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Extreme Ownership: How U.S. Navy SEALs Lead and Win Audible Audiobook – Unabridged

4.7 4.7 out of 5 stars 37,451 ratings

"These guys are intense. And they bring that same fire to their narration in the audiobook. Listen to these insanely competent SEAL officers tell you exactly how to make a team successful through their firsthand experiences in business and combat." (The Hustle)

An updated edition of the blockbuster best-selling leadership audiobook that took America and the world by storm, two U.S. Navy SEAL officers who led the most highly decorated special operations unit of the Iraq War demonstrate how to apply powerful leadership principles from the battlefield to business and life.

Combat, the most intense and dynamic environment imaginable, teaches the toughest leadership lessons, with absolutely everything at stake. Jocko Willink and Leif Babin learned this reality first-hand on the most violent and dangerous battlefield in Iraq. As leaders of SEAL Team Three’s Task Unit Bruiser, their mission was one many thought impossible: help U.S. forces secure Ramadi, a violent, insurgent-held city deemed “all but lost.” In gripping, firsthand accounts of heroism, tragic loss, and hard-won victories, they learned that leadership - at every level - is the most important factor in whether a team succeeds or fails. Willink and Babin returned home from deployment and instituted SEAL leadership training to pass on their harsh lessons learned in combat to help forge the next generation of SEAL leaders. After leaving the SEAL Teams, they launched a company, Echelon Front, to teach those same leadership principles to leaders in businesses, companies, and organizations across the civilian sector. Since that time, they have trained countless leaders and worked with hundreds of companies in virtually every industry across the U.S. and internationally, teaching them how to develop their own high-performance teams and most effectively lead those teams to dominate their battlefields.

Since it’s release in October 2015, Extreme Ownership has revolutionized leadership development and set a new standard for literature on the subject. Required listening for many of the most successful organizations, it has become an integral part of the official leadership training programs for scores of business teams, military units, and first responders. Detailing the mindset and principles that enable SEAL units to accomplish the most difficult combat missions, Extreme Ownership demonstrates how to apply them to any team or organization, in any leadership environment. A compelling narrative with powerful instruction and direct application, Extreme Ownership challenges leaders everywhere to fulfill their ultimate purpose: lead and win.

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Product details

Listening Length 9 hours and 33 minutes
Author Jocko Willink, Leif Babin
Narrator Jocko Willink, Leif Babin
Whispersync for Voice Ready
Audible.com Release Date October 19, 2015
Publisher Macmillan Audio
Program Type Audiobook
Version Unabridged
Language English
ASIN B015TM0RM4
Best Sellers Rank #94 in Audible Books & Originals (See Top 100 in Audible Books & Originals)
#1 in Business Management (Audible Books & Originals)
#1 in Special Forces Military History
#1 in Business Management (Books)

Customer reviews

4.7 out of 5 stars
37,451 global ratings

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Customers say

Customers find the book engaging and easy to read. They appreciate the storytelling and how it connects battlefield lessons to business and life. The principles of ownership are powerful and necessary for growth. The simple tools provided are straightforward and easy to grasp.

AI-generated from the text of customer reviews

2,155 customers mention "Readability"2,081 positive74 negative

Customers find the book concise and easy to understand. They appreciate the well-written content and the authors' ability to present concepts clearly. The book focuses on simplicity and fundamentals, with an emphasis on clear communication and trust.

"...I found it interesting in this book how some so-called business leaders seem to refuse to accept the “extreme ownership” philosophy and stubbornly..." Read more

"...The book is well written and diversified in content to keep your attention and take situational experiences and apply to every day practice...." Read more

"Jocko & Leif offer a compelling, no-nonsense leadership approach in Extreme Ownership, based on their real-world combat experience as U.S. Navy SEAL..." Read more

"Really great book!..." Read more

1,834 customers mention "Leadership book"1,811 positive23 negative

Customers find the book compelling and helpful. It explains simple leadership concepts and practices using experiences from the battlefield. The authors skillfully connect battlefield lessons to business and life, offering practical strategies. Readers appreciate the insights from elite leaders and their ability to lead successful teams that accomplish their mission. Overall, readers find the book an excellent read that keeps their attention and provides powerful self-motivation.

