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Leadership Lessons of the Navy SEALS: Battle-Tested Strategies for Creating Successful Organizations and Inspiring Extraordinary Results: ... and Inspiring Extraordinary Results
In today's superheated business climate, executives and managers are under increasing pressure to squeeze every last drop of productivity out of their people. Built around inspiring stories from both the military and business worlds, Leadership Lessons of the Navy SEALS outlines a step-by-step approach to boosting morale and increasing productivity in any business organization.
240 pages, Paperback
Published January 18, 2005
31 people are currently reading
232 people want to read
About the author
Jeff Cannon
6 books1 followerJeff Cannon is a Modern American Monk. He is the author of numerous books on meditation, spirituality and wellness. He is a member of NYU Medical Center's Patient Advisory Council as well as a contributor to Huffington Post, MindBodyGreen and countless other blogs and online websites.
In 2009 Jeff gave up a successful business, let his clients go, and began a journey that he remains on to this day - that of Modernizing Meditation to better fit the realities of the world we now live in.
Jeff recently completed his third book while recovering from his 8th brain surgery. His surgeries collectively removed more than 20 brain tumors in as many years. His first surgery was started with a hand-drill in 1992. His most devastating surgery removed six brain tumors in 2009. His latest surgery lasted 14 hours, after which he could not see, speak or stand.
Over the years, Jeff has watched his brain reboot itself again and again, giving Jeff a very unique, first hand view into the evolution of neuroscience.
It also stirred him to dedicate his life to integrate Western Science and Eastern Philosophy in a way that makes sense for the modern world.
In 2009 Jeff gave up a successful business, let his clients go, and began a journey that he remains on to this day - that of Modernizing Meditation to better fit the realities of the world we now live in.
Jeff recently completed his third book while recovering from his 8th brain surgery. His surgeries collectively removed more than 20 brain tumors in as many years. His first surgery was started with a hand-drill in 1992. His most devastating surgery removed six brain tumors in 2009. His latest surgery lasted 14 hours, after which he could not see, speak or stand.
Over the years, Jeff has watched his brain reboot itself again and again, giving Jeff a very unique, first hand view into the evolution of neuroscience.
It also stirred him to dedicate his life to integrate Western Science and Eastern Philosophy in a way that makes sense for the modern world.
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Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews
October 27, 2020
Pretty impressive book about a culture that has been created within the Navy seals who are relatively well known and recognised as legend and I guess there must be a lot of myth that surrounds them but who knows what the reality is behind how some of their operations are executed. This book deep dives into some of the cultural and organisational facets and structure of the seal organisation as a whole but also what it takes to become an elite seal member at an individual level. At a fundamental level it clearly involves a great deal of discipline, self negotiation with fear, self introspection, a never say die attitude, the ability to work things out no matter what, teamwork, incredible endurance and ultimately a mental superiority that I guess a very few individuals, but the elite in the world, possess. Here are some of the best bits from the book:
I was in the Middle East with a platoon when the platoon commander came into my tent with some bad news. We don't have all the ammunition were supposed to have, he told me. Some of it that was supposed to come in on the flight that morning never arrived. I was concerned but he interrupted me. I've already called the unit that was supposed to send it he continued. I have two of my guys going to the airstrip in case it was accidentally sent. In the meantime, the special forces company in town can lend us what we need. In either case we should know where our ammo is shortly. And we will still have what we need in case we get tasked with the mission. There it was. There was no complaining. No simply dumping of a problem. What my platoon commander was really doing was informing me that he was taking care of a problem. And there is no better indicator of leadership than someone who's willing to solve a problem.
Deciding not to move because it's the best choice is not the same thing as doing nothing out of fear. It still a decision. How do you reach such a decision? Try to anticipate these situations. Make the decision before the situation actually happens. Then when the situation does happen, remember what you had already decided to do. And trust that what you had previously decided to do was correct. The importance of visualisation.
Finally, each participant must know that there is a process in place to evaluate each participants contribution to the overall success or failure of the mission. Again this doesn't mean encouraging personal achievement at the expense of the mission : it means making sure that each team member knows that if another member isn't doing his or her part to achieve the missions goal, the slacker will be held accountable. These conditions can exist only if a structure has been put in place that, on the one hand that gives its members responsibility for achieving the missions / goals and on the other hand enforces accountability.
