Kill or be killed comes down to one essential leadership principle: do your job and let everyone else do theirs. In high-stakes environments, discipline is key, and trusting your team is non-negotiable.
Let me explain.
When hunting Tier One terrorist targets in Afghanistan, most operations happened at night—because U.S. Special Operations forces own the night. Occasionally, though, we’d conduct a daytime mission.
It sounded safer, but it wasn’t. Every daytime operation I conducted with the 75th Ranger Regiment as an FBI Special Agent ended in gunfire.
The Importance of Doing Your Job
I recall one particular mission. As our extraction helicopter landed, people started to run. One target fled into waist-high grass. Six of us, including a dog handler, gave chase, naturally separating into two three-man units as we moved toward where he’d disappeared.
The dog handler threw a smoke grenade toward the target, and the dog followed. My three-man group was on the left, and the other group was about five yards in front. As the dog chased the smoke, I had one thought: “Cover your field of fire and trust everyone else to cover theirs.” In other words, do my job and let everyone else do theirs.
Then we heard a scream. The dog had located the target, who rose from the grass and sprayed gunfire in our direction. He was just outside my field of fire, but I had a clear shot and could have taken it. To shoot or not to shoot? That was the question.
Trusting Your Team
In reality, though, there was no question, because that’s not how U.S. Special Operations works. The SEAL Teams, Army Rangers, Delta Force, and Green Berets all have one rule in common: every operator knows their job and does it, without overstepping.
Why? Because failing to do your job risks everyone’s safety. When it’s life or death, discipline prevails. Do your job, and trust others to do theirs.
I saw everything in my peripheral vision as the target desperately squeezed his trigger in fully automatic mode, and the three-man team to my right took him down. By the grace of God, none of us, including the dog, was injured.
Discipline Under Pressure
As leaders, it’s your responsibility to ensure everyone knows their job and is accountable. In times of stress, chaos, and crisis, you and your team will instinctively go back to what you know. The question you should ask yourself is, “What do we know?”
In short: know your job, do your job, and let everyone around you do theirs.
Consistent discipline will bring victory. 👊🏻💥
Errol Doebler is a former Navy SEAL platoon commander, FBI terrorism investigator, and founder of his leadership consulting company, Ice Cold Leader. He can be contacted at Hello@Icecoldleader.com.
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