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right people.
Short-Term Goal 2: Maintain outstanding capabilities.
Once people are accepted into the SEAL community, they train
almost continuously, both individually and in teams. After basic com-
mando training, SEALs attend an advanced commando school, and
then jump school, and dive school, and sniper school, and communi-
cations school, and dozens of other schools. Then they are placed in
platoons that undergo a continuous cycle of team training. Urban
warfare. Jungle warfare. Mountain warfare. Years go by. SEALs earn
the equivalent of a doctorate in commando operations. Then they
deploy to operate, and the training continues. Local languages.
Regional tactics. Training with forces from other countries. Then back
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LEADERSHIP LESSONS OF THE NAVY SEALS
to the United States and into another platoon. Training never ends.
Maintaining this tempo is a key short-term goal that supports the
long-term goal of providing the United States with a continuously
high capability.
Short-Term Goal 3: Provide effective leadership.
The SEAL organization employs leaders with operational experience,
political savvy, technical expertise, and managerial know-how.
Officers the leaders and managers in the military go through the
same training as enlisted personnel to ensure technical proficiency
and team bonding. Senior enlisted personnel the technical masters
and operational foremen of the military are given enormous
influence over strategy. Both officers and senior enlisted personnel
become regional experts, receive postgraduate degrees, and are loaned
out to other special operations staffs, where they learn and leverage
their skills.
At the same time, officers and enlisted personnel are repeatedly
placed in positions where they can hone their leadership skills. This
continues throughout the officer s career: at the squad level, the pla-
toon level, the task unit level, and the SEAL team level. One SEAL
officer whom Jon worked under in California and the Middle East has
wartime experience in the Gulf War, Somalia, and a half-dozen other
conflicts; speaks another language; and has an advanced degree in low-
intensity conflict. And he s not unusual. An enlisted SEAL whom Jon
knows can speak two exotic languages; has operated in Bosnia, Central
Africa, and dozens of other countries; and has worked on several
senior battle staffs.
Rotating leaders through different theaters exposes them to dif-
ferent methods, customs, and solutions. Assigning leaders to different
missions increases their ability to grasp operational capabilities and
limitations. Sending them back to school, again and again, increases
their ability to shoot, jump, analyze, and plan. Maintaining extensive
corporate and leadership expertise, as well as a deep sense of commu-
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SETTING GOALS
nity loyalty, is a short-term goal that supports the long-term goal of
employing SEALs effectively and wisely.
Short-Term Goal 4: Maintain a strong culture.
SEALs trust SEALs with their lives. From the first day of initial train-
ing, this theme is reinforced continuously. Trainees are organized into
inseparable pairs in BUD/S. From that day on, they are taught never
to leave each other on a swim, never to leave each other when secur-
ing a ship, never to leave each other in the field. With two people, one
can always cover the other s back, carry the other to safety, and take
watch while the other rests. A bond is created. Trust follows. Trust is
the lifeblood of the SEAL community. SEALs pack each other s para-
chutes, monitor each other s dive equipment, cover each other when
under fire, and give each other blood transfusions. You could be the
fastest sprinter in the world, but if you leave your buddy behind,
you re out. SEALs have never left a buddy behind in combat, not even
a buddy s corpse. You re hurt yourself? No matter. Mike Thornton
had several rounds in him and still slung his mate over his shoulder
and fought his way back to the beach in Vietnam. Enforcing this phi-
losophy is a short-term goal that supports the long-term goal of main-
taining a warrior culture.
What short-term goals do you have in place that support your
long-term goals?
3. Build Your Leadership around Your Long-Term Goals
SEAL teams are built primarily around three individuals who have sev-
eral years of experience with the SEAL organization and who implic-
itly understand the long-term goals of the SEAL organization. They
understand operational concerns. They know budget issues. They
know the direction in which the world is turning. They know what
can and can t be done.
Each of the following is a position that exists on every SEAL
team. There is a rough business equivalent for each of them. What s
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LEADERSHIP LESSONS OF THE NAVY SEALS
important, however, is that all these responsibilities are handled
within your business, whether or not the position as such officially
exists.
The Commanding Officer. The commanding officer s job is to see
the big picture and to move the team forward in alignment with
that strategic vision. We re moving forward quickly into more
cold-water training, a commanding officer once announced to
Jon s team during their weekly meeting. The Soviet Union is our
main adversary, and we re going to do everything we can to train
like we d fight. His commanding officer in Europe moved them,
operationally, into Eastern Europe. His commanding officer in
Panama pushed forward the concept of foreign internal defense
(FID), in addition to their traditional mission of crisis response.
The Executive Officer (XO). The executive officer s job is to ensure
that the organization runs in accordance with established proce-
dures. In his next job he will be the skipper, but right now he s
getting down the rules of the road. In corporate terms, he is the
equivalent of chief counsel, chief financial officer, and the head
of human relations, all rolled into one job. There are many ways
to obtain bullets, pay your troops, maintain your base, and resolve
disputes. The XO makes sure these things are all done the right
way. This ensures the long-term goal of maintaining a sound orga-
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