this year I took extreme ownership over every detail and mistake on of the
roofing company I was starting but instead of inspiring my employees they
just got entitled because of the because of this the business almost ran into the
ground in addition I got so worn down that my resolve almost collapsed in your
estimation what did I do wrong so this is an example I don't see this all the
time but I do see it sometimes and what we have here is you know clearly guy
steps up and says you know what I'm gonna take ownership I'm gonna take
extreme ownership which is what what I'm always encouraging people to do life and
I wrote the book we called the book extreme ownership
because that is the fundamental principle that we see is the common
trait that makes people successful when they're taking ownership instead of
blaming other people so that's what this guy did with the roofing company I'm
gonna take ownership of all the mistakes now the problem there is with the the
concept of extreme ownership it means taking ownership of the mistakes taking
ownership of the problems but it doesn't stop there
that is simply where you start because the real true ownership that you need to
take is you need to take extreme ownership of the solutions of
implementing the solutions of creating and implementing the solutions that's
what you need to take ownership of so in a situation like this like for instance
oh I took ownership of everything so my team became entitled hmm now first of
all in in that statement in its own right if I say hey we failed cuz my team
became entitled what did I just do blame I blame them for becoming entitled why
did they become entitled I allowed them to what am I gonna do solve that I
either have to change the way I'm treating them maybe there's a couple
cancers in there that have that attitude and I need to fire those people or
replace them or get them retrained or put some ownership on them so that they
realize oh okay oh I'm gonna get I'm gonna lose my job if we're working
fail this mission or the companies go out of business I don't do this right so
you got a that's the mistake there what do I so you've identified the problem
you taking ownership of it hey we hey we got to make sure we get our jobs done on
time okay boss well you didn't order the gear and time and you didn't do this and
now we're behind so it's not our fault and by the way pay me if that's the
attitude your employees have you got a problem as leader so what is the problem
how do you fix that problem the the the thing is about ownership is taking
ownership of the problem doesn't fix the problem mmm right it doesn't fix the
problem you still have to come up with the solution so that's what it is when
we talk about extreme ownership we're definitely not just talking about owning
the problems but like I said owning the solutions and owning the implementation
and actually carry to its to its furthest stretched to its farthest
outcome that's we have to take extreme ownership is love and this is the most
important part and obviously I need to make this clear enough because this
should be something that everyone fundamentally understands when they talk
about extreme ownership the the most important part for you to own as a
leader is the outcome is the end state if you are not meeting your end state
that's what you have to take ownership of that's what you have to make happen
hmm so that's it you know when your when your company's not doing the right thing
yeah you got to take ownership of the mistakes that happened you got people
you got employees that are acting wrong yeah hey it's my fault that they're
acting wrong you got deadlines that you're missing yes it's my fault that we
missed the deadlines now you got to go back and ask yourself the question how
do I make the deadlines how do I fix those employees you've got to solve
those problems that are out there otherwise extreme ownership doesn't do
anything for you and we've talked about this before as well and that is that X
taking ownership of things is not a it's not a shelter right it's not it doesn't
provide shelter yeah it doesn't it and some people think it does they go hey
you know what hey we missed uh we missed we failed on our mission it's my fault
okay so you know let's move on no no actually no we don't move on you failed
in your mission how you gonna fix it extreme ownership does not does not give
you any mercy whatsoever that's what's hard about it and by the way the thing
that lifting that extreme ownership that makes it hard is because the the
previous question in attacks your ego because when you say hey guys this is my
fault you're not just saying hey guys this is my fault let's move on you're
saying this is truly my fault we failed because of me and these are the things
we're gonna do fix it and I'm gonna own it until we get it done yeah thing yeah
it kind of makes sense like it is one of those all-or-nothing things you know
we're extremely kids it's just funny how you put it you know where you're like I
did my extreme ownership the rest is up to you guys kind of thing you can't
really do that and this question is is a really good question and I appreciate
because you can see the guy that asked it he clearly is motivated wants to do
well but he he again my fault for not explaining this well enough he thought
that just taking ownership would solve the problem no you have to take
ownership and solve the problem yeah matter of fact the the taking ownership
part is the initial part that gets the rest of it happen and that's why we
emphasize it so much because most people they just don't take orderin I'm close
yeah this guy he's close he's taken ownership now he's got to realize okay I
took ownership I realized that it's my fault and again it's not just him saying
oh well it's much my company so it's my fault and so I hope this works out no I
