Episode 42: Extreme Ownership (Leadership Lessons From A Navy SEAL)

In the spring of 2006, terrorists ruled the streets of Ramadi, Iraq.

During Operation Iraqi Freedom, US Army soldiers, US Marines, Navy SEALs and friendly Iraqi soldiers moved quietly through the streets of Ramadi, going house to house, searching for the enemy. Suddenly, a fierce firefight broke out. When the bullets stopped flying and the dust settled, one friendly Iraqi soldier was dead, two more were wounded and one Navy SEAL was wounded as well.

When the “fog of war” lifted, it was clear that this unit had committed the cardinal sin of warfare. Friendly fire. Fratricide.

Lieutenant Commander Jocko Willink was the head of Task Force Bruiser and oversaw all military operations in Ramadi. When word of what had happened made its way up the chain of command, he was told to shut down all operations. Willink was also told that the commanding officer, the master chief and the investigating officer were inbound to his position and that they expected a full report.

Someone had to pay. Someone had to get fired. Someone had to take the blame.

What happened next in this story will teach us several valuable lessons about how we should be leading our schools. When things go wrong, sometimes we are quick to point out who was to blame and who was at fault. On today’s episode of The Private School Leader Podcast we are going to take some leadership lessons from a Navy SEAL and start practicing “Extreme Ownership”.

I know that you are super busy, so be sure to listen while you are doing something else. I hope that you will get value from this episode as you serve and lead your school community. Thank you for taking some time out of your day to listen to the podcast!

Thanks for making a difference,

Mark Minkus

I’ve created a free resource for you called “The 6 Things That Every Private School Teacher Wants From Their Leader”. This guide is a 6 page pdf that will be a game changer for you. I guarantee you that if you do these 6 things, the teachers at your school will be happy to follow you. You can pick up your free guide by going to www.theprivateschoolleader.com/guide

I want to give you a gift to say “thank you” for listening to the podcast. I have created a FREE guide for you called “5 Strategies To Help You Work With Difficult Parents”. We know that working with parents is part of the job and most of our parents are great, but some of them can be very demanding and emotional and difficult. This guide will give you the tools that you need to build better relationships and have better meetings with the difficult parents at your school. Go to www.theprivateschoolleader.com/parents to grab the guide. Thank you again for listening every week!

Please check out all of the free resources on my website that can help you serve and lead your school community. There are "Plug & Play PD's" (45 minute webinars with guided notes) as well as Top 10 Lists of Leadership Books, Productivity Books and TED Talks over at www.theprivateschoolleader.com/resources. You can grab the show notes for today's episode at www.theprivateschoolleader.com/episode42

If you have gotten value from listening to the podcast, I would love to work with you 1-on-1. I would love to take my experience and help you to feel less overwhelmed and frustrated or help you have success if you are a brand new leader. I also work with private school leaders who are aspiring Heads of School and want to accelerate their leadership growth or experienced leaders that are moving on to a new school and they want to get off to a great start. If I’m describing you, then head over to www.theprivateschoolleader.com/coaching to learn more about working with me 1-on-1.

Please write a review of this podcast and help push this content out to more leaders. I would love to get your feedback about the podcast, ideas for future episodes and hear about how you are implementing these strategies in your life and at your school. You can email me at mark.o.minkus@gmail.com Thanks!!

I’ve created a FREE RESOURCE for you called “The Top 6 Ways To Protect Your School From a Lawsuit”. This is a 10 page pdf that will help you to keep your staff and students safe and help keep your school out of court. Litigation is expensive, time consuming and extremely stressful. This common sense guide will help you to be more intentional and proactive when it comes to protecting your school. You can grab “The Top 6 Ways To Protect Your School From a Lawsuit” at www.theprivateschoolleader.com/lawsuit. Thanks!