This is a summary of the book titled “The Wisdom of the BullFrog” – Leadership made simple (But Not Easy) written by Admiral William H.McRaven Grand Central, 2023. He is a former Navy SEAL and Commander of the US Special Operations Forces. He has served as the Chancellor of the University of Texas System. In his book, he keeps account of all the personal anecdotes that helped him to become “the Bull Frog”, the Navy’s longest tenured active-duty frogman and SEAL.

He believes admirable leaders demonstrate essential character traits, attitudes, and habits. Good communication, detailed planning, and a code of honorable conduct are obvious but hard to keep up. He suggests aspiring and incumbent leaders to be honest and fair in all their activities. To point out the opposite, he cites that unscrupulous people may achieve great material success, but their moral shortcomings often undermine their accomplishments.

Cultivating trust is a long-term project but it endears a committed following. Developing solid plans and keeping your promises are some of the ways to earn trust but showing that you care about them and value their contributions are a few others. Sailors in the Navy respect officers who lend a hand in the 120 degree boiler room, acknowledge their efforts and listen to them.  

Good communication is essential up and down the chain of command. He brings an example from his experience where he was prolific about his vision for his teams’ values and goals as well as his intent. Communication is not only about the narrative but about listening to those addressed. By gathering feedback, grievances and just paying attention to interests, a leader can get a pulse on his team. Walkarounds, inspecting the facilities, and talking with soldiers are some of the ways he did this.

Being bold, confident, and proactive enables a leader to meet every challenge with an all-out effort. This will inspire everyone on his team to do the same. But just as this is important, it is equally important to lay stretch goals for the team. Setting the bar high and challenging the employees to clear it, will build grit and fortitude.

If a leader takes pride in the little jobs, people would think him/her worthy of bigger jobs. When he met his team leader, he was given tasks that were far from heroic but doing the best for those tasks helped him become a leader.

A leader rushes to the center of a crisis and takes charge of resolving it. The author cites narratives from history where the protagonist turned the tide of events by taking the war to their opponents. There is prudence involved because a good commander has a high tolerance for necessary risk but strives to reduce the risk accompanying a decision.

When in doubt, overload. Navy frogmen on Underwater Demolition Teams have a guideline for determining the volume of explosives they need to destroy any obstacles that impede an amphibious landing. Their rule is that if they don’t know how much to use, they use more.