don't hope anything you fix it you make it happen and I began I appreciate this
question cuz I could see in his earnest asking of the question like he's like
man what yeah what did I do wrong what did I do wrong here's what you did wrong
you know you you made the first step which is the hardest step that's the
positive here one of the most positive things about this guy is he's made the
hardest step which is okay this is my fault the follow-on
is what he missed now how do I fix it what do I do to implement it you got
lackadaisical entitled employees that is your fault so how do you fix them
because if your lackadaisical and entitled around me that means I'm doing
something wrong that means you don't understand the mission you don't
understand why we're doing what we're doing
you don't understand why it's important to meet the deadline on this roof so we
can move on to another one so that we can collect money to pay for our next
one there's all kinds of reasons that you can tell people why these things are
important and if you have people that you they know exactly why they're doing
what they're doing and they still aren't getting in the game you need to find
some more people to come and work for you some different people some people
with better attitudes and bring them on board with the right attitude you have
this some even to add to why this is such a good question is this is exactly
what people are scared of with the extreme ownership it's like dang if I
take extreme ownership over everything they're gonna take advantage or they're
gonna you know be entitled or whatever it's that I think I mean even thinking
about it that's what I'd be afraid of yeah I am afraid of you know and I will
tell you having done this my whole career when you take ownership of things
people don't there there's a small chance there's a couple knuckleheads
like these idiots that this guy has working for him that are entitled now I
shouldn't say that because he may have provided the environment to become like
he might have been the easy button and every time they say hey boss I can't fit
like a a boss I can't come in late today can you finish up that roof by yourself
and if he's like hey you know what I'm gonna take ownership this right he goes
okay I'm gonna take ownership don't worry about I got it now he does that
four days in a row he's worked 16-hour days he's starting
to get broken mentally and physically you ever done roofing before yeah yeah
that's hard work especially in the summertime when the Blazing Sun eat 14
16 hours a day I had to do I pulled a chimney off my little chimney off my
roof one time I thought I was me I'll just patch the roof no I had to stripped
like a third of my roof on my house and then I'm up there we got rain storms
coming I'm up there okay I got a roof this whole thing in the next one I was
in 18 hours get some yeah so roofing is hard work yes and if if you don't take
that if you don't if you don't get these employees in the right mindset if
they're not part of the team if they're not on board
how are you gonna fix that if you and what I was gonna say is if you become
the easy button all the time then that allows them it fosters the attitude of
hey you know what uh yeah this is on Jocko he's the one that he's still got
to pay me like no actually here let me tell you how it really works you know
how I pay you regardless of what you do well eventually I don't pay you anything
because you don't work here and I don't have a business anymore so if that's
where you're at I don't want you here and I will do this myself and I'll
schedule my jobs appropriately so I can do it all myself if you want to get in
the game and be part of this team which you should then this is what I
need from you here's the expectations this is why
because next year this year we did 14 roofs next year I want to do double that
and that means I'm gonna get you a crew that's gonna work for you and you gonna
make bump your pay up a little bit I'm gonna get you moving along and get you
promoted maybe sometimes you'll have two or three teams working for you do you
want to do that or do you want to continue being the guy that's hauling
shingles all day are you in the game with me or not are you part of this gig
see so you got to get in their heads you got to get them out of that mindset and
into the right mindset so that you can dominate yeah I feel like that extreme
ownership kind of provides that to you know where if like how you've always
said if you're like blaming them overtly blaming them they're like oh this is
gonna not on my team they have that feeling but if they're like if he's
taking the response to its like oh dang this guy is kind of on my team yeah I do
want to do all that classic classic exaggerated classic example if I
approach you and I'm like echo dude you're just entitled you're entitled you
don't have a good attitude what attitude do you have now yeah what what attitude
you have now now you're like oh what are you talking about I'm entitled
Luise I'm entitled yeah you're damn right I'm entitled because look at what
I've been doing I've been no whereas if I if I take a different approach with
you and say man look I think you got a lot of potential you know I think you
got a lot of know you got a lot of things going on at home and I know you
got that girlfriend and I know you're doing this and that but you know what I
think you got some potential here let me tell you what its gonna lead you know I
know you don't want to be carrying shingles whereas your life and on your
knees smack and nails right but maybe you could be running a crew and this is
how I want to grow do you kind of want to get in the game with me because I
think you might that's all it takes you understand me
yes good question thanks and good luck with that company