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Leadership I Learned from a Navy Seal

I have trained in the martial arts since the age of 10. In fact, I still practice to this day. Martial Arts originated from the military (martial), and I have a deep respect for service members. Although I haven’t served, I’ve trained people who joined the military and had the good fortune to have trained a Lieutenant Commander and Navy Seal over several years earning him his black belt.

He was a combat medic and worked out of Fort Bragg (renamed Fort Liberty). If you’re not familiar with this type of work, these brave humans run towards the fire to offer aid to the wounded. As a teacher, and as often is the case, but especially in this relationship, I learned a great deal from this warrior.

The Navy Seals are the most elite special operations forces in the United States and arguably, the world.

If you are captured, you pray that the Seals answer the call.

He shared with me one of the Seal mottos as we were engaged in Counter Aggression Skills Practice.

Slow is Smooth, Smooth is Fast.

I remember having been a guest at the CIA headquarters and visiting the model that was used to create the full-scale version of the Osama Bin Laden compound. Learning about the level of detail and countless iterations that it took to get the operation just right reinforces the idea that Slow is Smooth, Smooth is fast.

In other words, don’t practice until you don’t get something wrong; Practice until you can’t make a mistake.

These warriors truly train for the unknown and say, “The only easy day was yesterday.”

The most impactful part of this story is the day of his black belt test. As part of the physical conditioning portion of the exam, a candidate is required to perform pushups and sit-ups along with

cardiovascular training. As you can imagine, Seals undergo grueling careers, and their missions take a toll on their bodies. Every time, he would do a sit-up, his back would crack like an orchestra. He continued for the required 2-minute time period. He worked through the pain.

I was humbled.

If any event showed me the importance of indomitable spirit and the essence of what it means to be a warrior, it was this human being undergoing agony because he could see past the present towards the finish line.