Pathway Prep

No Bad Students. Only Bad Teachers.

By Alex Pint

 Jocko Willink and Leif Babin want you to be a better leader. During training and combat as Navy SEALs, both saw what separated the strong from the weak. After their deployment, they decided to apply those battlefield principles in the business arena. 

Extreme Ownership: How U.S. Navy SEALs Lead and Win is Jocko and Leif’s book about what they learned.

Their principles lie on the foundation of Extreme Ownership. Extreme Ownership is about taking responsibility for results, regardless of external circumstances.

Are your employees resisting a new policy change? It’s your responsibility to emphasize what the new policy is and why it matters.

Is your team losing games? It’s your responsibility to set high standards through your performance and effort.

Are you frustrated by a decision your boss made? It’s your responsibility to understand why the decision is being made and how you can best support it.

Extreme Ownership shifts the locus of control. We no longer feel powerless in the hands of a random and arbitrary universe.  When adversity is out of our control, we can focus on our response to the situation. We are now empowered and can use that power to fight back. Instead of blaming the ACT for being unfair, we can take responsibility and get better. What an important shift in perspective that can be.

NO BAD TEAMS. ONLY BAD LEADERS.

Leif recalled a team-based rafting competition during the infamous Navy SEAL hell week. 6 teams of 6 trainees were already at the brink of exhaustion and sleep deprivation. The instructors then gave an incessant set of exercises. Take your raft out past that buoy. Row back and run the raft up this dune. Your team better not be last because you’ll have to do it again. If you’re first, you get a few minutes of rest before the next race begins.

Two teams seemed to be opposites. Team 2 was placing first or second in every race. They were working well together and bringing the best out in each other. In contrast, Team 6 was last or next-to-last in every race. They were performing at a low level and falling further and further behind. As one could expect, the two leaders were also opposites. The Team 2 leader was positive and empowering; the Team 6 leader was negative and uninspiring.

The SEAL instructors decided to experiment: swap the leaders from Teams 2 and 6. The decision frustrated the Team 2 leader – it appeared illogical and unfair. Even so, he overcame his initial reaction and accepted the challenge. In contrast, the change in circumstances thrilled the Team 6 leader. He believed that Team 6’s poor performance was due to his teammates. He’d been unlucky to be stuck with such a sorry group. Now his luck had changed and he would ascend to much-deserved glory.

During the next exercise, Leif and the SEAL instructors couldn’t believe their eyes. Team 6 didn’t merely improve their position; they beat Team 2 in a neck-to-neck finish. Team 6 had gone from worst to first. Team 2, though still performing well, had lost their edge. The Team 2 leader was so exceptional that he turned Team 6 around in one race. And even after he left Team 2, the habits he had imparted remained strong.  The conclusion was undeniable: there are no bad teams, only bad leaders.

NO BAD STUDENTS. ONLY BAD TEACHERS.

This was a little jarring to me at first as a tutor and prep coach.

The prep process almost always works. Almost. When it doesn’t work, I want to classify those students as bad and move on. Let’s instead focus on the positive results from the many good students! But Extreme Ownership makes it clear that, in my world, there are no bad students, only bad teachers. No student wants to be a poor performer. Everyone wants to get better. If students aren’t getting better, that’s on me.

I don’t like to think of myself as a bad teacher, but this shift in perspective reveals so much I can do better.

Maybe the distracted student who didn’t take notes needed clear prompts on what to write down.

Maybe the bitter student who thought the process a waste of time needed reminders on scholarships waiting around the corner.

Maybe the lazy student who hated the practice tests needed to learn why testing is superior to memorization.

Maybe the overwhelmed student needed clear priorities on where to begin.

And maybe the impressionable student who sees me take Ownership will do the same.

No excuses. Only responsibility.