Leadership Is Overrated

The Art of Manliness

When an organization wants to get more productive and better reach its goals, it typically looks to retool its leadership, trying to find lone figures who can apply more effective top-down control. But my guest says there’s a much more effective strategy for getting things done: creating and empowering teams of self-starters.

Kyle Buckett is a retired Navy SEAL, an executive consultant, and the co-author of
Leadership Is Overrated: How the Navy SEALs (and Successful Businesses) Create Self-Leading Teams That Win. Today on the show, Kyle first unpacks the problems with the conventional model of leadership. He then explains what the self-led team-oriented model looks like and some of the ways to create effective self-led teams, including “killing the leader” and establishing a ritual-laden culture. We also talk about the role a leader can still play in an organization. Along the way, Kyle shares stories both from history and his experience as a SEAL that illustrate why self-led teams are so effective at getting things done.

Resources Related to the Podcast

• Belgian Antarctic Expedition
• AoM Article: What the Race to the South Pole Can Teach You About How to Achieve Your Goals
• AoM Podcast #695: Sisu, the Finnish Art of Strength
• AoM Article: Got Sisu? Essential Guerrilla Tactics from the Finnish Winter War

Connect With Kyle Buckett

• Culture Force/Leadership Is Overrated Website