The thing that stood out to me more than anything else was that the whole reason this task unit had failed so miserably was because of one thing and one thing only: leadership. (pg 42-43)

In the first section of this book, where he discusses the beginning of his Navy SEAL career, which would provide him the foundational experiences he would use to lead and succeed, he writes about having to impart his knowledge about leadership to young SEALs. He needed to figure out how to teach and coach leadership in such a way that was all-encompassing, yet easy to understand and commit to memory. He came up with his “Laws of Combat” which has four principles:

1. Cover and Move
2. Simple
3. Prioritize and Execute
4. Decentralized Command

The principle of “Cover and Move” relies on the concept of synergist effects. That the efforts of two or more people, teams, groups, etc. is more effective than each can achieve working by themselves. In combat, the term cover in this sense refers to providing overwatch and occasional direct fires in order to prevent an adversary from pinning the movement of friendly forces. In simpler terms, by shooting or preparing to shoot at an enemy, means that that enemy will be hindered at shooting at your buddies who will be allowed to move to a better position. Working in tandem, covering and moving, moving and covering, the synergistic effects of multiple entities can work to defeat a particular threat for the benefit of everyone.

The fundamental aspect of “Cover and Move” is that one element is actively working to help alleviate the burdens of another element so that that other element can carry on with its task. In combat, the task is to move and eventually defeat the threat and the cover is to deny the enemy the ability to hinder that task. In non-combat military operations, the task could be to conduct training necessary for the unit readiness, and cover would entail another unit assuming the tasking responsibilities that would impede their ability to train. In business, the task may be to conduct cold-calling, planning meetings, and customer relations activities and cover would be company management protecting these blocks of scheduled business activities from external interruptions.

The principle “Simple” is an aspect of planning and executing that relies on removing complexity. In military operations, combat or otherwise, increased complexity means greater chance for failure in the forms of missed timelines, unclear instructions, and uncertainty throughout all parties. The more moving pieces that are involved, the more effects that need to be achieved, the more things all need to fall into place in a particular order at a particular time, then the more likely the whole plan will fail from a single mistake causing everything to fall apart.

You need to remember that even if a plan will achieve great results, if the plan requires people to have near-complete situational understanding and commitment to its execution, then it may fail because of one person who didn’t completely understand or wasn’t completely vested in its execution. The enemy and the environment produce enough complexity, and you needn’t make it more complex with your plan if you can avoid it. Simple actions, a simple timeline, and clear instructions on what to do if certain events do or don’t occur will lead to a plan that can actually be accomplished. Fundamentally, we are dealing with human beings with their own perceptions and motivations, and while a plan may be clear to us in our own brains, we may not even be able to effectively communicate such a plan. Simplicity requires us to make it less complex so that other human beings can carry it out without our constant micromanagement.

In “Prioritize and Execute,” we have the reality that we can’t do everything we want to get done, and that even if we could, some things are more important than others and need to be accomplished first. This principle requires the leader to determine which tasks are the most important, based on results and/or time sensitivity, and execute those tasks according to their priority. In combat, we have many activities that are well known and come with a pre-established order that is enforced by leadership. In priorities of work in regards to establishing a defensive position; security comes before weapons maintenance, which comes before position improvement, which comes before feeding Soldiers, which comes before personal hygiene and rest. Being hygienic and well-rested won’t matter as much if you are going to fight on an empty stomach and with no energy; which also won’t matter if you don’t have effective cover and concealment to fight from; which also won’t matter if your weapons won’t function properly; which also won’t matter if no one is providing security to see the enemy approach.

In business, there are also many things that we can do in order to improve our organization and our bottom-line, but we also inherently understand that there are things that are more important than others and things that are more time-sensitive than others. With marketing, you focus your efforts on particular niches since funding is limited – there are more important audiences that you should focus on. With logistics, timing is important to ensure goods go out to the end-user, but also you may need to hold back shipment until you have complete truckloads since trucks are also a limiting factor. In development, there is always something new and improved that can be incorporated into a new design, and at some point, you need to determine when to simply accept and produce a product to get something into the market – even if elements may already be outdated when it releases.

In “Decentralized Command,” you have the ability to effectively lead a large organization through the empowerment of subordinate leaders. By placing trust in competent subordinate leaders, each who understands the leader’s intent for operations and desired ends, a large organization is able to achieve great results as smaller elements of that organization are able to accomplish objectives that are complementary and synergistic. Without effective “decentralized command” the leader attempts to wield the entirety of the organization through immediate direction and guidance of multiple people and groups. The bigger the organization, the more untenable direct control becomes. Decentralization of leadership becomes important so that senior leaders aren’t run ragged trying to control every single activity, only to eventually fail because no one was permitted or capable of taking initiative to solve problems and carry out routine duties.

The value of empowering subordinates also means that those subordinates acquire a more vested interest in the outcome of operations. By giving a subordinate an intent yet requiring them to actually develop the plans and execute to achieve that intent, you are able to accomplish your objectives while getting buy-in from that subordinate since it was their own course of action that they were executing. Additionally, this develops the leadership skills of these subordinates and prepares them for future responsibilities within the organization – internal leadership development that can pay off years down the road.

We see “decentralized command” within the business world in various forms. Franchises are a form of decentralized command in which franchise owners take control of a franchise for a particular location – executing the intent of the corporation, yet not being directly supervised and controlled by them. Though Corporate will come down occasionally to ensure compliance with regulations and the corporation's long-term objectives. Within a company, an owner can delegate control to executives and managers, who in turn can delegate lower-level control to shift managers and team chiefs. Even these most junior of leaders can delegate some level of control to individual employees and workers for the upkeep and conduct of their own stations, making it optimized to their work styles and gaining ownership of their own actions and output instead of simply executing the micromanaged direction of their immediate superior.

These four Laws of Combat, principles for how to teach and mentor leaders in leadership, are not specific to combat leadership – just leadership in general. As long as you understand what is fundamentally occurring then they are applicable to the business world – just as the author intended.