Leading up and down the chain of command

One of the most common misunderstanding about leadership out there is that you only lead those under you. The concept of extreme ownership implies extreme responsibility for everything in your life. We have already covered what this means in several aspects but today were going to explore a way more obscure concept. Leading up and down the chain of command. Leading down the chain of command is fairly straight forward it means leading those under you. But leading up the chain of command is not.

So, How do we lead those above us? The same way we lead those below us, by showing our clear goals and giving correct and frequent information. But if it was a fine line for leading down the chain of command the line leading up is absolutely miniscule. It’s the fine art of people judging skills. Is right now the best time to tell your commander your goal for what your doing? Its pretty straight forward when you go back to the principles of it. Do not outsmart your common sense. If your thinking now is not the time to inform your leader of your 5 year plan. You are probably right.

Be really careful here because if you mess up here, you really do have a lot of back tracking to do. But if you do it right you will automatically become an amazing subordinate. Because when it ceases to be about who is in charge of who and becomes a team to achieve a common goal. Things get done. But in order to bring that system about you need to be a good subordinate respecting authority whether it you feel like it or not. It does not matter if the leader in charge of you is being a good leader or not.

But before judging those in front of you look at your own life. Are you being the best leader you can be? When dealing with a unruly subordinate check yourself out. Are you being the best you can be? Always remember to look at you first and foremost. And once your set, once you’re perfect then go ahead and address your leader about there issues. In case your wondering, you will never be perfect this side of heaven so just stick with fixing you. If we truly apply the concept of extreme ownership, then the problems we face our in some way shape or form our fault. So, work your butt of to be the best subordinate possible. Hard work always pays off, doesn’t matter when it always does.