The SEAL organisation promotes a culture that emphasises the needs to aggressively search for and test new solutions and to adapt to and overcome new environments.
But if you want to be a great leader in a great organisation, the kind that makes things happen, you'll soon learn that the first thing you need to do is to develop a team that is accountable, capable, and motivated. The seals to rely on supremely effective teams and masterful leadership to build their teams and accomplished their teams. Do the same in your organisation.
Less structure and more communication doesn't necessarily add up to success. They often add up to just the opposite: a mess. Communication is the transfer of information. And information is valuable only if it can be processed. The fact that several US intelligence agencies had information that might have implied that September 11th was about to occur but weren't able to process the mountain of data in time to act is unfortunate evidence of that Maxim.
The more authority you assume, the more you need someone who is assigned to tell you the truth. This is because the more important you become the more others are apt to tell you what you want to hear. Yes Sir. Cinderblocks.com sounds like a real money maker. No Sir. Everyone completely understands why slashing their pay checks by 10% is completely unrelated to your new BMW purchase. Find a tough soul who will stick it to you; tell him he is your monitor on how things are going.
I was in the Middle East with a platoon when the platoon commander came into my tent with some bad news. We don't have all the ammunition were supposed to have, he told me. Some of it that was supposed to come in on the flight that morning never arrived. I was concerned but he interrupted me. I've already called the unit that was supposed to send it he continued. I have two of my guys going to the airstrip in case it was accidentally sent. In the meantime, the special forces company in town can lend us what we need. In either case we should know where our ammo is shortly. And we will still have what we need in case we get tasked with the mission. There it was. There was no complaining. No simply dumping of a problem. What my platoon commander was really doing was informing me that he was taking care of a problem. And there is no better indicator of leadership than someone who's willing to solve a problem.
Deciding not to move because it's the best choice is not the same thing as doing nothing out of fear. It still a decision. How do you reach such a decision? Try to anticipate these situations. Make the decision before the situation actually happens. Then when the situation does happen, remember what you had already decided to do. And trust that what you had previously decided to do was correct. The importance of visualisation.
Finally, each participant must know that there is a process in place to evaluate each participants contribution to the overall success or failure of the mission. Again this doesn't mean encouraging personal achievement at the expense of the mission : it means making sure that each team member knows that if another member isn't doing his or her part to achieve the missions goal, the slacker will be held accountable. These conditions can exist only if a structure has been put in place that, on the one hand that gives its members responsibility for achieving the missions / goals and on the other hand enforces accountability.
The SEAL organisation promotes a culture that emphasises the needs to aggressively search for and test new solutions and to adapt to and overcome new environments.
But if you want to be a great leader in a great organisation, the kind that makes things happen, you'll soon learn that the first thing you need to do is to develop a team that is accountable, capable, and motivated. The seals to rely on supremely effective teams and masterful leadership to build their teams and accomplished their teams. Do the same in your organisation.
Less structure and more communication doesn't necessarily add up to success. They often add up to just the opposite: a mess. Communication is the transfer of information. And information is valuable only if it can be processed. The fact that several US intelligence agencies had information that might have implied that September 11th was about to occur but weren't able to process the mountain of data in time to act is unfortunate evidence of that Maxim.
The more authority you assume, the more you need someone who is assigned to tell you the truth. This is because the more important you become the more others are apt to tell you what you want to hear. Yes Sir. Cinderblocks.com sounds like a real money maker. No Sir. Everyone completely understands why slashing their pay checks by 10% is completely unrelated to your new BMW purchase. Find a tough soul who will stick it to you; tell him he is your monitor on how things are going.
October 19, 2012
Great book by the Cannon brothers. It definitly has some take ways applicable to the business world as well as the rest of the military world. It probably should be reread every couple of years or just before taking a big assignment since the outline below doesn't convey the full message that you get by reading the book.
