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.

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 require skill, awareness, understanding and dexterity; all attributes that can be honed. This is essential reading for anyone looking to lead and win.

About the Author

Jocko Willink and Leif Babin served as U.S. Navy SEAL officers in the toughest urban combat mission in the history of the SEAL teams. Their unit remains the most highly decorated special operations unit in the Iraq war. After returning, Babin and Willink built advanced Navy SEAL leadership training for the next generation of SEALs. With lessons learned from the battlefield they formed Echelon Front, a leadership training company, that teaches others to build and lead their own winning teams. Their book, Extreme Ownership, is a New York Times bestseller.