WHORES, HITMEN + HYPE: combat leadership for the creative mercenary

Prostitutes claim the oldest profession. Maybe they are, but mercenaries can certainly argue a case. From the ravaging Hun tribes whose chieftains hired out murderous hordes to anyone with sufficient coin to expand their empire to the dapper gentleman adventurers of yesteryear to the corporate wet workers of Blackwater, Triple Canopy and dear old Executive Outcomes. I’ve always felt an affinity with Goths, Vandals and ronin. I also relate to whores – perhaps because I’m a bit of one at heart. I’ll work for anyone, anytime, anywhere if the money’s right. I use the hitman business model: 50% up front and 50% when the jobs done… and back in the day, you’d better not drag your feet paying me unless you want to see me go full Tony WHERE’S MY FUCKING MONEY Soprano. But now when the shit hits the proverbial, I try to go the full Jocko Willink on its ass.  I first heard Jocko on the Tim Ferris podcast, the first interview he ever did, and was immediately struck by the subtle reverence Tim had for his guest. He described him as the scariest Navy Seal imaginable who would tap out 20 grunts per workout and Tim’s no pussycat. Sitting in a beach bar in Thailand way past the witching hour,  I was mighty impressed. I found the Jocko podcast and began binge listening. I read the book and was immediately gripped by the simplicity and practicality of the Extreme Ownership credo and Jocko’s special brand of clarity, professionalism and humility. I listen to a lot of spiritual/high performance speakers and one of the aspects that impressed me most about Jocko was that whilst I’ve never heard him discuss either subject, he constantly talks about what’s going on in his head. “FREE YOUR MIND” is the podcast tagline and mind control, mental discipline, testicular fortitude along with the counter-insurgency war in his head are common themes. Jocko’s become quite the mentor to me over the last year and we have a mighty thought-provoking project in the pipeline- watch this space.  The premise of his book is simple. A fundamental guide of leadership principles that contains no theories, only battle-tested lessons that have proven to be the most effective method to lead teams at an elite level in a high-stakes environment. The book explores the fundamental flaws of human psychology and how emotions and ego are often the culprits of poor leadership decisions. Ego? Moi? The fundamental principle of this book that has the potential to be life changing for those who can leave their ego at the door. Leaders must own everything in their world, there is truly no one else to blame when things go wrong except for yourself. Humans inherently are creatures of self-preservation and the concept of owning failure is naturally going to be counter-intuitive for most.

This book challenges me to dismiss this way of thinking, and be the person who owns the failure of a task while ensuring it never happens again. Even for those of you who find yourselves powerless and near the bottom of a bureaucratic leadership structure, this book offers functional advice to lead from beneath and up the chain of command. This refreshing approach aims to cut directly into the blame culture that is so prevalent today by removing the predictable excuses and justifications so often used to justify poor performance and bad decision making. Here’s a blast…

“Any team, in any organization, all responsibility for success and failure rests with the leader. The leader must own everything in his or her world. There is no one else to blame. The leader must acknowledge mistakes and admit failures, take ownership of them, and develop a plan to win.”

I’ve always been quite skeptical of warfare literature that makes an attempt to transition their applications to the civilian environment. How many versions of the Art of War have been developed for the corporate boardroom through a metaphorical and emblematic approach? Extreme Ownership had no issues for me in this regard as its core principles ultimately apply to the human condition and don’t demand the particulars of a specific environment. Undoubtedly the most enjoyable book I’ve read this year so far (And appropriately the first book I’ve reviewed on our review service) You’ll be amazed at how effectively you’ll be able to highlight leadership problems from afar once you have digested the concepts of this book. I’ve already passed copies to some good friends suspect it may be my Christmas gift of choice for many years to come. But now it’s coming up to Friday night in LA….

… Time to GET AFTER IT!