“Good leaders don’t make excuses. Instead, they figure out a way to get things done.”

Jocko Willink

A very wise person once told me, “there is only one way to point a finger.  You extend your hand, point your finger out, and then you turn your hand around and point it at yourself.  If you are going to point a finger at someone that is the only acceptable way to do it.”  

Successful leaders must have this trait of personal ownership and discipline.  If they don’t, they will not achieve the level of impact that God created within them.  The gifts that you have been given will be unrealized.  The opportunity to serve and give to others through the influence of your leadership will be diminished.  

We all have hundreds of opportunities to demonstrate this type of leadership every single day.  It starts with personal accountability and discipline.  If you expect something.  Do it.  Don’t whine about it.  Don’t complain.  Don’t say, “that’s not my job.”  No one cares to hear that.  No one wants to be around that person.  You don’t want to be around that person.

Will you fail at this?  Yes.  I fail daily.  But failure is an opportunity to learn, to get better, to pick yourself up and do it harder, faster, with more vigor the next time.   Over,  Under.  Around or through.  Whatever it takes to get the job done.  That is the attitude that a person with extreme ownership embodies.  There are no excuses.   

If you haven’t read Extreme Ownership  by Jocko Willink then you owe it to yourself to find a way to add it to the top of your reading queue.  As the title suggests it is all about ownership and accountability.  You are responsible and accountable.  No one else is.  Period.  End of story.