Extreme Ownership: How US Navy SEALs Lead and Win

The Navy SEAL program is possibly the toughest military training and screening method in the world. It focuses on teamwork. SEAL teams endured the “dry years” between the end of the Vietnam War and 9/11, decades with little or no combat to hone American battle skills. Since then, years of wartime experience in Afghanistan and Iraq have trained new leaders in what works and what doesn’t on the modern battlefield.

Much curiosity has fallen onto the SEAL teams, and some of their classified secrets have been breached. This book won’t add to that problem; instead, it describes the principles of leadership learned under fire—including painful and humiliating lessons—that can help future military leaders as well as leaders in civilian life.

The book’s lessons are based on experiences at the Battle of Ramadi in Iraq. The authors’ SEAL teams fought alongside Army and Marine units whose “courage, dedication, professionalism, selflessness, and sacrifice” (158/4974) greatly humbled and impressed them.

The book has been carefully vetted by the Pentagon; the authors have altered or otherwise concealed the names of military personnel and the specific tactics used in battle. They also have concealed the names and companies who consulted with them through their firm, Echelon Front. 

Babin’s SEAL team enters a darkened village at night and attacks a building where an Al Qaeda terrorist leader may be hiding. One man escapes the building and runs; Babin and another SEAL chase him down and capture him. Before they have a chance to check the man for explosives, Babin sees, through night-vision goggles, a squad of enemy combatants rounding a corner and moving toward them. Capture means torture and beheading. The man they hold may have weapons, and Babin needs to get back to his platoon to resume command. At the moment, though, Babin doesn’t know exactly where he is in the village.

He remembers the words of Lieutenant Commander Jocko Willink: “Relax. Look around. Make a call” (4). He also remembers the Laws of Combat taught by Willink: “Cover and Move, Simple, Prioritize and Execute, and Decentralized Command” (5).

Babin prioritizes by immediately shooting the first three or four assailants moving toward him. This causes the remaining opponents to panic and pull back. Babin and his teammate then perform Cover and Move, with Babin laying down covering fire while the other SEAL moves forward and does the same for Babin in a leapfrog pattern. They stop briefly to check their captive for weapons, then continue forward and reunite with the rest of the team. Babin directs a Humvee team to point the vehicle’s heavy machine gun in the direction of the enemy squad, then has his radioman contact Tactical Operations Center to bring in air support.

The firefight continues for some time, but the SEALs get the upper hand. The captive wasn’t the leader they were looking for; he’s detained elsewhere, questioned, and released. The al Qaeda emir left hours earlier, but the team learns valuable information, kills several of the enemy, forces the emir to waste time evading them, and reminds the enemy that it has no safe hiding place.

Babin learns that he must memorize maps of the locale; that he and the others should have a rule about how far from the team they can go while chasing a suspect; and that the Rules of Combat help them once again dominate a dangerous situation.

Leadership only matters if there’s a team. The only criterion for leaders is whether they’re effective. Leaders do make mistakes and fail, but “the humility to admit and own mistakes and develop a plan to overcome them is essential to success” (8).

The authors serve together as SEAL team combatants during the 2006 Battle of Ramadi in Iraq, where, against heavy odds during scores of pitched battles, they help the US Army clear out deadly insurgent units, bring peace to the city, and turn the tide of the war in Iraq. During those several months, three Task Unit Bruiser teammates die, and eight are wounded.

Following that deployment, the authors become SEAL combat instructors who stress the importance of leadership. They develop a curriculum that replaces an older, informal, on-the-job training system. They teach decision-making skills for high-pressure situations; they also advise that the right decisions in losing situations can lead to victory but that poor decisions can turn a winning scenario into a disaster.

Soldiers don’t follow orders blindly. They’re smart and creative, and they must believe in the mission and trust their leaders. Getting a group of specialized experts to coordinate a mission is a skill that translates well to businesses and other organizations. The authors’ work with such groups has proven that effective combat leadership applies to civilian life.

Part 1 of the book stresses basic leadership skills and attitudes; Part 2 explains the four Laws of Combat that work in any situation; Part 3 discusses how leaders can keep their teams working at the highest level. Each chapter deals with a single leadership principle by describing the cruciality of that trait during combat, explaining it in detail, and showing how it applies to business firms and other organizations.