"...programs, realistic combat techniques, great swimming methods, warrior philosophy or their fantastic leadership principles, I have attempted to read..." Read more

"...and diversified in content to keep your attention and take situational experiences and apply to every day practice. Highly recommend" Read more

"Jocko & Leif offer a compelling, no-nonsense leadership approach in Extreme Ownership, based on their real-world combat experience as U.S. Navy SEAL..." Read more

"...I think this will have lasting impact for many years and I highly recommend it." Read more

289 customers mention "Storytelling"226 positive63 negative

Customers appreciate the storytelling and principles in the book. They find the stories compelling and relevant. The stories are short, interesting, and relevant. Readers mention that the book has merit as a war memoir in its own right.

"...I love the way the authors provided examples taken from their actual combat experiences to show the importance of good leadership decisions, and..." Read more

"...Principles are easy to grasp and not abstract. I think it is a perfect book for an onboarding process as well." Read more

"...I appreciated the storytelling and then incorporating those principles into real-world scenarios." Read more

"...I'm sure it did. It's just that the stories feel forced and made up so that they can show just how wel Willink and Babin's leadership principles..." Read more

251 customers mention "Application"226 positive25 negative

Customers find the book's principles applicable to life in general. They appreciate the real-life examples and common sense explanations that help visualize scenarios. The principles are sound and apply to most situations, whether personal or professional.

"...but these same rules apply to business success and just living a full and productive life...." Read more

"...to keep your attention and take situational experiences and apply to every day practice. Highly recommend" Read more

"...The new edition adds even more depth, with additional insights and refined concepts that enhance the book's already robust content...." Read more

"...transparently, shares the decision-making with the team, is not shy of others’ opinions...." Read more

156 customers mention "Ownership"153 positive3 negative

Customers find the principles of extreme ownership powerful, humbling, and necessary for growth. They mention taking responsibility and accountability for their people and the situation. The book goes into detail about how to take extreme ownership and lead those in a different way.

"...The book presents a powerful framework for embracing 100% ownership and accountability for the actions of your team, whether they result in success..." Read more

"...The book is built around the core principle of "extreme ownership," where leaders take full responsibility for everything in their sphere of..." Read more

"...Good leadership is about taking extreme ownership. Ownership is taking responsibility and accountability for your people and the situation...." Read more

"...The most important tenet - the eponymous Extreme Ownership - means taking responsibility for everything, including abject failure...." Read more

117 customers mention "Ease of follow"93 positive24 negative

Customers find the book straightforward and easy to understand. They say it provides simple tools for effective leadership that can be applied quickly to any current job, from a top level executive to a new employee. The book challenges readers to take stock and improve their personal life and leadership. It recalls actual events in a concise manner.

"...Concise manner of recalling actual events ,applying it to a set principle, then giving a real world business example...." Read more

"...picture which enables others to take ownership and swiftly act on what is immediate...." Read more

"...the ideas / principals that the authors lay out can be applied QUICKLY to anyone current job, from a top level executive to a dishwasher...." Read more

"...the fundamentals, and only investing in those things which are both doable and directly related to mission accomplishment...." Read more

89 customers mention "Value for money"80 positive9 negative

Customers appreciate the book's value for money. They say it offers a priceless lesson and is well worth the investment. The audiobook is also praised as well worth the time. Readers mention the book provides financial knowledge without fluff or filler, making it flexible, adaptable, and efficient.

"...near, trust is paramount to remain flexible, adaptable, and efficient...." Read more

"...In either case - worth your time.......and therefore heartily recommended." Read more

"...It is totally okay to just buy this book, read it, then do absolutely nothing with the information while at work...." Read more

"financial knowledge" Read more

74 customers mention "Personality"74 positive0 negative

Customers appreciate the author's personality. They say it helps them at work, in personal relationships, workouts, and more. The book teaches about humility, discipline, and how to be the best version of themselves. It also helps with relationships at home and at work.