Chapter 1 - Setting Goals
1 - Choose a path or take your chances
2 - Get specific when you define your problem
3 - When you can't get from A to B, go to C
4 - Your specific problem defines your mission
5 - Plan ahead - Prepare for a new situation that has not yet been identified
6 - Build your goal around a problem, not the other way around
7 - Avoid creating a capability and then looking for a mission to justify it
8 - Define mission success
9 - Compare the risks of alternative missions
10 - Does the risk of doing nothing outweigh the risk of going forward
11 - Plan your team around your mission
12 - When time is an issue, plan your misison backward from your objective
- Define the overall, long-term goal of the team
- Work backward to defeine benchmarks and short term objectives that are consistent with your long-term goals
- Build your leadership around your long-term goals
- Build your team operators around short term goals
13 - Find out what the big dogs want
14 - Prioritize long-term over short-term goals
15 - Don't wait for the no-risk solution
16 - Take it in small steps
Chapter 2 - Crate structure or fight alone
1 - Even a circus has a ringleader
2 - The key to accountability is structure
3 - There is no team unless everyone knows the team colors
4 - Ship attacks or ambushes? Choose a structure.
Pick a style (i.e. Pyramid, Flatland, Rotational) and no matter what...
limit the number of your direct subordinates,
appoint one person on each project as a project leader,
set up teams of specialists for special projects requiring niche expertise,
encourage team members to rely on one another,
hold weekly or monthly status meetings to ensure everyone is aware of what is going on,
ensure that the lines of communicaiton are two-way
establish definitions for critical and noncritical information
ensure that everyone understands the big picture
5 - Lines of communications equals chains of command
6 - Limit access to your office
If you want to create an effective chain of command, then do the following: Respect your CoC, Reward and Punish, Trust the people below you, Establish when it's okay to go around your boss,
7 - Build boundaries to prevent infighting and cannibalism
8 - If a meeting is going nowhere, kill it
Chapter 3 - The hardest easy thing
1 - Forget the village concept - one person has to be in charge
2 - State your mission
3 - Choose your option while the choice is still yours
4 - Stand up and take the hit
5 - Make a damn decision'
6 - Put your stamp on things right away
7 - Give them the big picture
8 - Point the boat in the right direction
9 - Get comfortable with chaos
10 – The vast majority of the time, you know what should be done
11 – If you think no one else can replace you, you’re an egotistical SOB who’s failed
12 – There’s no “I” in “Shut up and do the work”
13 – Don’t become one of the following stereotypes
The Volcano, The Country Club Manager, The Bank Manager, The Manager who can't be satisfied, and the Cowboy
14 – Know which leadership style to use
15 – Ensure that you possess the three primary leadership tools
Responsibility, Authority, Accountability
16 – Increase your number of leadership vehicles
Technical Leadership, Organizational Leadership, Knowledge Leadership, Inspirational Leadership, Moral Leadership
17 – Assign an honest broker to bring you back to earth
18 – Then seek out and listen to the rest of your people
19 – Be unapologetic when you fire someone
20 – Enforce your chain of command
21 – Don’t make work your employees’ life
22 – There is a fine line between tradition and obsolescence
23 – Let them be angry when they have the right to be
24 – Tell them when the ship is sinking
25 – Communicating hysteria won’t drive production
26 – Communicate that you trust them
27 – Kicking them unnecessarily reveals your incompetence
Chapter 4 – The Thundering Herd
1 – Realize that nobody’s forcing you to be here
2 – If you’re new, you have to shut up and learn
3 – You’re the one who can make it work, and that’s often thanks enough
4 – Your value during the battle has nothing to do with how close you are to the front
5 – Help your boss and you help yourself
6 – It’s okay; you’re supposed to fight with your boss
7 – Cowboy’s and cogs don’t have job security – team members do
8 – You can’t fool people about being a team player
9 – There are probably good reasons why your marching orders seem screwed up
10 – Build your team, build your resume
11 – It’s a small world, and it’s getting smaller
12 – There aren’t many ways to radically change a proven system
13 – Own everything you do
14 – Sweat the small rituals
15 – Bring me the problem along with a solution
Chapter 5 – Building a thundering head
1 – Do you really want to build a quality team?
