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Extreme Ownership cover art

Extreme Ownership

Written by: Jocko Willink, Leif Babin
Narrated by: Jocko Willink, Leif Babin
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Publisher's Summary

"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. 

©2015 Jocko Willink and Leif Babin (P)2015 Macmillan Audio

What listeners say about Extreme Ownership

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  • Overall
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    3 out of 5 stars

principles are good

Principles are good, delivery can be drawn out. But if you enjoy a verbose story or two that won't be a problem

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17 people found this helpful

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I just wish this was available 15y ago

I have worked in multinational societies for over 20y now. None considered the employees as part of the big picture. We were just labor hired to deliver solutions to the customers. We were an expandable expense. My new job starts with this book given in a welcome package and they use a lot of its content as part of the mission, the core values of the company and the team development is based on the content of this book. Is this for everyone? How can it not? The principles are simple and they allow every generation X, Y, Z, millennials and more to evolve with each other and have a saying. I read the book and even listened to it through Audible. I went through it twice in less than 30 days just to tell you how I enjoyed its content and principles!

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9 people found this helpful

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    3 out of 5 stars
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    1 out of 5 stars

Excellent and Vital Message

Got this book because the message is such an important one and I wanted another's insight. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn't stay focussed. This book has the exact same formula for every chapter: war story, principle, business application. When they talked about the business application, I was fully into it, but that was only about ten percent of the book. This book is all about war stories told by what sounds like WWE wrestlers. If you're into that, you'll love it, and the message is really, really important. It just made me zone out.

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5 people found this helpful

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More war stories than anything else

Not what I was expecting. This book is more about war stories then it is about anything else.

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4 people found this helpful

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Not for everyone

I had high expectations for this book to learn about ownership and it's ecosystem and how to apply it in the digital sector. However the book immediately set a military tone focusing on the US army and war stories - redundantly repeating more or less useful principles. It's using strong words instead of thoughtful explanation (everything is utmost, extreme, hard, really, very etc). This book is more for people served in the military or other who need motivating stories and some ego boost.

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4 people found this helpful

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Good ideas. Bad execution.

While having the authors narrate their own book usually adds a degree of power to their message, this was not the case here. If "having a face for radio" is an euphemism for ugliness, then these two Ex-Navy Seals have a voice meant for paper books. Their voices are extremely gravel-y and do not vary in tone at all, making it a chore to listen.

The core ideas of this book could be summarized in 5 sentences, but the selling point of this book is to expand on those ideas and explain their applications from a military war zone perspective. However, they still spend too much time focusing on the military aspect of their stories instead of describing the application to experiences that are more relatable to the average person. And the first chapter of the book is basically a disclaimer that their book does not divulge any military secrets and that they did not write this book for publicity.

Overall, instead of reading this book, I would suggest looking up a solid guide on ownership culture and how to apply it to your life.

#Audible1

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4 people found this helpful

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    5 out of 5 stars
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extremely motivating

Absolutely inspiring and very easy to grasp. the stories were intense and the message is straightforward.
GOOD!!!!

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2 people found this helpful

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    5 out of 5 stars
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Excellent book!

Excellent book, I work as lieutenant in a State Police in Brazil, so many things we can apply in ours daily basis.

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2 people found this helpful

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Must read!!!

What a mindset changing book. It will completely throw you off your comfort zone and make you rethink your approach to your relationships and ethics. It works not only for businesses big and small, but also to your personal life.

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1 person found this helpful

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    1 out of 5 stars
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There are better books to spend time and money on.

It could serve as first book to audiobooks. Too easy to read and ideas were not challenging enough.

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1 person found this helpful