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The Dichotomy of Leadership: Balancing the Challenges of Extreme Ownership to Lead and Win (Extreme Ownership Trilogy, 2) Hardcover – Illustrated, September 25, 2018
THE INSTANT #1 NATIONAL BESTSELLER
From the #1 New York Times bestselling authors of Extreme Ownership comes a new and revolutionary approach to help leaders recognize and attain the leadership balance crucial to victory.
With their first book, Extreme Ownership (published in October 2015), Jocko Willink and Leif Babin set a new standard for leadership, challenging readers to become better leaders, better followers, and better people, in both their professional and personal lives. Now, in THE DICHOTOMY OF LEADERSHIP, Jocko and Leif dive even deeper into the unchartered and complex waters of a concept first introduced in Extreme Ownership: finding balance between the opposing forces that pull every leader in different directions. Here, Willink and Babin get granular into the nuances that every successful leader must navigate.
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 utilize 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.
- Print length320 pages
- LanguageEnglish
- PublisherSt. Martin's Press
- Publication dateSeptember 25, 2018
- Dimensions5.75 x 1.05 x 8.5 inches
- ISBN-101250195772
- ISBN-13978-1250195777
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WHAT READERS ARE SAYING ABOUT THE DICHOTOMY OF LEADERSHIP:
“Until this point in my life, I've never read a book that reveals the truths of leadership in such detail and rawness. The true value of this book cannot be quantified in words.” ―Pete Roberts, Co-Founder & CEO, Origin Maine USA
“The Dichotomy of Leadership needs to come with a warning label: BRUTALLY HONEST. Finally, a book that tells the truth on how hard and complex it can be to tackle leadership challenges.” ―Lindi Horton, Director of Cloud Services, Cyber Security Company
“Inspiring, practical, and honest lessons that transcend the battlefield. Buy this book, read it, and apply the lessons to any challenge.” ―Sarah Armstrong, CFO, Mesa Technical Associates
“The Dichotomy of Leadership provides even more depth and dimension to the principles of Extreme Ownership.” ―Sonja Winkler, Senior Director of Operations, Nashville Symphony
"Jocko and Leif have done the impossible. The Dichotomy of Leadership is better than Extreme Ownership. In this book they refine the principles that made two of the leading voices in management and leadership today. All of the questions your team asked after reading Extreme Ownership are answered. The nuance provided in The Dichotomy of Leadership is exactly what our team needed to fully implement Extreme Ownership. " ―Bryce Maddock, CEO, TaskUs
“Even better than Extreme Ownership. It’s FREAKING AWESOME.” ―Joe Masciantonio, Vice President of Sales, The Nature’s Bounty Company
About the Author
LEIF BABIN served 9 years as a Navy SEAL. He was in combat in Iraq during the Battle of Ramadi, a conflict that resulted in numerous medals for his efforts. After his tours, Babin served as a Navy SEAL instructor before forming Echelon Front with Jocko Willink, a leadership training group that uses the lessons and expertise the pair learned as SEALs to train leaders beyond the military. He is the co-author of the #1 New York Times bestseller Extreme Ownership. Babin lives in New York.
Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
The Dichotomy Of Leadership
Balancing The Challenges of Extreme Ownership To Lead and Win
By Jocko Willink, Leif BabinSt. Martin's Press
Copyright © 2018 Jocko Command LLC and Leif Babin LLCAll rights reserved.
ISBN: 978-1-250-19577-7
Contents
Frontispiece,Title Page,
Copyright Notice,
Dedication,
Map,
Preface,
Introduction: Finding the Balance,
PART I: BALANCING PEOPLE,
Chapter 1: The Ultimate Dichotomy,
Chapter 2: Own It All, but Empower Others,
Chapter 3: Resolute, but Not Overbearing,
Chapter 4: When to Mentor, When to Fire,
PART II: BALANCING THE MISSION,
Chapter 5: Train Hard, but Train Smart,
Chapter 6: Aggressive, Not Reckless,
Chapter 7: Disciplined, Not Rigid,
Chapter 8: Hold People Accountable, but Don't Hold Their Hands,
PART III: BALANCING YOURSELF,
Chapter 9: A Leader and a Follower,
Chapter 10: Plan, but Don't Overplan,
Chapter 11: Humble, Not Passive,
Chapter 12: Focused, but Detached,
Notes,
Afterword,
Index,
Also by Jocko Willink and Leif Babin,
About the Authors,
Copyright,
CHAPTER 1
The Ultimate Dichotomy
Jocko Willink
CHARLIE MEDICAL FACILITY, CAMP RAMADI, IRAQ: 2006
"Sir," the young SEAL whispered in a faint voice, "come here." Our hands were clasped in a handshake. Not a formal handshake like two businessmen, but palm to palm with thumbs wrapped around the back of the hand like an arm-wrestling contest — a handshake of brotherhood. The young SEAL was feeling the morphine. I saw it in his eyes, but he was still there, still conscious and aware. He was everything a young man should be: smart, brave, athletic, funny, loyal, and tough. He had been shot in the leg about half an hour before. I found out later that Mikey Monsoor, a young SEAL machine gunner, had run out into heavy enemy gunfire and dragged this SEAL out of a war-torn street in the Malaab District in the city of Ramadi, the violent heart of the insurgency in Iraq.
