Why this blog?
Short Answer
To engage in conversations
Write down my thought processes and learnings
Find people who share my interests and move forwards together.
Long Answer
I have a mentor.
He keeps pushing me to be a better husband, father and leader. He helps me keep on track with the goals that I set myself. And my children even recognise his voice when it echos from my phone.
I have never met my mentor.
The first time I heard about Jocko was when he gave his first public interview on the Tim Ferriss podcast back in the autumn of 2015. Since then no single person has influenced my life more (this is between you and me, please don’t tell my wife). The reason that I started this blog is mainly because of my desire to explore Jocko’s ideas through my own writing.
But who is Jocko Willink?
Jocko served 20 years as a US Navy SEAL, runs a leadership consultancy, is the author of several adult and children books, including the New York Times Bestseller “Extreme Ownership”. He is the host of the highly ranked “Jocko Podcast” as well as several other shows. Jocko runs a gym in San Diego, owns his own publishing business and he is the co-owner of an American manufacturing company. Every single day I either read one of his books, listen to his podcasts or continue to study his leadership lessons through his online lessons and live calls.
How did I end up considering Jocko my personal mentor?
Back at the end of 2015, I was going through an incredibly exciting but also very demanding time. I was finishing up my PhD thesis, training for the 52 hours non-stop Kokoro camp and we were preparing our family for the arrival of baby number four. All within the span of a few weeks in the spring of 2016. Having these goals and life events scheduled meant I was focused and ‘on track’. But the time after I had accomplished my goals and our youngest daughter was born… oh boy. I was lost.
Sure life was busy, but I had no more crucibles to train for, no more studying, no more teaching at Uni and no more working out with the team at the local CrossFit gym. I had ticked all the boxes on my to-do list. I started to drift internally. At that time I started to listen to Jocko’s podcast weekly, I bought his first book and I started to embrace Extreme Ownership.
One of the most compelling elements of Jocko’s work is his ability to deliver impactful messages in a clear and concise way. Case in point, Jocko’s personal mantra: “Discipline Equals Freedom”. This statement more than any other has had a truly transformational impact on me. I realised that I had only been able to achieve my big goals because I had been disciplined. I used to wake up early to get work done before the kids got up, so we had time to enjoy breakfast together. I used to stay focused on my daily to-do list so I had the freedom to train later on in the day. I used to schedule my work out weeks in advance to ensure that I could properly enjoy down-time with friends and family, knowing that everything else had been taken care of.
Jocko’s messages around staying focused, finding the next mission and never stop improving yourself to serve the people around you, was exactly what I needed. I embraced his words by first starting to find my new missions: striving to be the most valuable asset in my boss’ quiver, being the best father and husband for my family and finding new fitness goals to keep me on track and holding myself accountable through my social media posts.
I got back on The Path.
Setting goals for myself and getting excited about early morning workouts again was only part of the equation, however. I had also stepped into a completely different work realm after leaving academia. I was used to ‘being told’ what to do. University life is all about assignments and meeting your professors’ expectations. My new working reality was about creating procedures and processes that were not given a hard timeline or guidance as that work had not been done like that before. Without the guidance of a certain someone at the time, I might have just been perfecting the noose to hang my new career with.
The brilliance of a lot of Jocko’s work is partly the simple and concise language that he uses. But for me, the more hard-hitting aspect of his messages is that he calls out your laziness, your weakness, your excuses. Jocko challenges us all to take “Extreme Ownership”.
Extreme Ownership underpins Jocko’s whole leadership philosophy: it is all your responsibility.
Your boss did not approve funding for the new project?
You did not make it clear enough to her why your proposal is vital for the company.
Your employee is not sticking to agreed tasks and his performance is hurting the company?
You are not taking ownership of your shortcomings in first explaining what you want him to do and then having the hard conversations around performance management.
These are not examples from some clickbait article, they happened to me. These were my failures. They hurt. But it was those times - when I got lazy, when I let weakness seep in, when I made excuses - that I really benefited from Jocko’s work. I understood that there was no one else to blame but me. I had not worked hard enough. I failed to have a tough conversation with the employee. I had not taken Extreme Ownership. But I learned my lessons and ensured these situations did not happen again.
To be clear, Jocko does not present his ideas as new discoveries. He acknowledges that he had his own mentors who helped him grow and understand the importance of discipline, humility and accountability. It is his way of delivering these ideas which I find so appealing: clear, concise and hard-hitting.
And his work is not just aimed at adults and leaders.
Jocko has an ongoing children’s fiction series, the Warrior Kid books. These books challenge young readers to understand the importance of accountability, compassion and the value of hard work. If you were a passenger in my car when I took the kids to school or judo practice, you would likely marvel at me being able to perfectly lip-sync all 30+ episodes of the Warrior Kid podcast.
The way the kids relate to the Warrior Kid stories often reminds me of how I felt about growing up with the Harry Potter books. For many years Harry and I were of the same age as J.K. Rowling and my parents had timed my birth so perfectly to coincide with Harry’s publication. My kids are now experiencing this sense of a fictional (or not?) character growing up alongside them and learning lessons from him and with him. And since those lessons are the foundation of what it means to be a good person and an asset to your community, I benefit as much from them as the kids do.
A lot of the impact that Jocko has both on my kids as well as on myself is due to him being simply an inspirational leader and human being. He takes ownership of the mistakes that he has made. He crystalises the lessons learned from these and how he applies them to his life and work. He is a hard worker but makes time for friends and family. He is demanding of the people that work with him but shows empathy and a real interest in them at the same time. Jocko embraces life’s dichotomies and through that, he stays on the path of becoming the best version of himself. This is hugely inspiring to me and my children.
Just over two years ago, I stepped into the position of CEO for the company that I have been with for 15 years. Ever since then I have been meaning to bring Jocko’s work more into my organisation. However, Jocko’s leadership books are heavily influenced by his experiences in the military. Granted that Jocko is clear on the universal value of his work, his language might be offensive to my colleagues working in the care sector.
But shying away from translating Jocko’s lessons, which have truly permeated my entire life, seems inauthentic and purposeless. This is my work now.
Starting this blog serves two purposes.
Study, internalise and translate Jocko’s work for the sector that I am in.
This blog lets me embrace Jocko’s ultimate lesson: engage in conversations, write down your thought processes and learnings and through this, find people who share your interests and move forwards together.
Taking stock of the progress I have made personally and professionally over the past five years, I am certain that I would not be where I am without my mentor, Jocko Willink.
Without an objective, the objective will not be reached.
Without a goal, the goal will not be achieved.
Without a standard, the standard will not be met.
Without a mission, the mission cannot be accomplished.
Without an ideal, the ideal will never be realised.
Without a clear path, The Path cannot be followed.
