The Extreme Ownership Rundown

The first step in taking ownership is to acknowledge a mistake or failure. But when you do this, be careful to watch your language.

As human beings, we all tend to blame others. Something in our nature drives our immediate default response to blame anyone or anything other than …

PRE-EMPTIVE OWNERSHIP

When a leader accepts total responsibility for everything that impacts their mission, Extreme Ownership becomes not just retroactive but pre-emptive to prevent problems from happening in the first …

In the introduction to the book, Extreme Ownership, Jocko and I wrote: 

The only meaningful measure for a leader is whether the team succeeds or …

At Echelon Front, we work with client companies and organizations in just about every industry. And we consistently hear the same or very similar things from different leaders: people think their problems are …

We all fall short of the mark at times. So you don’t have to pretend. People know you aren’t perfect because no one is perfect. There is no such thing as a flawless performance. People know you don’t have it all figured …

“Keep strong, if possible. In any case, keep cool. Have unlimited patience. Never corner an opponent, and always assist [them] to save face. Put …

We know that leadership is a skill. Like any skill, no one is born with exceptional leadership abilities. They must be learned. While experience is a great teacher, you don’t want the only opportunity to learn to be in …

Immortalized as Davy Crockett in movies and frontier folklore, David Crockett was a ‘coonskin cap-wearing former-U.S. Congressman from Tennessee. He …

“You’ve been brainwashed,” said Jocko. “The shortest distance between two points isn’t a straight line.”  

It may be true in geometry, but it’s definitely not true when it comes to leadership. 

Instead, the quickest …

Working with different personalities can seem like a challenge, but it doesn’t have to be. Learning how to work with different personality types is key to operational success. Learn more here. 

No one is born with great leadership ability. Leadership is a skill that must be taught, learned, and developed over time through training, practice, and repetition. Some people are born with attributes that enable them …

The power of self-control is an ancient concept 

This isn’t a new concept. Israel’s King Solomon wrote about this nearly 3,000 years ago: 

He who …

At a recent Extreme Ownership Muster, our two-day leadership conference, a participant asked Jocko: “How often should I be thinking strategically, …

Often, when people think of leadership, they think of a senior person leading a team of people that report to them. That’s leading down the chain of command. But just as important—or perhaps even more so—is leading up …

When we use the term “leader,” people usually think of the CEO, the senior executive team, or those at the very top of an organization. Many people …

Often, leaders we work with demand more accountability for people with whom they work. “We need to start holding people accountable,” they tell us. …

Ego drives us to do extraordinary things. It makes people want to win; strive to be the best in their field or industry. But ego can also be the most destructive force imaginable. In Extreme Ownership, Jocko wrote: “Ego …

Think of the amount of influence you have on the people around you as a bank account. Leadership capital represents the funds available in that account. In every interaction with others, you are either depositing funds …

How do you handle multiple problems at the same time? The answer is DETACH. When you detach—when you pull yourself out of the details, it gives you a …

What makes a good team member?  

“What makes a good SEAL?” Jocko asked a group of leaders at one of Echelon Front’s Field Training Exercises. Having worked closely with Jocko since 2005, I often know the answer to the …

How do you get others to accept your plan or course of action and execute it as if it were their own?   

We get this question all the time from a leader of a team pushing their people to execute on a new strategy or …

When it comes to taking ownership, perhaps the most frequently asked question we get at Echelon Front is: How do I get others to take ownership?

In the workplace, the question is often directed toward a peer who dropped …

Learn what The Extreme Ownership Rundown is