"...Which lessons from the book almost always apply? They are: keep egos in check, work on the most important things, plan, support one another, and be..." Read more

"Great book on how to lead with discipline, confidence and humility. Anyone in any kind of leadership should read this book." Read more

"...True leader is humble, respectful of others, communicates clearly and transparently, shares the decision-making with the team, is not shy of others’..." Read more

"...full responsibility for the failure of the mission. ○ Build good relationships; take the time to connect with your team on a human level..." Read more

War stories with lessons for business leaders
4 out of 5 stars
War stories with lessons for business leaders
The CEO and COO of my company highly recommended this book. As a combat veteran (with the scars to prove it) and someone in business now, I looked forward to reading the book.The authors, Jocko Willink and Leif Babin, served as Navy Seals in some of the toughest fighting the US military has seen in many years, the fight for Al Anbar in Iraq.First, Jocko and Leif are real heroes, and their actions both during and post combat are to be lauded.The format of the book is that each substantive section has a relatively lengthy war-story as a set-up, and then, a pithy lesson, and then, how one might apply the lesson in the business world.The central theme in the book is that leadership as exemplified by extreme ownership wins all in combat and in business.The specific lessons are: (in my own translation) extreme ownership, no bad teams - only bad leaders, believe, keep egos in check, support one another, keep things simple, work on the most important things, power down to subordinates, plan, managing up is as important as managing down, be brave in the face of uncertainty, and be disciplined.Sheeeewwww! That is a lot to take in. There are so many different lessons, and they are often at odds, Jocko and Leif say that you have to balance things. It is kind of like saying, "don't be too hot or too cold." Well, yes, with advice like that, you can never be wrong, but often you are of limited use.All of the proffered concepts have the potential to be useful, some of them are "truer" than others.The combat stories were the best part, and I'm pretty sure that this was the main reason for the phenomenal sales of the book.Why not five stars? Some of the lessons have limited applicability in real-world business (even in the world of combat based on person leadership experience - I commanded an Army division and served as a battalion, brigade, and echelons above division commander in combat and know something about how this all works).Say this together with me, "Seal teams do not necessarily represent my business." Say it again, Seal teams do not necessarily represent my business.Which lessons from the book almost always apply? They are: keep egos in check, work on the most important things, plan, support one another, and be disciplined. Those work nearly all the time. Which work much of the time? They are: believe, be brave in the face of uncertainty, and extreme ownership. The rest fall into a more limited use category - in other words, they might be useful, but you have to carefully evaluate your own situation before applying blindly.Military lessons are tricky. Jocko and Leif are not alone in overapplication. Simon Simak wrote a book that is also widely lauded called "Leaders Eat Last." In the book, Simon says, "leaders might go hungry, but they won't." The lesson is that good leaders have the loyalty of their subordinates, and they will sacrifice their own food to feed the leaders. It is a noble sentiment, but often as a good leader you do go hungry because your personnel know and believe that you would rather they eat than for them to go hungry on your behalf. Sorry, Simon, you know I love you, but you got the lesson almost right, but not quite.In "Extreme Ownership," the better lesson would be the Albert Einstein quote, "make things as simple as you can, but not simpler." As leaders, I have seen many organizations flounder because the leadership tried to reduce a very complex situation into something simple for ease of understanding. Certainly, the situation in Iraq in 2003-05 fell into this category. The reality was that there was a very complex society with a greatly interdependent economy that the Bath Party held together with charisma and complicated machinations. The dumb downed version was "Saddam was bad. Saddam was a Bathist. All Bathists are bad. Throw all the Bathists out, which led to over a dozen years fighting an insurgency - that never had to be.Another modified lesson is "delegate what you can, not what you want to." I have seen many a business leader put faith in subordinates to undertake complex tasks that the subordinates honestly thought that they could do, but they did not know what they did not know, and the leader blindly trusted them. This hard lesson is especially true today when ten minutes on YouTube makes every new employee think that they can do the most demanding and complex task the way that the expert did in that cool video. Leaders need to be discerning and excel in mentoring and be able to say things like, "how about if we work together on it." Do this complex project in chunks, and I will help with quality assurance and some guidance and training. Then, follow-up in a supportive, kind way. Everyone wins.Perhaps the most egregiously overapplied lesson from the book is that "there are no bad teams, there are only bad leaders." In both business and in combat, I found that nearly every organization has personnel who are simply unsuited to doing some of the hard jobs required. By the by, at least at the beginning of the war, this was nearly independent of rank. Some of my most senior officers and enlisted personnel were the most incompetent and (really) cowardly. If you want your organizations to succeed then sometimes these personnel must be either removed or at least neutralized.A final caveat, in truly elite, business organizations, one huge mistake that I have seen leaders make is that they try very hard to make their very bright subordinates feel special by repeatedly praising them and telling them they are the best in the world. Pride cometh before a fall. The lesson to keep the egos in check means all the egos, not just the leaders. Military personnel in general and our special forces folks in specific go through a period where they get the stuffing knocked out of their egos. Those periods are called boot camp and qualifying courses. There is not an equivalent in the civil, business world in today's environment, but there should be. We used to start workers at all levels off in a probationary status whether that was the mail room, the copy room, receiving, or some other, vital, but ultimately hard to get wrong job, and then, once they showed that they could keep their ego in check, they were allowed to progress up the chain. There is great wisdom in that.Why would these very bright and very motivated leaders, Jocko and Leif, have gotten some of this wrong? Well, look at the units they served in. They were with Seal teams. Guess what? That's right, seal teams are not really good representatives of organizations in general.There is much good in this book, and I recommend it, but read it for the story value, and then, be more than a bit reticent about blindly applying the lessons to your own organizations.
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Top reviews from the United States

