I am the commander
I am the senior man on the battlefield
And I am responsible for everything that happens
Everything
And then I went on to explain to them some new
Tactics, techniques and procedures that we were
Going to implement to ensure that this kind of
Travesty never happened again
And I will tell you something, it hurt
It hurt my ego, it hurt my pride to take the blame
But I also knew, I knew that to maintain my integrity
As a leader and as a man I had to take responsibility
And in order to do that I had to control my ego
So that my ego did not control me
And you know what? I didn't get fired
In fact, my commanding officer who had expected excuses
And finger pointing, when I took responsibility
When I took ownership, he now trusted me even more
And my men, they didn't lose respect for me
Instead they realized, that I would never shirk responsibility
And I would never pass that heavy burden
Of command down the chain and onto them
And you know what? They had the same attitude
Unlike a team where no one takes ownership of the problems
And the problems never get solved
With us, everyone took ownership of their mistakes
Everyone took ownership of the problems
And when a team takes ownership of its problems
The problems get solved
And that is true on the battlefield, it is true in business
And it is true in life
So I say, take ownership, take extreme ownership
Don't make excuses, don't blame any other person
Or any other thing, take control of your ego
Don't hide your delicate pride from the truth
Take ownership of everything in your world
The good and the bad
Take ownership of your mistakes
Take ownership of your shortfalls
Take ownership of your problems
And then take ownership of the solutions that
Will get those problems solved
Take ownership of your mission
Take ownership of your job, of your team, of your future
Take ownership of your life
And lead, lead
Lead yourself and your team and the people in your life
Lead them all to victory