understand and implement to enable them to most effectively lead a
high-performance team. Leaders must accept total responsibility, own
problems that inhibit performance, and develop solutions to those
problems. A team could only deliver exceptional performance if a leader
ensured the team worked together toward a focused goal and enforced
high standards of performance, working to continuously improve. With a
culture of Extreme Ownership within the team, every member of the
team could contribute to this effort and ensure the highest levels of
performance.
* * *Watching these events now unfold as a BUD/S instructor, I knew that as
difficult a challenge as Hell Week was for these students, it was only
training. These young boat crew leaders could not fully comprehend the
burden of leadership for which they would soon be responsible as SEAL
officers on the battlefield. As combat leaders, the pressure on them
would be immense, beyond their imagination.
Only months before this very Hell Week, I had been a SEAL platoon
commander in Ramadi, Iraq, leading combat missions into the most
violent, enemy-held areas of the city. We’d been in more firefights than
I could count, against a well-armed, experienced, and highly determined
enemy. Death lurked around the corner at any moment. Every decision I
(and the leaders within our platoon and task unit) made carried
potentially mortal consequences. We had delivered a huge impact on the
battlefield, killed hundreds of insurgents, and protected U.S. Soldiers
and Marines. I was proud of those triumphs. But we had also suffered
immense tragedy with the loss of the first Navy SEAL killed in combat
in Iraq, Marc Lee. Marc was an incredible teammate, an exceptional