Extreme Ownership: How U.S. Navy SEALs Lead and Win

could be blamed on “market conditions” or “seasonal discrepancies,” but
when the downward trend continued, it was clear that the lower revenues
had metastasized from temporary setback to the new reality.
The CEO of this pharmaceutical company brought me in for
leadership training and consultation. The CEO and his executives
prepared a “State of the Company” brief that detailed the company’s
strategic vision in order to improve performance. The brief included
multiple sections, each with a number of tasks and projects embedded
within.
He sat me down and ran through the brief so I could get a feel for
what they were doing. It contained a plethora of new initiatives, each
with its own set of challenges. First, the CEO planned to launch several
lines of new product, each with its own marketing plan. With the aim of
expansion, the CEO hoped to establish distribution centers in a dozen
new markets in the next eighteen to twenty-four months. Additionally,
he planned to break into the laboratory-equipment market, which he
hoped to sell through their access to doctors and hospitals. The CEO also
discussed a new training program designed to educate managers and
improve their effectiveness as leaders. Additionally, the company
planned a complete Web site overhaul to update their antiquated site and
improve customer experience and branding. Finally, with the aim to
improve sales, the CEO also planned to restructure the company’s sales
force and compensation plan. This entailed an activity-management
system that would more efficiently focus the sales force on income-
producing activities and reduce wasted time and effort. The CEO went
into great detail through a multitude of very impressive sounding plans.
He was clearly passionate about the company and excited to implement
this array of new initiatives to get the company back on track. At the end