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These Leadership Lessons From The SEAL Teams Are Universal For Any Industry

This article is more than 7 years old.

I’m a big believer in sharing lessons learned. Leadership lessons, lessons in teamwork, lessons in effective thinking are all “things” that are ultimately the dividing line between success and failure, life and death.

Last week I gave a speech on leadership lessons from complex environments, and while the topic was slightly different, the questions afterward were not. The one question people always ask is, “Do you miss it (the adrenaline rush from the SEALs)?”

The short answer is no. I don’t miss the Teams one bit. It was fun, yes, but there comes a time in one's career where you’ve simply done enough and the thought of doing anymore makes your eyes glaze over with boredom. The SEALs were no different.

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For me, the SEALs got boring and I wanted to apply what we learned—which was how we operated—to business teams so they can operate with the same success. If you think that’s not challenging then, well, let’s just say it’s easier to jump out of a perfectly good airplane.

Anyway, one of the common denominators that made the transition out of the military so smooth was the need for leadership. Leadership is paradoxical in the sense that it’s both the problem and the solution to many of the challenges that people, teams and companies face today. And I’m not talking about blaming higher positions of authority or eschewing blame on leaders “up there." Leadership begins with you. It begins with self. If there’s a gripe worth complaining about and blaming the system, then that’s a gripe worth tending to on your own to explore how you can solve it. Maybe it’s a conversation with a senior leader or perhaps it’s a talk with a team member. The point is, the “problem” with leadership is hardly ever “out there" but rather “in here;” within you. You can’t lead others until you know how to lead yourself.

After spending 13 years as a SEAL there are four universal leadership lessons I’ll share with you that apply no matter where, who or what you lead.

1. Test yourself—daily.

Leaders solve problems. They envision an ideal end state and communicate it in such a way that it inspires value in others to go execute. That’s what makes them leaders.

Problem solving is a constant challenge and leaders like challenges. They push themselves to learn and grow every day because they’re hungry and they fear that if they shy away from progress—if they concede to complacency—that they’ll fall behind the power curve and their competitor will get a leg up on them. They’re right.

So, the question is, how do you stay at the competitive edge while mitigating complacency? By testing yourself—daily. If this means getting up an hour earlier to exercise, read a book or pursue a hobby, do it. Sleeping an extra hour is only going to make a difference if you think it will. The biggest hurdle that you battle (and everyone for that matter) is the battle with yourself. The battle with doing what's easy and what's comfortable.

The fact is, nobody improves at anything without a challenge.

The biggest benefit from testing yourself daily is that “passing” those tests forges your self-image into the type of person who’s capable and willing of setting and achieving goals. The body achieves what the mind believes.

2. Work out.

Break a sweat. Seriously. The most successful people—leaders in their own right—exercise at least three times a week. If you’re unfamiliar with the physical benefits of exercise then please go ahead and welcome yourself to 2017. What might not be so apparent, however, are the neurological benefits of exercise.

Harvard clinical professor Dr. John Ratey and author of Spark: The Revolutionary New Science of Exercise and the Brain cites a study that tracked students throughout their high school tenure and compared one group of students who exercised consistently with another group who didn’t exercise at all. The results? The exercise group outperformed and improved in overall academic performance compared to the group who played video games (which is synonymous with doing nothing and a little sarcasm for you).

The takeaway is that consistent physical activity positively influences the brain and reverses the effects of stress. Ratey shared additional studies of how exercise actually reverses the effects of stress and depression better than their over-the-counter drug counterparts.

The beauty of exercise is that it serves two purposes. It prepares you for the beach, yes, but it also sharpens your mind.

3. Forget about becoming the best.

I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but striving to be the best is an act in futility for the simple reason that there will always be something else to refine, something else to improve upon.

The “best” is an illusory, utopian state that never arrives. Even if you did become “the best,” such a status would only last for the short term which means striving to become the best is a wasted effort because it doesn’t last.

Forget about being the best. Instead, become better. You know you’re better when you can outperform the competition. Metrics don’t lie.

In Basic Underwater Demolition SEAL training (BUD/S), we swam a timed two-mile ocean swim every week, and we did so with a partner—a swim buddy. In the rare chance that a swim pair encountered a shark, the plan was very simple: stab your swim buddy, swim like hell—in that order.

That’s part joke, part strategy.

The takeaway is this: you didn’t have to be the fastest swimmer out there. You just had to be faster than the guy next to you. The same is true for your competition.

4. Be humble.

There's an allure about humble people. They exude greater power, influence and persuasion than their overly-talkative brethren because, well, nobody likes hearing the same voice time and again. If you're compelled to speak for fear of not being heard otherwise, then the greater question is “Why does that fear exist?” There needs to be a firm foundation of trust to be heard so everybody knows their best interests are held. Without trust, the tendency is to shy away from we and instead focus on me. Not ideal.

It takes focus, determination, and discipline to push through the daily grind. More than anything, it requires leadership.

Separate yourself from the pack by practicing the above four fundamentals that cultivate not only better performance, but better business.

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