The wounded SEAL now lay on a gurney in Charlie Med, the Camp Ramadi field hospital where U.S. military surgical teams worked furiously to save the lives of gravely wounded troops almost every day. The bullet, a mammoth armor-piercing 7.62 × 54 millimeter round with a steel core, had entered his leg at the lower thigh, ripped apart flesh and bone inside his leg, and exited in his upper thigh, close to the groin. It was hard to say if he would keep his leg. From the looks of the wound, my guess was no, he would lose it.
The wounded SEAL's grip on my hand tightened and he pulled me in, drawing me just inches from his face. I could tell he wanted to say something to me, so I turned my head and put my ear next to his mouth. I wasn't sure what to expect. Was he scared or angry or depressed that he might lose his leg? Was he nervous about what might happen next? Was he confused?
He took a breath and then whispered, "Sir. Let me stay. Let me stay. Please. Don't make me go home. I'll do anything. I'll sweep up around the camp. I can heal here. Please, please, please just let me stay with the task unit."
There you go. Not scared. Not angry. Not depressed that he might lose his leg. Only concerned that he might have to leave our task unit.
Task Unit Bruiser. Our task unit. Our lives. This SEAL was our first significant casualty. We had had guys catch some frag on previous operations. We had had some very close calls. But this was the first wounded SEAL from Task Unit Bruiser whose life would be forever changed by a grave combat injury. Even if he kept his leg, the damage was so substantial that it didn't seem possible he would ever fully regain the extraordinary athleticism he had displayed previously. And yet this SEAL was only concerned that he would let me down, let the task unit down, let his platoon — his team — down.
This was a man. This was a true friend — a brother. This was a hero: young, brave, and without question more concerned for his friends than for his own life.
I was moved. I felt tears welling up in my eyes. I fought them back and swallowed the lump in my throat. This was no time to break down. I was "the Leader." He needed me to be strong.
"It's alright, brother. We've got to get you healed up first," I whispered. "As soon as you heal up, we'll get you back over here. But you have to get healed up first."
"I'll be okay," the wounded SEAL replied. "Just let me stay ... let me stay."
"Brother," I told him earnestly, "I'll bring you back as soon as you can stand. But you have to go and get yourself healed up."
"I'll heal up here. I can work in the TOC," he argued, referencing our tactical operations center, where we monitored combat missions via radio and television screens that displayed overhead video feed from aircraft, both manned and unmanned.
"Listen," I told him, "that won't work. This wound is no joke. You're going to need real rehab — and we don't have that here for you. Go home. Heal up. Get back on your feet and I'll get you back over here. I promise."
I meant it. Whether he kept his leg or not, once he was stable enough, I would do all I could to bring him back.
"Okay, sir," he replied, convinced that it wouldn't take long, "I'll be back soon."
"I know you will, brother. I know you will," I told him.
Soon he was being loaded onto a medevac1 helicopter and flown to a more advanced medical facility where he would get the surgery he needed — a place where they might be able to save his leg.
I went back to my camp, a compound of tents and buildings we called Sharkbase sandwiched between the large U.S. military base of Camp Ramadi and the Euphrates River.
I went to my room on the second floor of the building that housed our TOC, a once lavish structure with ornate columns that had previously belonged to members of Saddam Hussein's regime. Now it was our headquarters and barracks, with sandbagged windows and makeshift furniture. I sat down on my crude bed, constructed of plywood and two-by-fours.
