483: Grayisms. Thoughts on Leadership That Apply Right Now. From Al Gray.

In 2004, General Stanley McChrystal took over as commander of the U.S. Joint Special Operations Task Force fighting Al Qaeda in Iraq. The sprawling organization—encompassing strategists, analysts, and elite special forces from every branch of the U.S. military—was struggling to make headway against an unconventional enemy and environment.

In Team of Teams, McChrystal describes how he transformed the slow-moving bureaucratic task force into an agile, adaptable network of teams united by a “shared consciousness”, trust, and decentralized decision-making. After years of being outmaneuvered by Al Qaeda, the reinvented task force pulled together to eliminate terrorist leader Abu Musab al Zarqawi and began winning the fight against terrorism in Iraq. These accomplishments hold lessons for all kinds of organizations struggling with unconventional challenges and environments today.

What’s the secret to being a great leader? Whether you’re in a warzone or on the front lines of a corporate battle, Extreme Ownership argues that the best leaders take full responsibility for everything in their world: not only their actions, decisions, and failures, but also those of everyone on their team. By practicing Extreme Ownership, great leaders achieve victory by prioritizing the team above all else and focusing on constant improvement—and in this guide, we’ll show how you can, too.

Authors Jocko Willink and Leif Babin are former US Navy SEAL officers who served in one of the most dangerous areas of Iraq during Operation Iraqi Freedom. They honed the principles of Extreme Ownership on the battlefield, then applied the same tenets to the corporate world as business consultants. In this guide, we’ll add broader context from other leadership books such as Built to Last and Team of Teams to better illustrate how to apply Willink and Babin’s leadership principles to your life.

If you want to be a good leader, you have to put your team before yourself. Jocko Willink explains exactly how to do this in Leadership Strategy and Tactics. By learning to practice humility, build good relationships, and take responsibility for your team’s mistakes, you’ll elevate your team to success and empower them to become leaders themselves.

Willink is an author, speaker, and podcaster who served for 20 years as a US Navy SEAL. Through his military and leadership experience, he’s acquired a series of leadership principles and advice that he shares in this field manual. We’ll examine Willink’s leadership principles, comparing them to Principles: Life and Work, The Obstacle Is the Way, and more. We’ll also explore Willink’s advice through the lens of other leadership experts and psychologists to add nuances and actionable tips that will help you implement his ideas into your daily life.

What’s the secret to being a great leader? Whether you’re in a warzone or on the front lines of a corporate battle, Extreme Ownership argues that the best leaders take full responsibility for everything in their world: not only their actions, decisions, and failures, but also those of everyone on their team. By practicing Extreme Ownership, great leaders achieve victory by prioritizing the team above all else and focusing on constant improvement—and in this guide, we’ll show how you can, too.

Authors Jocko Willink and Leif Babin are former US Navy SEAL officers who served in one of the most dangerous areas of Iraq during Operation Iraqi Freedom. They honed the principles of Extreme Ownership on the battlefield, then applied the same tenets to the corporate world as business consultants. In this guide, we’ll add broader context from other leadership books such as Built to Last and Team of Teams to better illustrate how to apply Willink and Babin’s leadership principles to your life.

If you want to accomplish anything on a large scale, you have to learn to lead a team. What makes leadership difficult, however, is the fact that every quality of a good leader becomes a hindrance when taken to the extreme: At a certain point, courage, discipline, and empathy all become deficiencies like recklessness, rigidness, and emotional paralysis. Thus, leadership requires a delicate balance of various dichotomies: You must be compassionate yet pragmatic, humble yet confident, bold yet cautious. The Dichotomy of Leadership teaches you to master such dichotomies.

As former Navy SEAL commanders and corporate leadership consultants, Jocko Willink and Leif Babin have extensive hands-on leadership experience. In this guide, we’ll explain where Willink and Babin’s expertise overlaps with the ideas of other popular writers on leadership, such as Reed Hastings (No Rules Rules) and Ray Dalio (Principles). We’ll also offer actionable ways to put the authors’ ideas into action, whether you’re leading a team of professionals or just looking to discipline yourself.

In The Everyday Hero Manifesto, Robin Sharma promises that each of us has the potential to achieve great things—we don’t need superpowers or incredible natural talents to do so. By following the system laid out in this book, you can unlock your heroic potential, realize your dreams, and become a force for good in the world.

Our guide begins with a brief introduction laying out Sharma’s premise for this book: that you can accomplish great things. We’ll then discuss Sharma’s suggestions for strengthening your mind, body, and heart to fulfill your heroic potential. Finally, we’ll go over the guidelines Sharma lays out for how an everyday hero should act. Our commentary will provide points of view from other self-help books about how to unlock your potential, exploring Sharma’s suggestions more deeply and providing actionable advice on how to get started on your self-improvement journey.

In 2004, General Stanley McChrystal took over as commander of the U.S. Joint Special Operations Task Force fighting Al Qaeda in Iraq. The sprawling organization—encompassing strategists, analysts, and elite special forces from every branch of the U.S. military—was struggling to make headway against an unconventional enemy and environment.

In Team of Teams, McChrystal describes how he transformed the slow-moving bureaucratic task force into an agile, adaptable network of teams united by a “shared consciousness”, trust, and decentralized decision-making. After years of being outmaneuvered by Al Qaeda, the reinvented task force pulled together to eliminate terrorist leader Abu Musab al Zarqawi and began winning the fight against terrorism in Iraq. These accomplishments hold lessons for all kinds of organizations struggling with unconventional challenges and environments today.

