— To follow is a bullet of wisdom on leadership. It comes from Tom’s rifle, named Shot, who has seen it all. You’ll get the drift by clicking Blog in the menu at www.tomnewhouse.com. —
A MARKSMAN WHO BLAMES his rifle for poor shots is likely to miss often… and even with different rifles. I have seen it time and again: The blamer always has something to blame. I like marksmen who own it all. They make sure I (the rifle) am prepped and sighted in. They anticipate what will go awry and take preventive actions. They own each shot and the contest. They often win…and they never lose to blamers.
In Extreme Ownership you can read on page 49, “There are no bad teams, only bad leaders.” Leaders who fail to take 100% responsibility to ensure that everything is ready, including contingencies, simply fail. Oh, they might be successful once in a while, and maybe often, but in time, they will fail. Leaders, to be consistently effective, must have the belief that they will do everything to make their team successful. Mind you, “everything” may, and often does, include equipping followers. But make no mistake: Leaders lead when they own the whole package.