Leadership universal principles
Most of the following leadership principles, learned by Navy SEALs leaders, have proved to be universal, applicable and effective on every discipline. Each principle is supported by real stories of war.
Take ownership. Acknowledge mistakes and admit failures; accept blame foisted on your team, but pass on any praise.
When a friendly fire incident occurred, considered one of the deadliest sins committed by a SEAL commander, the author took the blame for everything that happened, since he was the leading commander, calming the troops’ anxiety and earning respect among others.
Remove any excuses for not accepting full responsibility for your team, as there are not bad teams, only bad leaders.
On a SEAL basic training , the teams were supposed to sail boats through the waves of the powerful Atlantic Ocean without failure; they had to depend on one another and with the help of their leader to reach the other end. At the end of the story, the leading team and the underperforming team became equals simply by switching leaders.
Always check your ego, as it clouds and disrupts everything, including the ability to take good advice and accept constructive criticism. Exercise humility in daily interactions: accept corrections, accept mistakes and take blame if necessary.
Be a believer! If you, the leader, don’t understand the why of your team’s mission, it is your responsibility to ask and pose questions up to feed the same understanding down to your team. You can only pass on that understanding and belief, when you understand it and believe it first.
Iraqi soldiers were included into a SEAL’s operation. At the beginning, the author saw this as an unfair directive and wondered whether these two sets of troops will be compatible, as they were poorly trained and had no basic war equipment and uniform. After talking with his superior, he realized that there was a reason why the order wanted them to include the Iraqi soldiers in their operation; and the reason was that, maybe, it was time for the Iraqi soldiers to be independent and learn how to protect themselves. Only after this, he could convince his team to believe and understand the directive.
If someone isn’t doing what you need them to do, determine what you can do to better enable this. If your boss isn’t making a decision in a timely manner or providing necessary support for you and your team, don’t blame him, blame yourself first! Lead up the chain in order to obtain decision and support necessary for your team to accomplish the mission.
Getting overwhelmed and tackling many problems simultaneously will lead the team to a likelihood of failing at each of those tasks. Always prioritize and execute.
Plan, as different courses of action must be explored on how to accomplish a goal. A leader must identify clear directives for their team because a broad and ambiguous mission results in a lack of focus and ineffective execution. The mission needs to also explain the overall purpose and desired results of the operation. Detailed plans should be briefed to the entire team, with senior leaders identifying any weaknesses or holes in the plan.
Maintain perspective on the strategic mission and constantly remind the teams that they are part of the bigger team, and how the big mission prevails in all circumstances. Teamwork is critical and each member of the team must do their part or else the entire group is compromised.
When SEAL units advance in a mission, they “cover and move” — half the troops provide cover fire while the rest of the team presses forward and then they exchange roles.
Keep your plans simple. It is very important that you avail simple mission and objectives to your juniors. This will make it easier for them to understand and execute their responsibilities perfectly. Empower them to make decisions on key tasks necessary to accomplish a given mission in the most effective and efficient manner possible. Decentralized command is very important as a form of delegating that allows leaders to stay focused on their unique job — leading the overall team in pursuit of the larger goal.
Make the best decision based on immediately available information. There is no perfect solution to dilemmas. Be comfortable with incomplete pictures, act decisively, and make decisions promptly, then be ready to adjust those decisions quickly based on evolving situations and new information.
Leadership decisions are inherently challenging and take practice. Not every decision will be a good one: all leaders make mistakes. While there is no guarantee of success in leadership, there is one thing that is certain: leading people is the most challenging and, therefore, the most gratifying undertaking of all human endeavors.
