âIn order to convince and inspire others to follow and accomplish a mission, a leader must be a true believer in the mission.â â Jocko Willink
This chapter addresses one of the most challenging aspects of SEAL operations in Ramadi: working alongside Iraqi soldiers. Many American troops were skeptical or outright resistant to partnering with Iraqi forces. The Iraqi soldiers were seen as unreliable, poorly trained, and potentially infiltrated by the enemy. Some SEALs questioned why they were risking their lives to train and fight alongside forces they did not trust.
When the order came down that all SEAL operations in Ramadi would include Iraqi soldiers as partners, the resistance was fierce. SEAL operators protested. They argued that Iraqi soldiers would compromise their operations, slow them down, and put American lives at risk. Some pointed to incidents where Iraqi soldiers had fled under fire or, worse, turned their weapons on coalition forces.
Jocko faced a critical leadership moment. He could have passed along the order with a shrug, saying âI donât agree with it either, but orders are orders.â But he knew that approach would guarantee failure. If the leader did not believe in the mission, the team would never execute it effectively.
Before a leader can convince their team to follow, they must first convince themselves. This does not mean blind obedience. It means that the leader must ask questions up the chain of command until they understand the âwhyâ behind every mission. Once the leader genuinely understands and believes in the strategic purpose, they can communicate that belief with conviction.
Jocko went to his commanding officer and asked blunt questions about the partnering strategy. He learned that the long-term mission in Iraq required Iraqi forces to eventually take over security operations. If American forces did everything themselves, Iraq would never stabilize. The only path to lasting success was building Iraqi capability, and that required working alongside them in combat.
Once Jocko understood this strategic imperative, he genuinely believed in it. He went back to his SEALs and explained the âwhyâ with total conviction. He did not say âheadquarters wants us to do this.â He said âthis is the only way we win the war.â His belief was contagious. The SEALs stopped resisting and started figuring out how to make the partnership work.
When a leader passes along a directive they clearly donât believe in, the team senses it immediately. Humans are remarkably skilled at detecting insincerity. A leader who says the right words but conveys doubt through their tone, body language, or level of effort will undermine the mission more effectively than outright opposition.
The most dangerous scenario is a leader who publicly complies but privately undermines. This creates confusion, divided loyalties, and half-hearted execution. If a leader truly cannot believe in a mission after seeking to understand it, they have a duty to push back through the chain of command or, if necessary, to step aside. What they must never do is pretend to support something they actively work against.
Leif describes a business scenario where a companyâs CEO rolled out a major strategic shift. One vice president disagreed with the new direction and made his disagreement known to his team. He told his direct reports, âI donât agree with this strategy, but weâve been told to execute it.â The result was predictable: his entire division dragged its feet, resisted the changes, and underperformed.
When Leif coached the VP, he challenged him to go back to the CEO and ask questions until he understood the reasoning behind the strategy. The VP discovered that the CEO had access to market data and competitive intelligence that the VP had not seen. Once the VP understood the full picture, his perspective shifted. He went back to his team and explained the âwhyâ with genuine conviction. His divisionâs performance immediately improved.
Belief flows in a chain from the highest levels of leadership down to the frontline operators. If any link in that chain breaks â if any leader fails to truly believe and communicate that belief â the entire chain fails. This is why it is so critical for leaders at every level to seek understanding, achieve genuine buy-in, and then communicate with conviction.
Senior leadership must explain the âwhyâ to their direct reports. Those leaders must internalize it and explain it to their teams. This continues all the way down to the person on the front line who must execute the mission. If the person pulling the trigger or making the sales call doesnât understand why theyâre doing what theyâre doing, the mission will fail. Every leader in the chain is responsible for ensuring belief flows through to the next level.