2 – Continually set your high standards
3 – Retain your best people or you’ll pay through the nose
4 – If you’re hiring, make them come to you
5 – Your own people are your best recruiters
6 – Give real rewards for real achievements
7 – Identify your lead dogs, feed them well, and build a pack around them
8 – Find out what makes them tick
9 – If you can’t give them fresh meat, give them reminders of what fresh meat tastes like
10 – Provide those other things so that they can focus on their jobs
Examples are pay, titles, respect, recognition, loads, trust
11 – If sharks stop swimming forward, they stop being sharks
12 – Let it be known that you’ll get rid of people who just shouldn’t be part of the team – even nice people
13 – Save them if you can, but recognize when you can’t
Employee's fall into four categories
A: The employee has the skills, but lacks the motivation to do the job
Try and motivate them if you can't, get rid of them
B: The employee has the skills and motivation, but lacks the resources to do the job
This is not an employee issue, this is a leadership issue
C: The employee has the motivation, but lacks the skills to do the job
Groom this individual, they can be worked with
D: The employee has neither the skills nor the motivation
Get rid of this cancer
Chapter 6 – Now maintain your momentum
1 – If you need to scream, you need to practice
Chapter 1 - Setting Goals
1 - Choose a path or take your chances
2 - Get specific when you define your problem
3 - When you can't get from A to B, go to C
4 - Your specific problem defines your mission
5 - Plan ahead - Prepare for a new situation that has not yet been identified
6 - Build your goal around a problem, not the other way around
7 - Avoid creating a capability and then looking for a mission to justify it
8 - Define mission success
9 - Compare the risks of alternative missions
10 - Does the risk of doing nothing outweigh the risk of going forward
11 - Plan your team around your mission
12 - When time is an issue, plan your misison backward from your objective
- Define the overall, long-term goal of the team
- Work backward to defeine benchmarks and short term objectives that are consistent with your long-term goals
- Build your leadership around your long-term goals
- Build your team operators around short term goals
13 - Find out what the big dogs want
14 - Prioritize long-term over short-term goals
15 - Don't wait for the no-risk solution
16 - Take it in small steps
Chapter 2 - Crate structure or fight alone
1 - Even a circus has a ringleader
2 - The key to accountability is structure
3 - There is no team unless everyone knows the team colors
4 - Ship attacks or ambushes? Choose a structure.
Pick a style (i.e. Pyramid, Flatland, Rotational) and no matter what...
limit the number of your direct subordinates,
appoint one person on each project as a project leader,
set up teams of specialists for special projects requiring niche expertise,
encourage team members to rely on one another,
hold weekly or monthly status meetings to ensure everyone is aware of what is going on,
ensure that the lines of communicaiton are two-way
establish definitions for critical and noncritical information
ensure that everyone understands the big picture
5 - Lines of communications equals chains of command
6 - Limit access to your office
If you want to create an effective chain of command, then do the following: Respect your CoC, Reward and Punish, Trust the people below you, Establish when it's okay to go around your boss,
7 - Build boundaries to prevent infighting and cannibalism
8 - If a meeting is going nowhere, kill it
Chapter 3 - The hardest easy thing
1 - Forget the village concept - one person has to be in charge
2 - State your mission
3 - Choose your option while the choice is still yours
4 - Stand up and take the hit
5 - Make a damn decision'
6 - Put your stamp on things right away
7 - Give them the big picture
8 - Point the boat in the right direction
9 - Get comfortable with chaos
10 – The vast majority of the time, you know what should be done
11 – If you think no one else can replace you, you’re an egotistical SOB who’s failed
12 – There’s no “I” in “Shut up and do the work”
13 – Don’t become one of the following stereotypes
The Volcano, The Country Club Manager, The Bank Manager, The Manager who can't be satisfied, and the Cowboy
14 – Know which leadership style to use
15 – Ensure that you possess the three primary leadership tools
Responsibility, Authority, Accountability
16 – Increase your number of leadership vehicles
Technical Leadership, Organizational Leadership, Knowledge Leadership, Inspirational Leadership, Moral Leadership
17 – Assign an honest broker to bring you back to earth
18 – Then seek out and listen to the rest of your people
19 – Be unapologetic when you fire someone
20 – Enforce your chain of command
21 – Don’t make work your employees’ life
22 – There is a fine line between tradition and obsolescence
23 – Let them be angry when they have the right to be
24 – Tell them when the ship is sinking
25 – Communicating hysteria won’t drive production
26 – Communicate that you trust them
27 – Kicking them unnecessarily reveals your incompetence
Chapter 4 – The Thundering Herd
1 – Realize that nobody’s forcing you to be here
2 – If you’re new, you have to shut up and learn
3 – You’re the one who can make it work, and that’s often thanks enough
4 – Your value during the battle has nothing to do with how close you are to the front
5 – Help your boss and you help yourself
6 – It’s okay; you’re supposed to fight with your boss
7 – Cowboy’s and cogs don’t have job security – team members do
8 – You can’t fool people about being a team player
9 – There are probably good reasons why your marching orders seem screwed up
10 – Build your team, build your resume
11 – It’s a small world, and it’s getting smaller
12 – There aren’t many ways to radically change a proven system
13 – Own everything you do
14 – Sweat the small rituals
15 – Bring me the problem along with a solution
Chapter 5 – Building a thundering head
1 – Do you really want to build a quality team?
