Lessons from a Navy SEAL Part 4 of 4: Not Crossing the Line
July 3, 2009 by dr. lam · 7 Comments
Luttrell discussed the circumstances behind what he thought led to the ultimate demise of his team during Operation Redwing. After a grueling hike that involved days of hugging the side of a steep and cragged mountainside, staying low enough to hide themselves from the obvious silhouette of just walking along the top of the mountain, Luttrell and his SEAL team were attacked by a boy and a man with knives. Disarming both of them, Luttrell was faced with the decision whether to execute both of them on the spot to prevent them from informing on their location but decided against doing this because of the moral implications and legal ramifications. He said that a twelve year old boy would kill you faster than you could blink in the Middle East but that he just could not kill him in cold blood. That decision most likely cost his team their life because shortly thereafter they were ambushed by hundreds of Taliban who were most likely alerted to their whereabouts by these two nomads.
Many times in our life we are faced with the decision whether to fight dirty, to return a negative volley with a negative one, knowing full well that our decision not to do so will lead to our demise. But we know what the right decision is in our hearts. I think we need to stay within our moral compass despite opportunities to stray outside for our own personal and/or professional satisfaction. Take the high road no matter what the circumstances should present.
Lessons from a Navy SEAL Part 3 of 4: Quit Once, Quit Again
July 2, 2009 by dr. lam · 9 Comments
As part of Luttrell’s description of his BUD/S training (see yesterday’s blog if you missed it), he said he would absorb the energy and spirit of the member who quit the training. In other words, when someone just couldn’t hack it, it was more proof that the surviving training team was that much better than the guy who just left. Luttrell recounts the story of one guy who quit BUD/S, then a couple of years later Luttrell saw him on an actual SEAL team. He queried, “Didn’t you quit the team when I was training?” The man responds, “Yes, at the time I quit, but I made it through the next time.” Luttrell and his teammates believe that once someone quits, he is always labeled a quitter. The reason Luttrell says that his SEAL team members believe regards the idea, “How can I trust this guy not to quit again when my life is on the line?” or “I bet the second time that this guy went through BUD/S he had an easier instructor.”
The point that Luttrell is offering is that if someone on your team has proven to be unreliable, they will most likely let you down again. Trust and reliability are critical components to any relationship, personal and/or professional. Failure once bespeaks a failure in character that will most likely show up again. This hard-nosed SEAL perspective may serve well in our personal and business dealings. Perhaps it is too hard-nosed, but it serves as an iron-willed standard to which we can aspire.
Lessons from a Navy SEAL Part 2 of 4: The Weakest Link
July 1, 2009 by dr. lam · 5 Comments
Luttrell continued his story by talking about his selection process to become a Navy SEAL, a torturous journey known as “BUD/S” (Basic Underwater Demotion/SEAL). The inhuman tactics to which these men were subjected were painstakingly detailed by Luttrell during his speech. He talked about men who had to stay for hours in arctic chill of ocean water, running miles on end, having no sleep, verbally abused, continuing their training despite broken bones.
The thing that struck home for me was his idea that the reason for this much torture was to weed out the weak. He said that when someone failed, the team would go out and beat him up. The second time the infraction occurred the guy was out of the training and sent home. I thought about this from a business standpoint, and I have had to make hard decisions about my team when it comes to the weakest link, letting go people that just did not have the acumen, work ethic, culture, and personality to fit my organization. I am not Donald Trump and never like letting someone go, but I realized that over and over again the individual in question was destroying the organization’s morale and credibility. Luttrell says that the weakest link in a team will oftentimes get the team killed. I believe that is true for almost any organization. That may be a hard statement but it is actually quite truthful in my experience.
When I was in residency, we always had The A Team and The B Team. I remember having some residents that I was frightened to be on-call with, not for my sake but for the patients’ sake. I have made it a point to cull the best talent and keep that talent so that every player is an A Team, is reliable, and is talented. I like to use the example of hair restoration. I only have one team to do hair because quality varies too much when there are rotating teams. Not every team member actually makes it through our version of BUD/S. It takes a very special, dedicated, meticulous individual, who can withstand our SEAL team leader, Emina’s rigorous scrutiny. I think when we even select friends sometimes we have “dead weight”. Individuals who cripple our energy and spirit or who drive us toward something that we wouldn’t or shouldn’t do. We should streamline everything in life so that we have no weakest links on any of our teams.
Lessons from a Navy SEAL Part 1 of 4: 4:30 means 4:15
June 30, 2009 by dr. lam · 14 Comments
A few months ago I attended a business symposium in Houston that featured ex-Navy SEAL, Marcus Luttrell, and I thought, “What is a Navy SEAL doing here at this conference?” That is what Luttrell pondered as well, as he said, “I don’t know why I’m here.” After his hour and a half “lecture”, which was really a story of his life, there was no question. He was the most inspiring, mesmerizing speaker of the entire weekend. He culminated his talk with an excruciating recounting of how he was the only survivor in Afghanistan where his entire SEAL team was killed in front of him in his search for Osama’s right-hand man, Ahmad Shah, the story of which was documented in his New York Times bestseller, Lone Survivor. He talked of how he was riddled through his legs with 11 bullets through-and-through, bit his tongue half off, had his back shot through, interrogated (read tortured) by the Taliban in a small Afghani village, how he made hard decisions, and how he was eventually saved by merciful locals.
During his speech, I thought what lessons could I cull from this remarkable man who had such remarkable experiences that make my meager existence pale in comparison. I wanted to take some key lessons of his life and see if I could put my own personal spin on them to help my readership. So that is what I am doing here.
He started his talk with how he grew up in a small Texas town of Huntsville and his father telling him, “Boy, before you take from this country, you better serve it first.” With that exhortation, Marcus and his brother decided to become Navy SEALS. He had not even heard what that was exactly, but he knew he wanted to do it. He trained with this ex-Green Beret, Billy Shelton, from the Vietnam era who had that always “crazy look in his eyes.” Marcus said that when he walked up to his door the first time he interrupted the man’s dinner and was so petrified he couldn’t remember why he was even there. Shelton told Marcus, “If you want to train with me, we start tomorrow at 04:30.” Marcus sheepishly showed up precisely at 4:30 am the next morning to begin his pre-military exercises. Shelton responded, “Boy, you are late. When I say 04:30, I mean 04:15. 04:30 is when we roll not when you arrive. Don’t let that happen again.”
I thought that was a great piece of wisdom. When I was undergoing moderator training for my EO forum group, I was told not to get there at 3:30 pm when we would start our meeting. That means at 3:30 pm, I’m still flustered by just arriving. I’m trying to open all of my papers to start figuring out the agenda. I am not really ready until 3:35 or 3:40 pm. Instead, I try to arrive 10 to 20 minutes in advance so that I am ready to roll at the appointed time. I think when we have an important meeting, we should consider getting there a few minutes early to prepare for the meeting so that we are ready to roll both psychologically and emotionally at the appointed time.