War is hell
but war is also an incredible teacher
a brutal teacher
and it teaches you lessons
that you will not forget
During an operation that I was in charge of
when all hell broke loose
we had
multiple units out on the battlefield fighting the enemy
We had friendly Iraqi soldiers
We had
US Army Soldiers and US Marines along with small elements of my Seal team
and then the fog of war rolled in
with its confusion and chaos and mayhem
and with its gunfire
and enemy attacks
and screaming men, and blood, and death
and in that fog of war
through a series of mistakes
and human error and poor judgement and Murphy's law
and just plain bad luck
a horrendous firefight broke out
but this firefight
it wasn't between us and the enemy.
This firefight tragically
was between us
and us
friendly forces against friendly forces, fratricide
the mortal scene of combat
and the most horrific part of war
and when it was over
and the fog of war lifted
one friendly Iraqi soldier was dead
two more were wounded
One of my men was wounded
the rest of my seals were badly shaken
and it was only through a miracle that no one else was killed
and then I told them that there was only one person at fault
for what had happened. There was only one person to blame
and that person was me.
I am the commander
I am the senior man on the battlefield
and I am responsible for everything that happens
everything
and I will tell you something: it hurt
it hurt my ego, it hurt my pride to take the blame.
but I also knew
I knew that to maintain my integrity as a leader
and as a man
I had to take responsibility and in order to do that
I had to control my ego so that my ego did not control me
and when a team takes ownership of its problems
the problems get solved
and that is true
on the battlefield
it is true in business and it is true in life
so I say
take ownership, take extreme ownership
don't make excuses, don't blame any other person or any other thing
take control of your ego
don't hide your delicate pride from the truth
take ownership of everything in your world, the good and the bad
take ownership of your mistakes, take ownership of your shortfalls, take ownership of your problems
and then take ownership of the solutions that will get those problems solved.
take ownership
of your mission
take ownership of your job
of your team
of your future
and take ownership of your life