Jocko Willink is an American podcaster, author and retired United States Navy SEAL, who received the Silver Star and Bronze Star for his actions in the Iraq War.
He also co-authored the book ‘Extreme Ownership’, which is essentially a manual that teaches people how become incredible and strong leaders.
This is a strong collection of Jocko Willink quotes on leadership:
27 Jocko Willink Quotes on Leadership
1. “A leader must lead, but also be ready to follow. They must be aggressive, but not overbearing. A leader must be calm, but not robotic. They must be confident, but never cocky. A leader must be brave, but not foolhardy. They must have a competitive spirit, but be a gracious loser.” – Jocko Willink
2. “A leader must be attentitive to details, but not obssessed with them. They must be strong, but have endurance. A leader must be humble, but not passive. They must be close to subordinates, but not too close. A leader must exercise ‘extreme ownership’, but employ ‘decentralized command’. They must have nothing to prove, but everything to prove.” – Jocko Willink
3. “In chaotic, dynamic, and rapidly changing environments, leaders at all levels must be empowered to make decisions. Decentralized Command is a key component to victory.” – Jocko Willink
4. “Overconfidence was risky in such a hostile environment, a mistake most often made by warriors who had never truly been tested.” – Jocko Willink
5. “The Seal Teams and the U.S. military, much like militaries throughout history, are based around building blocks of four-to-six man teams with a leader.” – Jocko Willink
6. “When setting expectations, no matter what has been said or written, if substandard performance is accepted and no one is held accountable — if there are no consequences — that poor performance becomes the new standard. Therefore, leaders must enforce standards.” – Jocko Willink
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7. “Combat is reflective of life, only amplified and intensified.” – Jocko Willink
8. “Human beings are generally not capable of managing more than six to ten people, particularly when things go sideways and inevitable contingencies arise.” – Jocko Willink
9. “It is essential to develop a standardized planning process.” – Jocko Willink
10. “Some of the boldest, most successful plans in history have not come from the senior ranks but from frontline leaders. Senior leaders simply had the courage to accept and run with them.” – Jocko Willink
11. “There can be no leadership when there is no team.” – Jocko Willink
12. “Ego clouds and disrupts everything.” – Jocko Willink
13. “I had to take complete ownership of what went wrong. That is what a leader does — even if it means getting fired. If anyone was to be blamed and fired for what happened, let it be me.” – Jocko Willink
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14. “Leadership requires belief in the mission and unyielding perseverance to achieve victory.” – Jocko Willink
15. “The book derives its title from the underlying principle — the mind-set — that provides the foundation for all the rest: Extreme Ownership. Leaders must own everything in their world. There is no one else to blame.” – Jocko Willink
16. “They didn’t have to jump for joy at the though of fighting alongside Iraqi soldiers on a dangerous battlefield. But they did have to understand why they were doing it so that they could believe in the mission.” – Jocko Willink
17. “Extreme Ownership is a mind-set, an attitude.” – Jocko Willink
18. “If frontline troops are unclear about the plan and yet are too intimidated to ask questions, the team’s ability to effectively execute the plan radically decreases.” – Jocko Willink
19. “Leading people is the most challenging and, therefore, the most gratifying undertaking of all human endeavors.” – Jocko Willink
20. “The goal of all leaders should be to work themselves out of a job. When mentored and coached properly, the junior leader can eventually replace the senior leader, allowing the senior leader to move on to the next level of leadership.” – Jocko Willink
21. “To implement real change, to drive people to accomplish something truly complex or difficult or dangerous — you can’t make people do these things. You have to lead them.” – Jocko Willink
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22. “Extreme Ownership: there are no bad teams, only bad leaders.” – Jocko Willink
23. “If you allow the status quo to persist, you can’t expect to improve performance, and you can’t expect to win.” – Jocko Willink
24. “Once the wheels were in motion and the full resources of the team were engaged in that highest priority effort, I could then determine the next priority, focus the team’s efforts there, and then move on to the next priority.” – Jocko Willink
25. “The leader is truly and ultimately responsible for everything.” – Jocko Willink
26. “When personal agendas become more important than the team and the overarching mission’s success, performance suffers and failure ensues.” – Jocko Willink
27. “Good leaders don’t make excuses. Instead, they figure out a way to get it done.” – Jocko Willink
Summary
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