Military Leadership

Learn practical leadership tools used by elite members of the special operations community to boost performance in school, work, and home, guided by humility and a focus on results.

In military leadership, leaders aren't born, they're made through daily practice, mastering basics, and maintenance; they plan, communicate, build systems, mentor, delegate, and orchestrate leadership skills.

Explore ten principles of military leadership, from avoiding micromanagement and embracing the commander's intent to deliberate planning, back brief, and the team-first mindset for civilian organizations.

Explore the five characteristics of bad leaders: character flaws, incompetence, dishonesty, shirking responsibilities, and laziness.

Develop your leadership abilities through mentoring, deliberate practice, and experiential learning. Embrace time under pressure and go to the hardest schools to build character and competence.

Lead by example during special operations training, overdelivering and using available resources to strengthen team. Practice good followership, avoid kiss up and blue falcon behavior, and engage in peer evaluations.

Learn to build rapport in hostile environments by finding common ground, studying the tribe, matching dress and behavior, and using gifts, timing, and respectful actions to gain trust and cooperation.

Identify three worst leadership styles: leadership by email, leadership by pulling rank, and leadership by buzzwords and platitudes, and learn why face-to-face communication and genuine competence matter.

Master obedience and competence, anticipate needs, ask how you can help, and offer essential recommendations; use back briefs to ensure clarity, and refuse unethical orders to protect the team.

Learn how the law of armed conflict protects combatants and civilians, applies military necessity, humanity, honor, distinction, and proportionality, and offers practical guidance for soldiers to conduct disciplined, humane warfare.

Discover why leaders work themselves out of a job by training others to build sustainable systems from foreign internal defense to civilian and family contexts, achieving end states and self-sufficiency.

Train as you fight by integrating harder and smarter stress training and full dress rehearsals. Prepare at night, in a training uniform, and outside to ensure no fail event.

Set the conditions to gain the upper hand and avoid a fair fight in military planning and your career by night operations, artillery, close air support, and deliberate preparation.

Battle drills are trained, cue-triggered actions performed quickly and sequentially to save time; apply these rehearsed routines from react to contact to medevac to civilian life.

Learn how the pre-combat inspection, or PCI, ensures readiness by individual checks and team verification with checklists, packing lists, and emergency gear for missions.

Know your operational environment by identifying the priorities and norms of your location, then deliberately adapt your behavior, relationships, and leadership approach to leverage cultural nuances and achieve effectiveness.

Explore the rehearsal toolkit used by special operations to improve mission readiness, including mental, verbal, visual, and physical rehearsals with maps, sand tables, and contingency planning.

Build on the tools and foundations of leadership to develop a strategic mindset as a military leader. Apply what you’ve learned, seek growth, and inspire and empower others.