Twice recently, I have presented my synopsis of Leadership Lessons of the U.S. Navy SEALS : Battle-Tested Strategies for Creating Successful Organizations and Inspiring Extraordinary Results by Jeff Cannon and Lieutenant Commander Jon Cannon.  I was struck with how practical, how timely, and how needed these lessons are.

We have a new and deeper appreciation for the folks who make up those Navy SEAL teams, after the successful mission that took out Osama bin Laden.  That success was no accident.  They prepared, drilled, trained, rehearsed …  the preparation was literally decades in the making!  This book helps us understand just why they succeed.

The entire book is worth a careful look.  But here are three lessons to take seriously for any current or aspiring leader.

Lesson #1 – care for your people.  Really, care for your people.  If people are cared for, and feel cared for, they will trust, follow, and stay with their leader.  People go to where they feel cared for.  From the book:

If passion for the big mission is not enough, then maybe commitment for the success of (the life of) your team members will keep you focused.  In other words, because you care for the people you work with, you work responsibly, professionally, sacrificially…

Lesson #2 – Plan well.  Plan thoroughly. Plan some more.  Because the more you plan, the more you know exactly what to do  — and, the more prepared you will be when you have to adjust the plan on the spot.  From the book:

Do you think you are spending too much time on planning?  Spend some more…  Success in the boardroom or on the battlefield does not require everything to go perfectly.  It requires you to be ready when things go wrong.  Set specific goals and establish identifiable paths to reach them… 
Time after time, organizations fail to do this. 

Lesson #3 – Maintain your rituals, because this plants and sustains a deep appreciation and commitment to the systems that work.  Systems matter.  Get the wrong systems, and the whole enterprise can come crashing down.  Get the right systems, and the whole enterprise has a much better chance at success.  From the book:

Sweat the small rituals…  By maintaining its rituals, an organization is communicating the idea that a system or culture is in place. 
By adhering to its rituals, you are confirming that you belong to the organization.  If you buck the system, you are not simply rebelling against formal suits and orthodox memos; you are questioning the organization, strategies, and processes they represent.  You are questioning the company you work for. 

This book is filled with other, valuable lessons – here’s just a sampling:

build boundaries to prevent infighting and cannibalism;
the vast majority of the time, you know what you should do;
if you think no one else can replace you, you’re an egotistical S.O.B. who’s failed;
 there is no “I” in “Shut up and do the work”;
let them be angry when they have a right to be;
tell them when the ship is sinking;
you’re the one who can make it work, and that’s often thanks enough;
cowboys and cogs don’t have job security, team members do; 
your own people are your best recruiters;
identify your lead dogs, feed them well, and build a pack around them;
let it be known that you’ll get rid of people who just shouldn’t be part of the team – even the nice people;
practice (“if you need to scream, you need to practice”);
and
make a decision!

These are just a few more of the many valuable lessons of the U.S. Navy SEALs.  I’m glad they have learned their lessons so well.

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You can purchase my synopsis (with handout + audio) of Leadership Lessons of the US. Navy SEALs, which comes with an introductory section about Osama bin Laden and Al-Qaeda, with brief excerpts from Inside the Kingdom by Carmen bin Laden and The Looming Tower by Lawrence Wright (this book won the Pulitzer Prize), from our companion web site, 15minutebusinessbooks.com.