Jocko Willink | The Ben Shapiro Show Sunday Special Ep. 23
How Echelon Front was started: When I got back from Iraq I took over the training for the west coast SEAL teams. This isn’t basic training. This is the training where you learn to shoot, move, and communicate as a SEAL platoon. This is where we teach combat leadership. As I was about to retire my friend was the CEO of a company and asked me to talk to his executives about leadership. When I was done he said I want you to do this for every division in my company. I will give you money. After every talk someone else would come up and ask Jocko to talk to executives at their company. (3:55)
Why he wrote Extreme Ownership: After all these talks people would come up and ask do you have any of these ideas written down somewhere? I thought I would be giving the book away at my talks. It ended up becoming a bestseller. (5:35)
What kind of people can’t become better leaders? The people who can’t put their ego in check. They think they are doing everything great. (8:09)
The myth about SEAL training [BUDS]: You don’t learn anything about combat. The purpose of BUDS is a screening process. What they are trying to do is get rid of people that don’t want to really, really, really do that job. It is suffering. You will be wet, tired, and cold for extended periods of time. (8:30)
What is Extreme Ownership? Extreme ownership means you won’t make any excuses, you won’t blame anyone else. You own whatever happens. If there is a problem you take ownership of figuring out the solution and implementing that solution. (15:52)
Jocko’s counterintuitive thought on combat: Combat is an exercise in creativity. First, you need to know the principles of combat. During combat, you will have to utilize the principles in ways they have never been used before to get the outcome of your desire. [Combat = dynamic situations for the highest stakes possible] (29:54)