Reality set in: we were only one month into our deployment. My guys were getting in gunfights on a daily basis. The city of Ramadi, where we operated, was crawling with insurgents. And the insurgents were good: they were well equipped, well trained, and well disciplined. They fought with tenacity and ruthlessness.
Of course, we were better. Our training, gear, and attitude were among the best of any combat troops in the world. We were in Ramadi to make the city safe for the local populace by taking the fight to the enemy — to hunt the evil insurgents down in the streets and kill them. All of them.
But we weren't bulletproof. We couldn't run around this city day in and day out and not expect to take casualties. If you cut wood, you get sawdust. When you wage war, especially in violent urban combat, you take casualties. That was the nature of the business. Oddly enough, up until this point, SEALs in Iraq had been very lucky. Three years into the war, only a handful of SEALs had been wounded — and none had been killed. The incidents were fairly random, often more bad luck than anything else.
But we weren't going to get lucky this whole deployment. The proof was evident, as I'd just witnessed, seeing my wounded SEAL, pale from blood loss, hazy from morphine, and lucky — so extremely lucky — to be alive.
The wounded SEAL was a young man. This was only his second SEAL platoon and his second deployment to Iraq. He was an excellent SEAL operator and a crucial member of the team. A great guy to be around: Faithful. Loyal. Funny.
Although all the SEALs in the task unit were different, they were also, in many ways, the same. Sure, they had quirks and little personality traits that made them individuals. Of course, they were far from perfect. We all are.
But at the same time, all of them, individually, were amazing people. Patriotic. Selfless. They were in "the Teams" — what we SEALs call our community of Naval Special Warfare SEAL Teams — for the same reasons: to serve, to do their duty, and to offer everything they had for the task unit, the team, and our great nation.
And I was in charge of them.
But being "in charge" fell short of explaining the way I felt about these men. All of them. They were my friends, because I joked and laughed and carried on with them. They were my brothers, because we shared the common bond of our fraternal order. They were also like my children, because I was responsible for what they did — good and bad — and it was my job to protect them to the best of my ability: I had to overwatch them as they overwatched the city from rooftops and moved through the violent streets.
They gave me everything they had. At work, in training, and now on the battlefield. In turn, they were everything to me. In many ways I was closer to them than I was to my own parents, my siblings, even my wife and actual children. Of course I loved my family. But the men in this task unit were also my family, and I wanted nothing more than to take care of them.
But as much as I wanted to protect them, we had a job to do. A job that was violent and dangerous and unforgiving. A job that required me to put them at risk — tremendous risk — over and over and over again. This was an example of the Dichotomy of Leadership, perhaps the ultimate Dichotomy of Leadership that a combat leader must face: it is a combat leader's duty to care about his troops more than anything else in the world — and yet, at the same time, a leader must accomplish the mission. That means the leader must make decisions and execute plans and strategies that might cost the men he loves so much their very lives.
And this was incredibly difficult for me. Because in Ramadi, it wasn't a matter of if we would lose someone. It was a matter of when.
This is not to say I was fatalistic. I wasn't. It doesn't mean I thought we had to take casualties. I prayed we would not. We did everything we could to mitigate the risks we could control in order to prevent casualties.
But it did mean that I was facing reality. The reality was that U.S. Army Soldiers and Marines were being wounded and killed every day in Ramadi. Every day.
We continually attended memorial services for these fallen heroes.
I recognized that this deployment to Ramadi was completely different from my first deployment to Iraq in 2003–2004, where things had been much more controlled and much less kinetic. In Ramadi in 2006, the violent, sustained urban combat held risks that were beyond our control. And every day that my men were in the field, which was almost every day, I knew it could be The Day.
That was the heaviest burden of command.
And then The Day came.
On August 2, 2006, Leif and his Charlie Platoon SEALs, along with the Iraqi Army platoon for whom they were combat advisors, teamed up with our U.S. Army brethren from Team Bulldog2 for a large clearance operation in South- Central Ramadi. The operation kicked off in the early morning hours, and for the first hour or so, all was quiet.
