Above the Line: Lessons in Leadership and Life from a Championship Season

There is a theory about human behavior called the 10-80-10 principle. I speak of it often when I talk to corporate groups or business leaders. It is the best strategy I know for getting the most out of your team. Think of your team or your organization as a big circle. At the very center of it, the nucleus, are the top 10 percenters, people who give all they've got all the time, who are the essence of self-discipline, self-respect, and the relentless persuit of improvement. They are the elite- the most powerful component of any organization. They are the people I love to coach. Outside the nucleus are the 80 percenters. They are the majority- people who go to work, do a good job, and are relatively reliable. The 80 percenters are for the most part trustworthy and dutiful, but they simply don't have the drive and the unbending will that the nucleus guys do. They just don't burn as hot. The final 10 percenters are uninterested or defiant. They are on the periphery, mostly just coasting through life, not caring about reaching their potential or honoring the gifts they've been given. They are coach killers. The leadership challenge is to move as many of the 80 percenters into the nucleus as you can.

Giving up on somebody takes nothing. Helping them change takes a tremendous amount of time, energy, discipline, and love. In the end, it's worth it.

Relentless effort (not talent or intelligence) is the key to achieving great things in your life. Struggle is part of the process. It is hard and often painful. But it’s also necessary, because it’s in the struggle that great things are achieved.

We teach our players, in response to any situation they face, to press pause and ask: What does this situation require of me? Pressing pause gives you time to think. It gets you off autopilot and helps you gain clarity about the outcome you are pursuing, the situation you are experiencing, and the Above the Line action you need to take to achieve the outcome. There are two important benefits of pressing pause: A) It helps you avoid doing something foolish or harmful B) It focuses you on acting with purpose to accomplish your goals A productive pause could last only a split second, which helps you regain your focus and take control of your action. It could last an hour, a day, or longer. The purpose is to take the time necessary to be intentional about the way you think and act. Pressing pause does not come naturally; it is a skill that must be developed. The more you practice, the more skilled you become at being able to identify how and when to use it effectively.

The true soldier fights not because he hates what is in front of him, but because he loves what is behind him.

A leader is someone who inspires and empowers people to get to places that they wouldn’t be able to reach otherwise, sure, but you also need to have people who are willing to be led. You

I’ve come to learn that leadership is not automatically granted to you because of your position or your salary or the size of your office. Leadership is influence based on trust that you have earned. A leader is not someone who declares what he wants and then gets angry when he doesn’t get it. A true leader is someone who is going someplace and taking people with him, a catalyst for elite performance who enables people to achieve things they wouldn’t achieve on their own. A leader is someone who earns trust, sets a clear standard, and then equips and inspires people to meet that standard.

Now I understand. Average leaders have quotes. Good leaders have a plan. Exceptional leaders have a system.

Elite performers win in their minds first. The mind is a battleground where the greatest struggle takes place. The thoughts that win the battle for your mind will direct your life. Mental state affects physical performance. The mind constantly sends messages to the body, and the body listens and responds. Therefore, elite warriors train their minds to focus and think in a way that maximizes how they practice and how they perform in competition. Getting your mind right means managing two things: A) What you focus on. B) How you talk to yourself. If you focus on negative things and talk to yourself in negative ways, that will put you into a negative mindset. Your performance will suffer. If you focus on productive things and talk to yourself in productive ways, that will put you into a productive mindset. Your performance will be enhanced. We teach our players to replace low-performance self-talk with high-performance self-talk. We tell our players, “The voice in your mind is a powerful force. Take ownership of that force.

It isn't hard to find people who are caught up in Below the Line behavior. All you need to do is look for those whose first reaction is to blame (others), complain (about circumstances), and defend (yourself), or BCD.

time is a nonrenewable resource. If you waste it, you never get it back, so it’s essential to pick your battles wisely.

Prologue: Above the Line Playbook Leadership isn’t a difference maker. It is the difference maker. Leadership is much more than simply declaring what you want and then getting angry if you don’t get it. A leader is someone who earns trust, sets a clear standard, and then equips and inspires people to meet that standard. Be true to who you are. Talk straight and demand accountability. Run toward problems. If you ignore them, they only get worse. Work to get better every day. Staying the same gets you nowhere. Savor the journey. Every day. You only get to do it once.

Think hard. Be as specific as possible. Ask yourself: “Exactly what is it that I am after every day?” If you are Federal Express, your clarity of purpose is get it there. If you are Disney, it is make people happy. If you are the Ohio State

Average leaders have quotes. Good leaders have a plan. Exceptional leaders have a system.

Nothing encourages an athlete more than making plays and having success in practice. Small victories can play a major role when you have a player who is dealing with the stress of change or even some other issue. Do whatever you can to reinforce someone’s confidence by helping him achieve small victories. So much of leadership comes down to knowing the people you are leading and providing them with what they need to succeed. It is also about making them confident to take risks and make changes.

They encouraged each other as they suffered through ridiculously hard workouts. They pushed each other. They coached each other. They made each other better.

You do not make it through SEAL training without the support and encouragement of the guys around you. It is in the crucible of training that the bond—the uncommon commitment—of the SEAL brotherhood is built.

Our unit leaders pulled their guys in close with last-minute notes about what to expect and words of encouragement.

It seems to me that solitude is the very essence of leadership. The position of the leader is ultimately an intensely solitary, even intensely lonely, one. However many people you may consult, you are the one who has to make the hard decisions. And at such moments, all you really have is yourself.

Whether you are working on a game plan or a business plan, there’s no doubt that being an effective leader requires independent thought. You need to think in order to have clarity of purpose, to understand what your priorities are, and what you need to do to help your players maximize their potential.

shot and a keen sense of the game. We used to play one-on-one to fifty. I’d dive for loose balls, throw elbows, draw charges. I’d come off

guys.” So rather than get angry when he doesn’t get the results he wants, he looks to the system. At what point did it break down? Trust too low? Purpose unclear? Lack of skills? Low accountability? Player mismanaged his response? Again, in the old days he got furious. Now, he gets