The Dichotomy of Leadership

Every leader must be ready and willing to take charge, to make hard, crucial calls for the good of the team and the mission. Something much more difficult to understand is that, in order to be a good leader, one must also be a good follower. This is a dichotomy; a Dichotomy of Leadership. It is, as authors Jocko Willink and Leif Babin wrote in their bestselling first book Extreme Ownership, “Simple, Not Easy.” Now, in The Dichotomy of Leadership, the authors explain the power inherent in the recognition of the fine line that leaders must walk, balancing between two seemingly opposite inclinations. It is with the knowledge and understanding of this balance that a leader can most effectively lead, accomplish the mission and achieve the goal of every leader and every team: Victory. Using examples from the authors' combat and training experience in the SEAL Teams and then showing how each lesson applies to business and in life, Willink and Babin reveal how the use of seemingly opposite principles - leading and following, focusing and detaching, being both aggressive and prudent - require skill, awareness, understanding and dexterity; all attributes that can be honed. These dichotomies are inherent in many of the concepts introduced in Extreme Ownership, and integral to their proper implementation and effectiveness. Dichotomy is essential reading for anyone looking to lead and win.