- The Lake Street Journal
- Posts
- LSJ - The Mission Above the Man
Hi Everyone,
Happy Friday! Thanks for spending part of it reading The Lake Street Journal.
This week we’re talking about General Mattis’ ego, high agency, and running a bookstore. Let's get into it.
The Mission Above the Man
At a budget meeting in 2010, General Mattis got himself fired.
The Secretary of Defense was trying to slash low priority areas so they could cut the budget. After a couple hours in the meeting, they hadn't come up with any good options.
Mattis got up, walked to the back of the room, and grabbed a Coke while everyone else was talking. He stood, sipping his Coke and listening. Then he picked up a napkin and scribbled a message on it.
As he walked back to his seat, he crumbled the napkin and dropped it in front of Admiral Mullen.
When Mullen finished speaking, he opened the napkin, looked at Mattis, and asked, "are you serious?"
Mattis nodded.
The napkin contained two words: disband JFCOM.
Mattis ran JFCOM, or US Joint Forces Command. He had thousands of employees and hundreds of millions of dollars in annual budget.
After running the organization for two years, Mattis came to the conclusion that it was mostly redundant. So he made his honest recommendation, and the Secretary of Defense took it.
The SECDEF moved the crucial parts of JFCOM into other organizations and shut down the rest, effectively putting Mattis out of a job.
When you have power, the natural inclination is to hold on to it. But great leaders keep their ego small enough to assess when their job is done or their department isn't adding value.
They can put the organization over the individual, the mission above the man.
This was the best article I read this week, maybe this year.
It's about high agency. What it is. How to spot it. How to cultivate it.
Basically, if you're a high agency person, you see the world as a problem you can solve, and you stop at nothing to solve it. The author's example was perfect. If you woke up in a jail cell in a third world country and you only got one phone call, who are you calling to get you out?
That person is the epitome of high agency.
If you have to stake your whole future on a single person, you're picking the guy or girl who can move heaven and earth to get things done.
High agency people are independent thinkers. They're problem solvers. They're energy machines.
Basically, if you want to be a great leader, you'd better be high agency. If you want to build a great team, you'd better hire high agency people.
This isn't a leadership article, but it has plenty of leadership applications. I'm book marking this one to revisit occasionally. I hope you like it as much as I did.
Ryan Holiday has my dream job. He writes books, records podcasts, and owns a bookstore.
He opened his bookstore in the middle of the pandemic, at a time when opening a bookstore didn't seem like a smart business decision. So far it's worked out for him—probably because it complements his other pursuits that make a lot of money.
This was a really cool article reflecting on the lessons he's learned in his four years running The Painted Porch. Lots of lessons for leaders in here. A few of my favorites:
Resist the pressure to scale. - Everything doesn't have to be bigger and better. It's perfectly fine to be happy with a good thing that's working.
It’s one damn thing after another. - Problems arise every day. Don't expect smooth sailing. Expect problems. Solve them. Keep moving.
A sense of urgency matters. - "Every small delay or shortcut has second-, third-, and fourth-order consequences. Do it now. Do it with urgency."
Ask why it’s being done that way. - "The most useful question in any system is often the simplest: Why are we doing it like this?"
Workout of the Week
This workout tests your grip and your abs. I was having trouble hanging onto the bar, and my abs were cramping in the second round. Type 2 fun.
"Flash Bang"
2 sets for time:
10 power cleans (135)
15 toes to bar
30 calories on the assault bike
15 toes to bar
10 power cleans (135)
Rest 3 minutes between sets.
My goal on this one was 14 minutes, but it took me 16:29. Turns out the toes to bar were pretty brutal.
Quote of the Week
“Men of great ambition have sought happiness and have found fame.” - Napoleon
What did you think of this week's newsletter? |
Know a leader who should be reading the Lake Street Journal? Forward them this issue.
They can sign up here.
Have a question or a comment? Respond to this email.
Talk soon,
Joe