges and pressures outside the organization. When teams focus on protecting turf, chasing credit, or outshining one another, performance suffers and the mission stalls.
True Cover and Move leadership requires expanding your perspective. Your team is not just the people who report directly to you. It includes other departments, other leaders, and other teams working toward the same organizational goals. When leaders foster alignment, trust, and cooperation across the entire organization, silos break down and execution improves.
The takeaway is clear: stop fighting each other. Work together. When every team sees itself as part of something bigger and commits to supporting one another, the organization moves faster, stronger, and with purpose toward winning the mission.
In this chapter, seven excerpts really stood out to me.
- “But my chief knew, and I now recognized, that we had taken a needless and foolish risk. We should have utilized every strength and tactical advantage possible against these ruthless enemy fighters occupying Ramadi. The most important tactical advantage we had was working together as a team, always supporting each other.”
- “It was a rude awakening for me. I had become so immersed in the details, decision points, and immediate challenges of my own team that I had forgotten about the other team, what they could do for us and how we might help them.”
- “We utilized the principle of Cover and Move on every operation: all teams working together in support of one another.”
- “Cover and Move: it is the most fundamental tactic, perhaps the only tactic. Put simply, Cover and Move means teamwork. All elements within the greater team are crucial and must work together to accomplish the mission, mutually supporting one another for that singular purpose.”
- ““The enemy is out there,” I said, pointing out the window to the world beyond. “The enemy is all the other competing companies in your industry that are vying for your customers. The enemy is not in here, inside the walls of this corporation. The departments within and the subsidiary companies that all fall under the same leadership structure—you are all on the same team. You have to overcome the ‘us versus them’ mentality and work together, mutually supporting one another.””
- “As I had done after some constructive guidance from my chief, the production manager must now be willing to take a step back and see how his production team’s mission fit into the overall plan. “It’s about the bigger, strategic mission,” I said. “How can you help this subsidiary company do their job more effectively so they can help you accomplish your mission and you can all win?””
- ““Engage with them,” directed Jocko. “Build a personal relationship with them. Explain to them what you need from them and why, and ask them what you can do to help them get you what you need. Make them a part of your team, not an excuse for your team.”
Here are a few questions to help you dive deeper into this chapter:
- Where have I become so focused on my own team’s priorities that I’ve failed to see how other teams or departments could help—or how we might be hindering them? (Targets leadership tunnel vision, not team failure.)
- What internal “us vs. them” mindset currently exists in our organization, and what responsibility do I have as a leader to dismantle it? (Shifts culture ownership back to leadership.)
- Who outside my direct team do I need to intentionally build a relationship with so that Cover and Move actually happens instead of just being talked about? (Turns cooperation from concept into action.)
- When cross-team friction arises, do I treat other departments as obstacles—or as extensions of my own team that I am responsible to engage, support, and align with the mission? (Reframes blame as leadership responsibility.)
- If performance is suffering due to silos or competition, am I willing to admit that the breakdown is not a ‘bad team’ problem but a failure of leadership alignment and communication? (Directly reinforces the core principle.)
Go – Be the Hero of Your Story