What’s the secret to being a great leader? Whether you’re in a warzone or on the front lines of a corporate battle, Extreme Ownership argues that the best leaders take full responsibility for everything in their world: not only their actions, decisions, and failures, but also those of everyone on their team. By practicing Extreme Ownership, great leaders achieve victory by prioritizing the team above all else and focusing on constant improvement—and in this guide, we’ll show how you can, too.

Authors Jocko Willink and Leif Babin are former US Navy SEAL officers who served in one of the most dangerous areas of Iraq during Operation Iraqi Freedom. They honed the principles of Extreme Ownership on the battlefield, then applied the same tenets to the corporate world as business consultants. In this guide, we’ll add broader context from other leadership books such as Built to Last and Team of Teams to better illustrate how to apply Willink and Babin’s leadership principles to your life.

Turn the Ship Around! by L. David Marquet is the story of how a captain turned the U.S. Navy’s worst-performing nuclear submarine crew into one of the best. He transformed the demoralized crew into an empowered, motivated fighting force in just a year by replacing the military’s traditional “leader-follower” or command-and-control structure with a “leader-leader” model that gave crew members control over their work. They learned to think and act proactively, determining what needed to be done and the best way to do it, rather than waiting for direction. Any organization can use Marquet’s principles for developing leaders at all levels to create a passionate, high-performing workforce.

Shooting selfies on vacation. Posting Facebook updates on our kid's graduation from pre-school. Garnering awards and promotions to add to our LinkedIn profiles. Guess what, America? We've become self-obsessed. In David Brooks’s The Road to Character, the New York Times columnist suggests we take a good hard look at ourselves and remember that we weren't always so narcissistic.

Brooks outlines the moral shift that took place after World War II when we transitioned from honoring humility, self-discipline, and public service to worshiping at the altar of "the Big Me." He also reminds us that our current self-focus isn't even making us happy. To help us recalibrate our moral compasses, Brooks details the lives of war heroes, civil rights activists, advocates for the poor, writers, and deep thinkers who've tackled the work of building moral character, then outlines a 15-point plan to help us live more virtuous—and ultimately happier—lives.

Turn the Ship Around! by L. David Marquet is the story of how a captain turned the U.S. Navy’s worst-performing nuclear submarine crew into one of the best. He transformed the demoralized crew into an empowered, motivated fighting force in just a year by replacing the military’s traditional “leader-follower” or command-and-control structure with a “leader-leader” model that gave crew members control over their work. They learned to think and act proactively, determining what needed to be done and the best way to do it, rather than waiting for direction. Any organization can use Marquet’s principles for developing leaders at all levels to create a passionate, high-performing workforce.

Stephen R. Covey was a business and leadership consultant and the international bestselling author of The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. In The 8th Habit: From Effectiveness to Greatness, Covey adds a habit to the original seven: finding your voice and helping others do the same. This is the habit of leadership.

The 8th Habit examines the uniqueness of the contributions we all make as human beings, arguing that the most important job of leaders is to nurture this individuality. Covey explains that most leaders fail to lead well because they’re trapped inside outdated paradigms, and he offers advice for how to escape.

In this guide, we compare Covey’s advice with that of other prominent experts on leadership and organizational structure, discuss research that supports and challenges his views, and add practical suggestions for the implementation of his ideas.

Turn the Ship Around! by L. David Marquet is the story of how a captain turned the U.S. Navy’s worst-performing nuclear submarine crew into one of the best. He transformed the demoralized crew into an empowered, motivated fighting force in just a year by replacing the military’s traditional “leader-follower” or command-and-control structure with a “leader-leader” model that gave crew members control over their work. They learned to think and act proactively, determining what needed to be done and the best way to do it, rather than waiting for direction. Any organization can use Marquet’s principles for developing leaders at all levels to create a passionate, high-performing workforce.

Leadership expert John C. Maxwell argues that today’s leaders must abandon traditional management practices and make leadershifts—changes in how they think, communicate, and act as leaders. In Leadershift, Maxwell shares lessons from a lifetime of leading organizations and coaching developing leaders, sharing common leadership mistakes, and providing guidance for becoming a transformative leader who can inspire great things from others. By making Maxwell’s leadershifts, you can maximize your leadership abilities and amplify the success of your team or organization.

In this guide, we’ll explore the leadership changes Maxwell suggests to run an effective organization. We’ll discuss how to improve your leadership mindset, manage a team effectively, earn the respect of others, and inspire new generations of leaders. We’ll supplement Maxwell’s advice with insights from other leadership experts and share additional practical tips for making Maxwell’s leadershifts in your work.

Shooting selfies on vacation. Posting Facebook updates on our kid's graduation from pre-school. Garnering awards and promotions to add to our LinkedIn profiles. Guess what, America? We've become self-obsessed. In David Brooks’s The Road to Character, the New York Times columnist suggests we take a good hard look at ourselves and remember that we weren't always so narcissistic.

Brooks outlines the moral shift that took place after World War II when we transitioned from honoring humility, self-discipline, and public service to worshiping at the altar of "the Big Me." He also reminds us that our current self-focus isn't even making us happy. To help us recalibrate our moral compasses, Brooks details the lives of war heroes, civil rights activists, advocates for the poor, writers, and deep thinkers who've tackled the work of building moral character, then outlines a 15-point plan to help us live more virtuous—and ultimately happier—lives.