Episode 11: Jocko Willink

An interview with Jocko Willink, a former U.S. Navy Seal, the host of the Jocko Podcast and author of multiple #1 New York Times bestsellers, about the biggest leadership lesson he learned, how to lead in change, why leaders have to be followers, the dichotomy of leadership and his best advice.

Welcome to the eleventh episode of 5 Questions with Dan Schawbel. As your host, my goal is to curate the best advice from the world’s smartest and most interesting people by asking them just 5 questions.

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This episodes guest:

Jocko Willink is a Former U.S. Navy Seal, the Host of the Jocko Podcast and author of multiple #1 New York Times bestsellers. Born and raised in New England, Jocko enlisted in the U.S. Navy in 1990. He served eight years on active duty, as an enlisted Navy SEAL with SEAL Team ONE and SEAL Team TWO. Willink was part of the SEAL team that seized Russian Tanker Volga-Neft-147 in the Gulf of Oman which was carrying Iraqi oil in violation of a U.N. economic embargo. Willink earned his commission at the Officer Candidate School and eventually served as a platoon commander. He completed multiple deployments to Asia, the Middle East and Europe. During Operation Iraqi Freedom he deployed to the Iraqi town of Ramadi in 2006 with SEAL Team THREE as commander of Task Unit Bruiser. Willink also served as a Navy SEAL instructor during his career. He retired in October 2010 after 20 years of service. Today, he is the host of the Jocko Podcast, which receives two million downloads per episode and is the author of multiple bestsellers, including Extreme Ownership, Discipline Equals Freedom and his latest book The Dichotomy of Leadership.

The 5 questions questions I ask in this episode: