No group in the world is more well known for teamwork than the U.S. Navy SEALs. Navy SEALs are given missions just like every other military unit, with one key difference. That difference is this: they are not told how to accomplish the mission. Instead, Navy SEALs are told when the mission needs to be completed and they are expected to figure it out on their own, and they’re just expected to get it done right — the first time…every time.
As a retired Navy SEAL, I have a lot of experience with how SEAL teams operate. In the SEAL teams, we often split forces, working in isolation from the rest of the team. Frequently, we can only get the job done because everyone on the team possesses the capacity to act as a leader.
The way leadership in the SEAL teams works is entirely different from how it works in any other military unit, or even how leadership is thought of in general. Below, I outline some of the key points in leadership, Navy SEAL style.
How do you lead a team remotely and still accomplish every mission?
- Make everyone a leader.
- Shift the paradigm of what leadership means. Move from a single point of control to shared responsibility. Empower others to take initiative.
- In the SEAL Teams, everyone has to be a leader, but also, at times, humble enough to be a follower. Leadership comes by working as a team at all times.
- Lead through effective mission planning, hot washes (i.e. quickly reviewing and learning from an action), and using the SEAL Loop I developed:
- Sense
- Evaluate
- Act
- Learn
The great thing about a Navy SEAL team is that everyone feels like part of the team, not just a cog in a machine. More than that, it’s about enabling and empowering EVERYONE to be a leader the instant there is a void in the leadership position. In traditional leadership models, a single boss is in charge of dozens of underlings, and they have to pass every decision through him or her. The Navy SEALs aren’t like this — and that’s what makes the SEALs such an elite fighting force. We flow through our missions like a flock of birds, each one flawlessly changing direction and getting behind the one who sensed a need to pivot.
Leadership in the Navy SEALs isn’t like the leadership that we were taught as kids, or in the boardrooms across the world. In the SEAL teams, leadership is truly a shared endeavor. This model allows the team to both function strongly, as a unit, or split into multiple parts, each of which can operate well on its own. Imagine if everyone in your organization could work remotely just as effectively as if you were leading them.
While very different from what you might have been taught in business school, the model of leadership I teach can be remarkably effective in any company. The way I teach this is through the acronym T.E.A.M.S. If everyone on the team is doing these things, your business can accomplish any mission.
Take Responsibility
As a Navy SEAL, you have a responsibility not just for yourself, but also for the whole team. If you’re careless in combat, the entire team might suffer. Likewise, in a business or any operation, effectiveness is a shared effort. Being aware of this responsibility is the first step to being a good leader.
Encourage Others
As a co-leader of your whole team, your job is to encourage and empower your teammates to take initiative. This applied in the Navy SEALs, and it applies in any business. Imagine a great sports team where the players don’t cheer for their teammates. Can’t image one? That’s because they don’t exist!
Ask for Help
Even the best leaders ask for help when they aren’t sure of something. In fact, strong leaders ask for help MORE OFTEN. Admitting that you don’t know everything, and seeking advice, is a critical step in success, whether on a battlefield or in the boardroom. In the SEAL teams, if you didn’t know every part of the operation, it could cost you your life, or worse, the life of one of your teammates. If we don’t know, we ask for help.
Master Your Job
In the SEAL Teams, every operator had to be an expert and not waste time criticizing what others were doing. The same applies to business. Be the best at what you need to do for the team. If everyone is doing this, you’ll have the top people in every position.
Sacrifice for the Team
Being a team member requires sacrifice and compromise, and so does being a good team leader. Navy SEAL teams work well because every member is trained to think, firstly, of the team. Any business could be exponentially better if its employees applied this simple strategy. In the SEAL teams, this could mean the ultimate sacrifice; In your organization, it could just mean filling in for a sick teammate.
I’m often asked to give keynotes on leadership. However, event organizers often seem to want to have someone to present the same old leadership strategies that every other speaker has been regurgitating for the last 100 years. I can’t do that. I don’t follow in anyone’s footsteps (unless it’s one of my SEAL brothers through a minefield). Instead, I utilize another acronym (Can you tell I like acronyms?) to teach leadership in business: LEADER:
Listen to the people you are leading,
Empower them,
Ask them for help,
Develop them,
Eliminate cancers from the group, and;
Remember where you came from.
Most of those should seem fairly obvious, but let’s take a moment to elaborate on the second “E” in LEADER: Eliminate cancers from the group. “Cancers” include anyone with a negative attitude and anyone who is looking to hit the minimum (I hate that word) standard. I say, “Mediocrity is a disease and it spreads very quickly in any team.” Like medical cancer, these cancers of morale will spread quickly if they’re not quickly treated. If there are any people not fully dedicated to the team and 100% effort, this can wreak havoc on team morale. Find the cancer and fix it, or fire it; it’s that simple.
Keeping these acronyms in mind will help you be a much better team member and team leader — and it’s best to do both at once, a la the Navy SEALs Approach leadership. Lead like a Navy SEAL, and you’ll never falter.
