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47
LEADERSHIP LESSONS OF THE NAVY SEALS
who fervently opposed producing one of their products in an assortment of
colors. He was all about white. Jeff wanted color but he also wanted a half
dozen other things. Jeff stopped even bringing up color and gave it to him.
He concentrated on the other items that were more important.
Your job isn t to get everything your way. Your job is to recommend
the right action, keep the project moving in the right direction, and
come away with enough to keep it in line with the overall organization s
direction.
This is not to say that you shouldn t oppose strategies and operations
that you feel are wrong. Part of your job as leader is telling the emperor
that he has no clothes. But after you tell that to the emperor, if he still
wants to go naked, your marching orders are set. In any case, go in know-
ing what he prefers, ahead of time.
LESSON 14
PRIORITIZE LONG-TERM
OVER SHORT-TERM GOALS
THE MISSION
Suppose that, right now, there are a dozen terrorists in a particular region
of the world. They don t think we know where they are, but we do. If they
knew that we knew, they would all pull up stakes and move somewhere
else. And then we would have to spend months, maybe years, hunting
them down again.
If the long-term goal is to eliminate all 12 of the bad guys, then the key
to that goal is eliminating all of them at the same time. Because if you take
out just one, the others will flee. The solution is to create or wait for an
opportunity to remove all 12 bad guys simultaneously.
Under this hypothetical scenario, it would be tempting to take out
the first terrorist when the opportunity presents itself. Your team has no
doubt been waiting around for some time with nothing to show for it.
48
SETTING GOALS
Nothing could be worse than to sit and watch a terrorist wander around
in plain sight while you content yourself with surveillance. Nevertheless, in
this scenario, the short-term goal of taking out one terrorist would pre-
vent achieving the long-term solution.
When I was a task unit commander charged with carrying out smug-
gling-interdiction operations, our mission was to provide long-term inter-
ception and deterrence. For several weeks, my team worked long hours, 7
days a week. They quickly grew dangerously close to burning out. I con-
tacted the commodore in charge of theater operation and told him that
we were taking a break, and then would be cutting back on our work.
Why? he asked. Because the guys are getting tired, I answered. If they
stay tired, they ll get hurt. And then we ve lost our capability. I sacrificed
the goal of increasing our short-term effectiveness in order to increase our
long-range effectiveness.
THE TAKE-AWAY
Keep the long-term plans in mind. They re the foundation of your organ-
ization. At the same time, continue to reevaluate the continued relevance,
appropriateness, and wisdom of your long-term goals. Is providing qual-
ity furniture design still your long-term mission? If so, don t push out a
piece of junk in order to make an immediate sale with a low-end manu-
facturer. It will cost you in the long run. On the other hand, by continu-
ously focusing exclusively on long-term goals, you decrease your team s
ability to react to the market. Bear markets come around, and you may
have to design a low-end furniture line in order to survive to reach your
long-term goal. Just understand the ramifications to your long-term strat-
egy when you do so.
Jon was once on a mini-submarine training mission to attack a vessel
when the mini-submarine plowed into a coral head. The front of the mini-
submarine crumpled, and Jon s foot was smashed. The pilot beside him
was knocked hard against the control panel. The mini-submarine lost
its steering and trim capabilities. At that point, recovering the mini-
submarine and extracting it from the area took precedence over complet-
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LEADERSHIP LESSONS OF THE NAVY SEALS
ing the mission. The short-term goal of hitting the ship was no longer a
likely option. The long-term goal of maintaining an antiship capability was
retained.
LESSON 15
DON T WAIT FOR THE NO-RISK SOLUTION
THE MISSION
We were once asked to plan an assault on a hijacked vessel in which sev-
eral dozen passengers were being held hostage. Assaulting the vessel would
mean coming at bad guys who were hiding behind steel, while we were out
in the open. It would mean finding our way around a maze of unfamiliar
corridors, all probably unlit, while someone was firing at us. It would mean
trying to distinguish between terrorist and hostage in between shots com-
ing back at us.
It is not possible to plan a completely risk-free operation. There are
too many unknowns. Too many variables. Too many bad guys. Too
much bad weather. It can t be done at least, not in commando opera-
tions. And politicians who demand risk-free operations are from a
different planet.
In addition, while you re looking for the nonexistent risk-free pro-
gram, the clock is ticking. SEALs have drop-dead times. This means that
after a certain point, the operation can no longer be conducted. The mis-
sion is dead. Perhaps the full moon will have come up, putting too much
light on the infiltration route. Or there is not enough time to get out
before the sun comes up. Or the insertion helicopter does not have enough
time to fly around the surface-to-air missile batteries. Or the hostages have
been murdered.
The key, therefore, is to produce the best solution in the time you have
available. Suppose you have 3 hours to plan an assault on a vessel before the
vessel steams out of range. Perhaps the best solution would take 6 hours
50
SETTING GOALS
to plan. Can you come up with a second-best, workable, acceptable plan in
the 3 hours you have left? (Or, rather, the 2 hours and 59 minutes that you
now have left.)
There s a lot of pressure to come up with a risk-free solution. After
all, this is your team. These are your guys lives. But if you wait too long,
you may miss the opportunity altogether. It s too late the target vessel is
out of range. And it s possible that a plan with less risk than the one you
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