2 – Continually set your high standards
3 – Retain your best people or you’ll pay through the nose
4 – If you’re hiring, make them come to you
5 – Your own people are your best recruiters
6 – Give real rewards for real achievements
7 – Identify your lead dogs, feed them well, and build a pack around them
8 – Find out what makes them tick
9 – If you can’t give them fresh meat, give them reminders of what fresh meat tastes like
10 – Provide those other things so that they can focus on their jobs
Examples are pay, titles, respect, recognition, loads, trust
11 – If sharks stop swimming forward, they stop being sharks
12 – Let it be known that you’ll get rid of people who just shouldn’t be part of the team – even nice people
13 – Save them if you can, but recognize when you can’t
Employee's fall into four categories
A: The employee has the skills, but lacks the motivation to do the job
Try and motivate them if you can't, get rid of them
B: The employee has the skills and motivation, but lacks the resources to do the job
This is not an employee issue, this is a leadership issue
C: The employee has the motivation, but lacks the skills to do the job
Groom this individual, they can be worked with
D: The employee has neither the skills nor the motivation
Get rid of this cancer
Chapter 6 – Now maintain your momentum
1 – If you need to scream, you need to practice
April 13, 2019
Really loved this book. I'm not sure if I liked it more for the leadership skills I learned or for listening to fascinating stories about Navy Seals. They are really bad a**es! :) Thank you and God bless to all of them.
August 19, 2019
The only leadership book that I keep at my desk. I plan to re-read it several times.
Great book. The lessons are situation, lesson, and business application. The lessons are short. There are about 75 lessons in the book.
Great book. The lessons are situation, lesson, and business application. The lessons are short. There are about 75 lessons in the book.
March 15, 2023
It might be that I have an affinity to militaristic analogies but this book was phenomenal. The stories, the values stressed, and the ways to implement changes were fantastic. I highly recommend to anyone interested in leadership or the Teams.
June 12, 2008
What I enjoyed most about reading this book is observing the genius of small, lean teams operating effectively in both centralized and dispersed autonomous structures. The fluidity of the teams and the constant training and cross-training of its members enable them to react not only to anticipated snafus but also the doozies - those events that no one could have expected. The SEAL organization anticipates several principles of change that it feels will define the future battlefield:
** Continued chaos
** Continued technological advancement
** Something totally unforeseen will occur
Preparation, contingency planning, and a relentless focus on the mission at hand are characteristics that I find appealing in both the business world and in my personal life. As a result I resonated solidly with the book and its illustrations of lessons learned by the Navy SEALS.
** Continued chaos
** Continued technological advancement
** Something totally unforeseen will occur
Preparation, contingency planning, and a relentless focus on the mission at hand are characteristics that I find appealing in both the business world and in my personal life. As a result I resonated solidly with the book and its illustrations of lessons learned by the Navy SEALS.
September 8, 2010
This book was okay, but nothing I hadn't heard before. I thought there would be some good stories of heroic adventures they experienced as Navy SEALS, but it was all pretty superficial. Just an okay read.
June 15, 2013
This reads like a fairly standard management book. The only difference is that they mix in anecdotes from service in the SEALs. As a vet, I could identify with the military themes. But as far as leadership/management books go, this one didn't have anything new.
December 11, 2013
Re-read this over the past few days. A little surprised by the many notes and highlighted passages from my first reading several years ago. The sections on delivering high-candor feedback, cultivating trust and receiving hard-to-hear input were especially helpful.
July 29, 2011
This is an excellent book for anyone in management to read. It has short and to the point examples.
October 5, 2012
Simplistic and anecdotal. There are many far better books out there on leadership.
March 19, 2013
Lessons with real life examples.
Read
July 10, 2015An excellent book on leadership and organization structure.
January 7, 2016
very applicable advises in real world situation. not just concept and theory.
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews