The dichotomy of leadership

With their first book, Extreme Ownership (2015), Jocko Willink and Leif Babin challenged readers to become better leaders, better followers, and better people in both their professional and personal lives. Now, Jocko and Leif dive deeper into finding balance between the opposing forces that pull every leader in different directions. Mastering the Dichotomy of Leadership requires understanding when to lead and when to follow; when to aggressively maneuver and when to pause and let things develop; when to detach and let the team run and when to dive into the details and micromanage. In addition, every leader must: take Extreme Ownership of everything that impacts their mission, yet Decentralize Command by giving ownership to their team; care deeply about their people and their individual success and livelihoods, yet look out for the good of the overall team and above all accomplish the strategic mission; exhibit the most important quality in a leader -- humility -- but also be willing to speak up and push back against questionable decisions that could hurt the team and the mission. With examples from the authors' combat and training experiences in the SEAL teams, and then a demonstration of how each lesson applies to the business world, Willink and Babin clearly explain The Dichotomy of Leadership -- skills that are mission-critical for any leader and any team to achieve their ultimate goal: VICTORY.