Communicate like a Seal

Navy Seals are some of the most fearless people on the planet. They rush headlong into shootouts with enemies in the tiniest spaces. They swim deep underwater in total darkness to achieve their mission. They even parachute out of planes to get to where they need to go.

But there’s one thing that strikes fear into the hearts of all Navy Seals. It’s hearing the following words:

Blue on Blue. 

To a Navy Seal, this might as well mean the end of the organization. That everyone, from the top to the bottom of the organization, has failed in their mission.

Now, you’re probably thinking: “What could be so serious about those words?”

I’ll tell you. They mean that one Navy Seal team has attacked another Seal team. By accident.  

You can see why this would the single worst thing that can happen. And yet, it can happen at anytime. It happens when a teammate withholds some crucial information from the leader. Or when the leader doesn’t make his points crystal clear to the team. Or when the teammates don’t put the mission above their personal conflicts.

In short, it happens because people don’t communicate honestly and don’t own their responsibility to the team.

The Navy Seals are excellent as a team precisely because they are terrified of the negative consequences. Any communication and leadership mistakes mean that their friends, their brothers in arms, will be killed. By their hands.

What if you thought about your team in the same way? What if you communicated to your team, like their lives depended on it? What would you do in that situation?

Use the fear of Blue on Blue to create your best team possible. Communicate like your life depended on it. Communicate like a Seal.