Suddenly, a single shot rang out, quickly followed by a frantic "man down" call over the radio. Ryan Job, an outstanding young Charlie Platoon SEAL machine gunner, had been hit in the face by an enemy sniper's bullet. He was gravely wounded. All hell broke loose in South-Central as insurgents started shooting from multiple directions. Leif and Charlie Platoon fought to get Ryan evacuated, and Team Bulldog M2 Bradley Fighting Vehicles and M1A2 Abrams tanks came to their rescue with heavy firepower. Charlie Platoon loaded Ryan into a medevac vehicle and sent him off the battlefield to proper medical care. Then Leif and the rest of Charlie Platoon and their Iraqi soldiers patrolled back to Combat Outpost Falcon (or COP Falcon), a fortified U.S. Army position several dangerous blocks away. But the fighting in South-Central Ramadi only escalated as enemy fighters flooded the area. Charlie Platoon could hear the gunfire as their U.S. Army brethren from Team Bulldog — Main Gun Mike and his Soldiers — were still engaged in a vicious gunfight that spread across multiple city blocks. Leif and the leadership of his platoon discussed it briefly, and finally Leif called me on the radio and requested permission to go back out and take down some buildings where suspected enemy fighters were holed up. "Do it," I told him.
Leif and his platoon did everything they could to mitigate risk. They rode to the suspected buildings in heavily armored Bradley Fighting Vehicles. They had the Bradleys soften the target buildings with fire from their powerful 25mm chain guns. They even had the Bradleys ram through the walls of the compounds so that the platoon could get off the open street and have some protection from enemy bullets as they moved toward the buildings to breach the entryways. But even that couldn't mitigate all the risk. And it didn't.
I watched on a live video feed from a drone overhead as Charlie Platoon dismounted from the Bradleys and entered a building. I could tell the gunfire was heavy. Once my SEALs entered the building, I could no longer see what was happening.
A few long minutes after they entered, I saw a group of SEALs carrying a casualty out of the building and back to a waiting Bradley nearby. It was one of ours. A lifeless body.
As I watched from the TOC, a horrible pit opened up in my stomach. I wanted to cry and scream and throw up and shake my fists at the sky.
But I had to stifle those emotions — I had a job to do. So I simply stood by the radio and waited for Leif to call me. I did not call him, because I knew he had work to do and I did not want to interfere with what he was doing.
A few minutes later, he called. I could tell he was forcing himself to sound calm, but I heard a flood of emotions in his voice.
He gave the report: as Charlie Platoon entered the building, they were engaged by enemy fighters from an adjacent building. As SEAL machine gunner Marc Lee courageously stepped into a doorway to engage the enemy fighters and protect the rest of his SEAL teammates entering the hallway behind him, he was struck by enemy fire and killed. It was over instantly.
Marc Alan Lee, an amazing warrior, friend, brother, son, husband, uncle, man of faith, comedian, and truly incredible spirit of a human being, was gone. This was on top of the fact that Ryan Job, another Charlie Platoon machine gunner and saint of a human being, had already been severely wounded and was in a medically induced coma and en route to surgical facilities in Germany. Ryan's fate was yet unknown.
The burden of such loss settled heavily on my soul.
When Leif got back to base, I could see his heart was heavy with grief. His eyes were filled not only with tears but with doubt and questions and the solemn weight of responsibility. Leif never even mentioned that he had also been wounded: a bullet fragment had entered his back, just missing the protection provided by his body armor. He didn't care about his wounded flesh. It was his heart that was broken.
A day passed.
Leif came to my office. I could see his soul was in absolute turmoil.
As the leader on the ground, Leif had made the decision to go back into the firestorm. I had approved that decision. But it was Leif who carried the burden that he had survived and Marc had not.
"I feel like I made the wrong decision," Leif said quietly. "I just wish I could take it back. I wish I would have done something — anything — differently so Marc would still be here with us."
I could see that this was tearing Leif apart. He felt that in all that chaos and all that madness, he could have made a different decision, chosen a different path.
But he was wrong.
"No, Leif," I told him slowly, "there was no decision to make. Those Army Soldiers were in a vicious battle — a massive fight — and they needed our help, they needed our support. You gave it to them. The only other option would have been to sit back and let the Army fight it out by themselves. You couldn't let Charlie Platoon sit inside the protected compound and let Team Bulldog take the risk and take the casualties. That's not what we do. We are a team. We take care of each other. There was no other choice — there was no decision to make."