  • Reviewed in the United States on August 6, 2023
    Even though I am well into my senior years my voracious reading passion is as strong as ever, especially if it has anything to do with the U.S. Navy SEALS. Whether it is their superior fitness programs, realistic combat techniques, great swimming methods, warrior philosophy or their fantastic leadership principles, I have attempted to read everything I could find about these Special Forces Warriors. This is why when I saw this fantastic 322-page hardcover edition of (Extreme Ownership: How the U.S. Navy SEALS lead and win by Jocko Willink and Leif Babin) on Amazon I had to purchase it.

    This is the kind of leadership book that once you begin to read it; it is difficult to put down. This book explains how the SEAL leadership training principles apply not just to combat situations, but these same rules apply to business success and just living a full and productive life.

    The basic philosophical principle is simple really, but like everything in life, “the devil is in the details.” “Extreme ownership” as the combat experienced authors define it, is not making excuses and blaming mistakes made on everyone else, but taking full and complete responsibility when they are the assigned to lead their men and women.

    I found it interesting in this book how some so-called business leaders seem to refuse to accept the “extreme ownership” philosophy and stubbornly kept blaming everything and everyone else. In my experience, as both a regular Navy veteran, and a retired law enforcement officer, good leaders lead from the front and take full responsibility for their decisions.

    I love the way the authors provided examples taken from their actual combat experiences to show the importance of good leadership decisions, and they show how these very principles apply to business problems. The three parts in this excellent book covers the following: “Winning the war within, laws of combat, and sustaining victory.” There are also several very interesting color and black and white photographs included in this volume.

    If you are willing to face reality when it comes to taking complete responsibility in your leadership role this is a book that should be your reference source. I have read numerous other books on leadership principles, and this is one of the best ones I have read in decades.

