Leadership Lessons From a SEAL

"I'm a big believer in stretch goals—you have to push yourself way outside your comfort zone," says former Navy SEAL and Leadership Under Fire instructor Rob Roy. "If a person does 50 push-ups, we know he can do more." When benchmarking for success at your company, don't be afraid to set high goals for your employees. You're not looking to drive them nuts—but you'll quickly find out who the true performers are.

In combat, decisions must be made in milliseconds. In business, that can be true as well. "That phone ringing—that's the bomb," says Roy. "What do you do?" As a leader, you'll need to remain cool even if everything around you is crumbling. Your employees will be looking to you to understand how they should react to the situation, and by staying in control, you instruct them to remain calm too.

"Leaders usually fire their gun less," says Lucas A. Skoczkowski, CEO of Redknee Solutions Inc., who went through the 2008 Leadership Under Fire program. "More often they step back and assess the whole situation so they can give more appropriate commands to their unit." Leaders need to make decisions quickly, but also must make sure they understand the context of the situation.

Don't be afraid to show your employees that you're willing to get your hands dirty right there next to them. "If you got a guy in your company who's down range, does he believe you're going to be there to protect him?" ask Roy. By aligning yourself with your employees' missions, you'll earn the respect of your team, and they'll be more likely to support you, too, in the future.

Strong team bonds can be the true motivational engine at any organization, says Rob. "If you get to 36 hours without sleep, every muscle in your body is telling you not to do anything—it's the motivation of your teammates that get you up," he says.

"You have to understand what your people are going to do and what they expect you to do," says Roy. Always stay one step ahead of the game. In the end, you're always going to have to "own your decisions."

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/inc/headlines/~3/y90fXViA030/leadership-lessons-ex-navy-seal

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