Leif was quiet. He looked at me and slowly nodded. As hard as it was to hear, he knew I was right. He knew he couldn't have sat on the sidelines while other Americans were in harm's way and needed help, in what was probably the largest single engagement in the months-long campaign of the Battle of Ramadi. If he had, everyone in the platoon would have known it was the wrong decision. Leif would have known it was wrong, too. But with the weight of such a burden on his soul, he needed more reassurance.
So, I continued: "We are Frogmen. We are SEALs. We are American fighting men. If there is something we can do to help our brothers-in-arms, we help. That is what we do. You know that. Marc knew that. We all know that. That is who we are."
"I just wish I could trade places with Marc," Leif said, his eyes teared up with emotion. "I'd do anything to bring him back."
"Look," I said. "We don't have a crystal ball. We don't know when guys are going to get wounded or killed. If we could know that, then we wouldn't go out on those particular operations. But we don't know. We can't know. The only way we can guarantee everyone will be safe is to do nothing at all and let other troops do the fighting. But that is wrong — and you know it. We must do our utmost to win. Of course, we have to mitigate whatever risks we can, but in the end, we cannot eliminate every risk. We still have to do our duty."
Leif nodded again. He knew I was right. He believed it because it was the truth.
But it did not take away the punishing torment of losing Marc. Marc's death was something Leif would carry with him forever. I already knew that. And so did Leif.
It was difficult to grasp, the hardest and most painful of all the dichotomies of leadership: to care about your men more than anything in the world — so much so that you'd even willingly trade your life for theirs — and yet, at the same time, to lead those men on missions that could result in their deaths.
(Continues...)Excerpted from The Dichotomy Of Leadership by Jocko Willink, Leif Babin. Copyright © 2018 Jocko Command LLC and Leif Babin LLC. Excerpted by permission of St. Martin's Press.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.
Product details
- Publisher : St. Martin's Press; Illustrated edition (September 25, 2018)
- Language : English
- Hardcover : 320 pages
- ISBN-10 : 1250195772
- ISBN-13 : 978-1250195777
- Item Weight : 2.31 pounds
- Dimensions : 5.75 x 1.05 x 8.5 inches
- Best Sellers Rank: #88,752 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #675 in Motivational Management & Leadership
- #850 in Business Motivation & Self-Improvement (Books)
- #1,402 in Leadership & Motivation
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About the authors
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Leif Babin is a former U.S. Navy SEAL officer, co-author of the #1 New York Times best seller Extreme Ownership: How U.S. Navy SEALs Lead and Win (revised edition published in 2017) and co-author of The Dichotomy of Leadership: Balancing the Challenges of Extreme Ownership to Lead and Win. He is the co-founder of Echelon Front, where he serves as President and Chief Operating Officer, leadership instructor, speaker, and strategic advisor to companies and business leaders across the civilian sector. A graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy, Leif served thirteen years in the U.S. Navy, including nine years in the SEAL Teams. As a platoon commander in SEAL Team Three’s Task Unit Bruiser, he planned and led major combat operations in the Battle of Ramadi alongside the “Ready First” Brigade of the U.S. Army’s 1st Armored Division. Task Unit Bruiser became the most highly-decorated special operations unit of the Iraq War.
Leif returned from combat and became the primary leadership instructor for all officers graduating from the SEAL training pipeline. There, he reshaped leadership training to better prepare SEAL officers for the immense challenges of combat. During his last tour, Leif served as Operations Officer and Executive Officer at a SEAL Team where he again deployed to Iraq with a Special Operations Task Force.
Leif is the recipient of the Silver Star, two Bronze Stars, and a Purple Heart. In 2011, Leif left active duty and co-founded Echelon Front, a premier leadership consulting company that helps others to train, build and lead their own high-performance winning teams. Clients include companies and organizations in a broad array of industries, from Fortune 500 companies to successful start-ups. Leif speaks on leadership, U.S. military strategy, and foreign policy matters. His editorials have been published in the Wall Street Journal and he has appeared frequently on a variety of national television news, radio programs, and podcasts.
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Customers find the book an excellent read that provides good leadership lessons using real-life examples. They describe it as a great follow-up to Extreme Ownership and empowering. Readers praise the concise writing style and well-organized layout. The stories provide actionable takeaways that can be applied immediately in real-life leadership. Overall, customers consider the book a worthwhile addition to their bookshelf with valuable insights.
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Customers find the book an enjoyable read that explains leadership challenges and pitfalls clearly. It's described as an excellent complement to Extreme Ownership, with principles readers can use every day. Readers also mention it's entertaining and worth the wait.
