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I left Robert O’Neill’s speech feeling inspired and excited about what I had just learned. Life wasn’t so bad, and I didn’t have one bit of stress in my life that was anywhere near what he had gone through, especially from my job. I felt like someone had just slapped some sense into me and I wanted to go slap some sense into as many people as I could. I could not stop talking about this speech. So when my boss came to me and asked if I would write a blog, I more then jumped at the chance.
For starters, who is Robert O’Neill? He is a retired Navy Seal Team Six member. He was on the mission to kill Osama bin Laden, rescue Captain Phillips and many others, all of which he did not knowing if he, or his team, would make it back alive. Talk about stress!
Well, turns out that was the focus of his speech, job pressure. Once he retired, he over time discovered he could transition his skills from the war room to the board room, and he did just that. He “K.I.S.S.”ed the whole room. This was his team’s acronym, ‘Keep It Simple Stupid.’
So this reality check? Let’s start with O’Neill’s ‘4 Keys to Success:’
- People Skills/ Team Building/ Getting Along
- The difference between over planning and being prepared
- Take emotion out of decision making
- Never Quit
This is a pretty simple list, boring almost in the sense we have heard these things before, so what makes them different now?
“…in over 400 missions, not one of my men got hurt” O’Neill stated
We were in the presence of a real life hero, of a man who was prepared to die every day on the job but time and time again he made it out alive, against the odds. I felt like I had just met James Bond or Batman. O’Neill and his team had mastered success.
O’Neill began speaking about his first day ever in training and while he started with a joke, it quickly became motivational as he passed on the advice his instructor gave them:
“I am never going to ask you to do anything impossible. But I will make you do something very hard, followed by something very hard, followed by something very hard, day after day, for 8 months… But don’t think about making it to graduation day. Think about making it to lunch and then from lunch to dinner and because I am never going to ask you to do anything impossible, all you need to do, to get through this training, is never do one thing, never quit and you’ll be fine…”
This is all well and good but let's put into perspective what they were being asked to do. O’Neill told another story about training--this time it was about his buddy. They had a series of tests while in training and each test you were allowed to try only a certain number of times, if you didn’t pass in those allowed times, you failed out. So, his buddy was on his last chance with a diving exam which evolved tying knots under water. It went something like this:
The instructors would yell a knot out to them as they dove in the pool. They were to swim down tie the knot, signal the instructor from under the water and the instructor would then jump in an examine the knot. If the knot was correct (which it never was on the first time, this was an exercise for holding your breath) then the swimmer would surface for ONE breath, while the instructor yelled out another knot and back down you would go for 5 times. Now the kicker is if the instructor says the knot is wrong, you cannot surface until you correct the knot and the instructor confirms it.
So his buddy is on his last chance for this particular test and he is on the fifth knot. “Well the guy drowned” O’Neill said and then he paused.
They pulled the guy out of the water, called for the medics, and finally revived him after a minute and a half. “My buddy sat up and first thing he said was ‘did I pass?!’ ‘Yes, you passed’ laughed the instructor. ‘So I got the knot?’ asked my buddy, ‘no, you missed the knot’ said the instructor. ‘Then how did I pass?’ my buddy asked. My instructor looked at him and said ‘son, these tests are to see how far you will go before you will quit. You just killed yourself for the Seals, you passed.’’
His buddy just killed himself, while still only in training, just to continue on knowing the next day would only be harder. All of this for a job, he doesn’t yet officially have. So what made O’Neill’s buddy fight that hard? That came from key #1 People skills/ team building/ getting along.
“Some of my best bosses and leaders in the Seals said please and thank you” O’Neill said
“Please and thank you?! In the military?!” I thought. But he followed this by saying right before he moved up to have his own team, his boss gave him this advice:
“No one ever worked for me, they worked with me.”
O’Neill stated over and over again how lucky he was to be a part of Navy Seal Six team, even though the cost was high. O’Neill kissed his daughter goodbye eleven times, not knowing if he would see her again. What is the toughest thing your job asks of you? How was it that O’Neill could do this time and time again?
He took emotion out of decision making, key #3 for success. While taking about this key, O’Neill said a statement that stood out to me; “your initial reaction is the wrong reaction.” Did you know that in one second you can refocus your response to a problem? Fun fact to know, but extremely hard to learn. For Navy Seals, this is the difference between life and death; because this is such an important skill to have mastered, when Navy Seals try out for Team Six, panicking would get you cut on the spot. O’Neill shared this to help explain:
When on a mission, his team would face un-expected events that could often get them killed if not handled correctly. O’Neill had to not only control his reaction but needed to trust his team would handle it the same way. Even if there is only a second O’Neill said “take that second, and in that second ask yourself ‘what’s the problem?’ and ‘what is the emotion association with the problem?’ Don’t react --respond.” Then he went on to add “no one has ever accomplished anything successful by panicking; fear is healthy, panic is contagious.” He said his team had “the ability to recognize fear, push it to the side and then do what I call actively participate in saving your own life” and because of that they were successful time and time again in high stress situations.
This all falls back to key #2 ‘the difference between over planning and being prepared.’ Seals training overall was key #2. They prepared their men for success but training them in the skills they would need, before sending them into war. Not everyone made it, but those who did were prepared for anything. His story for this was related to his mission to rescue Captain Phillips, it was impeccable…
…I was paralyzed with shock. Everything suddenly seemed, easy. Now, don’t get me wrong, I do not by any means think I am perfect or a hero. I will fail many more times, but failure doesn’t look as scary when you put it into perspective. Remember, I was so excited to write this when my boss asked, I wanted to slap people into sense, too! Well after the initial excitement wore off, I actually had to write this.
I went back and listened to his speeches people have posted on YouTube over and over; it finally occurred to me, cliff hanger! I shared a few of my personal favorite quotes and stories, but the real stories, like the one I said was impeccable, can only be done justice if you hear it from the source yourself. Then I realized my goal for this blog was just wanting to encourage people to go listen to Robert O’Neill speak. While his stories are military related, when translated to a civilian business it means success.
Lastly, if you are thinking your business is already successful, you have become complacent and “complacency kills” is a motto of the Seals. This blog is for you and you should probably take the rest of the day off to learn from Robert O’Neill.
Alright, Alright...since I know most of you won't have the time to go see Robert O'Neill speak I have added the clip of the story about rescuing Captain Phillips
