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

hand sketches and manning lists on dry-erase boards. We had the troops
brief the parts they were planning or leading and asked them questions
during the process to ensure their piece of the plan was clear and that
they understood it fully. That was something we never had time for when
we were bogged down creating massive PowerPoint briefs with a
hundred slides.
Most importantly, Jocko explained to us that, as leaders, we must not
get dragged into the details but instead remain focused on the bigger
picture.
“The most important part of the brief,” said Jocko, “is to explain
your Commander’s Intent.” When everyone participating in an operation
knows and understands the purpose and end state of the mission, they
can theoretically act without further guidance. This was a completely
different mind-set for us, and we ran with it.
While Jocko pushed us to focus on Commander’s Intent and the
broader plan, he encouraged us to let the junior leaders in the platoon
sort out and plan the details. “As a leader, if you are down in the weeds
planning the details with your guys,” said Jocko, “you will have the same
perspective as them, which adds little value. But if you let them plan the
details, it allows them to own their piece of the plan. And it allows you
to stand back and see everything with a different perspective, which adds
tremendous value. You can then see the plan from a greater distance, a
higher altitude, and you will see more. As a result, you will catch
mistakes and discover aspects of the plan that need to be tightened up,
which enables you to look like a tactical genius, just because you have a
broader view.”
I realized this was exactly what Jocko did to us all the time.
It was a race against time, but just before the CO and master chief