"...As for the content of “The Dichotomy of Leadership” itself, it’s excellent! What else would you expect?..." Read more
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"...first book “Extreme Ownership - How Navy Seals Lead and Win” is an excellent work that will benefit any one who implements its principles in their..." Read more
Customers find the book provides good leadership lessons using real-life examples. It explains the complexities of leadership and opens their eyes to how to prepare their teams and hold them accountable. The book prompts honest self-assessment and provides the pathway to build back. They mention it's one of the most insightful and meaningful experiences they have had. The lessons are clearly explained and easy to understand, but challenging to implement. Readers appreciate the balance between values and goals that is needed in any team.
"...Leif Babin's follow-up to "Extreme Ownership" delves deeper into the complexities of leadership, providing invaluable insights that have transformed..." Read more
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Customers find the book a great follow-up to Extreme Ownership. It helps them learn the balance of extreme ownership and how to lead in all areas of life. The book addresses the dichotomies of the principles in Extreme Ownership, which are both humble and decisive. Readers say the lessons are practical and impactful.
"...that leaders often face, such as being both humble and decisive, empowering and disciplined, strategic and adaptable...." Read more
"Great followup to Extreme ownership. Worth the wait and rhe reading to embrace what Jocko and Leif are trying to share with others...." Read more
"This was a much needed follow-up to Extreme Ownership. In fact, I would prioritize this book if you aren’t able to get through too many." Read more
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Customers find the book easy to read and understand. They appreciate the clear writing style and simple concepts that apply to any scenario or type of work. The book is well-organized with real-life examples.
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Customers find the stories in the book insightful and meaningful. They appreciate the actionable takeaways and life lessons from the experiences. The vivid scenarios, action items, and outcomes provide a clear explanation of how these strategies work. The author's popularity gives the stories credibility.
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Customers find the book useful and a worthwhile addition to their bookshelf. They say it's a top business book and a must-have for their library.
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"Good book and a worthy addition to my bookshelf." Read more
Customers have different views on the book's application. Some find it useful and realistically able to be implemented, with practical examples in each chapter. Others feel the message is simple but the application is difficult, challenging to understand and implement.
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Customers have mixed opinions about the book's depth. Some find it provides useful, detailed information and clears up some subtle points. Others feel it's not as enlightening as the first book and that concepts are repeated too often.
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"...read, laid out like a university text book, motivating, and extremely well researched and insightful...." Read more
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- Reviewed in the United States on May 8, 2023"The Dichotomy of Leadership: Balancing the Challenges of Extreme Ownership to Lead and Win" has been an absolute game-changer for me as a new manager. Jocko Willink and Leif Babin's follow-up to "Extreme Ownership" delves deeper into the complexities of leadership, providing invaluable insights that have transformed my approach to leading and managing teams.
What sets this book apart is its emphasis on striking a balance between seemingly contradictory leadership qualities. Willink and Babin explore the dichotomies that leaders often face, such as being both humble and decisive, empowering and disciplined, strategic and adaptable. Through their own experiences as Navy SEALs and real-world examples, they offer practical advice on how to navigate these challenges and find the right balance.
The authors' ability to articulate complex leadership concepts in a relatable and accessible manner is commendable. Their writing style is engaging, and the anecdotes they share serve as powerful illustrations of the principles they advocate.
"The Dichotomy of Leadership" is not just a theoretical guide; it is a manual for action. Each chapter provides actionable takeaways that can be applied immediately in real-life leadership scenarios. The book encourages self-reflection and continuous improvement, empowering new managers like myself to become more effective and influential leaders.
In conclusion, "The Dichotomy of Leadership" is a must-read for any new manager seeking to enhance their leadership skills. It offers a fresh perspective on the multifaceted nature of leadership and provides practical guidance on how to navigate the challenges that come with it. I highly recommend this book to anyone looking to elevate their leadership abilities and drive success in their managerial role.
- Reviewed in the United States on August 31, 2023This book perfectly complements Leif & Jocko’s first book, “Extreme Ownership.” It’s not a sequel, or a rehashing of the same ideas, but rather based on feedback and the authors’ experience teaching the lessons from “Extreme Ownership” & working with clients who read that book, this book fills in some missing details and clarifies some subtle points that were commonly misunderstood. I would strongly recommend people read both books together (read “Extreme Ownership” first followed by this one), and consider them as part of a two-volume set.