    If you are blessed (or some might say cursed) with the responsibility of leading people, this book should be in your personal library as a reference and inspiring source.
    Rating: 5 Stars. Joseph J. Truncale (Author: Tactical Principles of the most effective Combative Systems).
    34 people found this helpful
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  • Reviewed in the United States on January 17, 2025
    This book is a must read for anyone in a leadership role big or small! It has changed my daily life and helped me see my flaws.
  • Reviewed in the United States on December 9, 2024
    This is a must read for anyone in or aspiring to be in a leadership role. The book is well written and diversified in content to keep your attention and take situational experiences and apply to every day practice. Highly recommend
    One person found this helpful
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  • Reviewed in the United States on March 9, 2024
    Jocko & Leif offer a compelling, no-nonsense leadership approach in Extreme Ownership, based on their real-world combat experience as U.S. Navy SEAL officers. The book presents a powerful framework for embracing 100% ownership and accountability for the actions of your team, whether they result in success or failure (even if it means getting fired). They emphasize how to turn failures into growth rather than blaming yourself, others or any other external factors. They also describe how “the best leaders are not driven by ego or personal agendas [but] are simply focused on the mission and how to best accomplish it.”
    Each chapter starts off with description of a real-world combat scenario followed by an explanation of “principle” i.e. what they learned / how their leadership developed as result of that scenario and ends with an “application to business” section in which Jocko or Leif explain how they helped company executive(s) tackle a similar leadership challenge in the corporate world (through their consulting business, Echelon Front).

    KEY TAKEAWAYS:

    • Always acknowledge mistakes and admit failures, take ownership & establish a game plan to WIN.
    • “No bad teams, only bad leaders” because “leadership is the single greatest factor in any team’s performance [and] the leader’s attitude sets the tone for the entire team.”
    • Check your ego; humble leadership builds trust. Be confident not cocky… nobody is too good to fail.
    • Prioritize and execute through the fog of war to focus on the highest priority tasks (first) that maximize mission impact.
    • Decentralized command – trust & empower junior leaders to make decisions and take ownership of those decisions. Allows senior leaders to focus on the big picture.
    • Every team member must understand the commander’s intent, overall mission, and their role in it. They shouldn’t always be asking the why behind the team’s actions.
    • “Remember: the enemy gets a vote.” Never take anything for granted or assume positive outcomes. Plan and prepare for contingencies.
    • Leading UP and down the chain. If your team is not performing or your supervisor is not understanding, check yourself first. You are responsible for communicating simply, clearly and concisely to ensure they understand. Don’t expect people to read your mind.

    Extreme Ownership is a must-read for anyone striving to become a more disciplined, decisive, and selfless leader who intends to maximize the potential of their team. Jocko & Leif’s straightforward advice and real-life examples make their book a valuable resource for leaders at all levels (in any industry).
    17 people found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

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  • bb
    5.0 out of 5 stars Good read
    Reviewed in Canada on October 17, 2024
    Every man should read this
  • João Vieira
    5.0 out of 5 stars livro obrigatório para líderes
    Reviewed in Brazil on February 2, 2024
    Esse é um livro de cabeceira para líderes ou futuros líderes. Quem realmente quer ser um líder de alta performance, deveria ler esse livro.
  • Amazon Customer
    5.0 out of 5 stars Muy recomendable. Grandes enseñanzas
    Reviewed in Spain on January 13, 2025
    Me han gustado mucho los ejemplos de casos reales en negocios y los distintos principios de liderazgo. Un gran libro.
  • Prahalathan
    5.0 out of 5 stars Secret of Success - Ownership
    Reviewed in India on June 23, 2024
    The moment i saw the title of this book, i dropped what I was reading to pick this up. Ownership is my favourite value and the book didn't disappoint.
    The book shares several leadership principles by two navy SEALs who saved in Iraq. They share stories, then the principle and go into a live business case.
    The secret sauce: At the end of the day whatever natural talents you are born with, if you display extreme ownership, you can succeed as a leader
  • Monestier
    4.0 out of 5 stars Concepts très intéressant
    Reviewed in Belgium on June 16, 2024
    Très bon livre. Comme toujours avec amazon, l'emballage n'est pas soigné. Le livre est légèrement abîmé avec des morceaux de litière entre les pages ?