Being in business may sometimes feel like a battlefield, with competitors fighting to win consumers. It takes strategy, focus and a clear plan to succeed in business. Navy SEALs excel in these areas, which is why thinking like a SEAL can help businesses find and reach their goals.
Former Commander of the SEALs, Mark Divine, partnered with Allyson Edelhertz Machate to write “The Way of the SEAL: Think Like an Elite Warrior to Lead and Succeed.”
Divine has combined his military experience and business school background into commercial success, as co-founder a successful brewing company, founder of NavySEALs.com and founder of SEALFIT, among other entrepreneurial pursuits.
Even civilians can learn from Divine’s book by applying the principles and tactics to business. These strategies can help you become mentally tough and improve your leadership skills.
Divine’s principles for success include:
- Figure out your “set point” (the purpose and values behind your business).
- Cultivate “front-sight focus” (keep your target in view and don’t get distracted).
- Eliminate the chances for failure by creating a “bulletproof mission.”
- Start working on what your competition doesn’t do so you can reach heights they can’t reach.
- Build your mental strength so quitting isn’t an option.
- Don’t be afraid to innovate and adapt plans.
- Slow down and employ your senses to strengthen your intuition.
- Stay on the offensive.
Applying These Principles to Your Business
Divine dedicates a chapter to each of the above principles, including practical techniques that you can try. Having a focused mission and specific goals can help make every day serve the larger purpose of working toward your overall goals.
Whether you are running your own business or working for a larger corporation, all of your decisions at work should be aligned with your goals. Divine explains that your work will be more powerful if you apply intense focus to your goals.
Self-awareness is necessary to create the right goals and follow them through to the end.
“In order to know where you want to go in life, you’ve got to know where you stand right now,” Divine told Bank of America in January 2014. “Not many people take the time to uncover those passions or that purpose that are going to guide them into the future.”
Becoming a Better Leader
Improving your leadership skills can help make it easier to achieve your goals and inspire your team. In the book, Divine explains that self-mastery can help develop your leadership.
To become a stronger leader, Divine suggests mastering “the five mountains.” These are physical, mental, emotional, intuitional and spiritual abilities.
For businesses, physical mastery means becoming an expert of your industry. Mental strength can be improved by envisioning what success looks like to you and taking the steps necessary to achieve it.
Emotional mastery comes from being in control of your emotions and having honest relationships with peers and team members. Intuitional strength helps leaders be more insightful and can improve team communication.
The spiritual focus helps business leaders stay true to the company’s values and strengthen decision-making abilities.
Staying Calm During Chaos
Embracing the Divine’s philosophies for business means being realistic about what could come. Business can bring chaos, so the best leaders need to be ready to face the turbulence without letting it throw them.
Plan for chaos and figure out plans for managing difficult times. Your team will look to you for leadership when things get crazy, so show them that no matter what happens, you are ready for it.