As for the content of “The Dichotomy of Leadership” itself, it’s excellent! What else would you expect? This book does a great job of highlighting several issues that good leaders need to learn how to balance in order to maximize their team’s success. The lessons are clearly explained and easy to understand, but challenging to implement & balance. Every chapter will motivate you to want to be a better leader, and leave you with lots of ideas to ponder and things to consider.
Just like “Extreme Ownership,” I see this as a book that I will want to keep close by at all times, and will return to over and over again!
- Reviewed in the United States on March 24, 2024I do not have a military background, but have worked with various military personnel working in the corporate business sector who use military training techniques for leadership.
I have 15+ years in leadership and I like to examine various industries that are successful in leadership. I am also a communication practitioner and trained in managerial communication. This book lays out how military training can be successfully applied to civilian leadership. I especially love the way the book is structured; three sections in each chapter: the military experience, the principles, and the applications to civilian leadership. This demonstrates the excellent organization skills of the authors. I like that they use analogies throughout the book and really help you to understand how critical leadership decisions making is.
In civilian leadership, you may have a second chance to right a wrong decision without losing lives, but in military leadership, in battle, you do not! Lives can be lost due to poor planning and bad leadership decisions.
I thoroughly enjoyed this book and believe everyone in leadership should read this.
I do not have a military background, but have worked with various military personnel working in the corporate business sector who use military training techniques for leadership.
I have 15+ years in leadership and I like to examine various industries that are successful in leadership. I am also a communication practitioner and trained in managerial communication. This book lays out how military training can be successfully applied to civilian leadership. I especially love the way the book is structured; three sections in each chapter: the military experience, the principles, and the applications to civilian leadership. This demonstrates the excellent organization skills of the authors. I like that they use analogies throughout the book and really help you to understand how critical leadership decisions making is.
In civilian leadership, you may have a second chance to right a wrong decision without losing lives, but in military leadership, in battle, you do not! Lives can be lost due to poor planning and bad leadership decisions.
I thoroughly enjoyed this book and believe everyone in leadership should read this.
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Top reviews from other countries
- Rogelio P.Reviewed in Mexico on May 19, 2024
5.0 out of 5 stars Good
Good
- SeanReviewed in Canada on November 19, 2023
5.0 out of 5 stars Amazing Book
The dichotomy of leadership has greatly helped myself and others around me succeed in work and in life.
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Marina LuisonReviewed in Italy on December 21, 2022
2.0 out of 5 stars Libro sporco e copertina rovinata
Spedizione veloce, ma il libro e sporco sulla parte bianca e sulla parte nera e' molto unto. Ovviamente questo non e il tipo di regalo che mi sento di dare a natale... Specialmente per un libro nuovo che e' costato 25 euro (!!)
Marina Luison
Reviewed in Italy on December 21, 2022
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HagenReviewed in Germany on January 3, 2021
5.0 out of 5 stars Eine sehr gute Forsetzung des Ersten Buches
In diesem Buch gehen die Autoren Jocko und Leif noch weiter ins Detail bezüglich der angesprochenen Punkt aus dem Ersten Buch. Man muss dazu sagen, dass man zuerst das Erste Buch gelesen und verinnerlicht haben solltem da man ansonsten die Quintessenz vielleicht nicht in ihrem vollen Umfang versteht--Es geht um das Halten der Balance, die "Extreme Ownership" mitsich bringt. Führen, aber auch führen lassen. Aufgaben übernehmen aber auch delegieren. Flexibel sein aber dennoch einen Kurs haben.
Die englische Urfassung ist meiner Meinung nach besser, da man hier durch das "You" besser angesprochen wird als durch das förmliche "Sie" im Deutschen.
Mein Buch ist übersäht mit Eselsohren, Markierungen und Notizen, da man es als Führungskraft immer wieder hinzuziehen kann, falls man in seiner Position auf ein Problem trifft. Ein sehr guter Guide für Führungskräfte oder die, die es werden wollen sowohl im dienstlichen als auch im privaten Alltag.
Klare Kaufempfehlung!
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LEANDROReviewed in Brazil on November 9, 2018
4.0 out of 5 stars Bom livro
Basicamente, trata de equilíbrio. Dois terços do livro se destina a contextualizar. O um terço que sobra é o que você realmente precisa ler.