Courage to Execute: What Elite U.S. Military Units Can Teach Business About Leadership and Team Performance

Praise for Courage to Execute "I've worked with Jim; he knows his stuff, and this book is proof of that. Courage to Execute is full of proven tactics and techniques to drive business success by applying military principles, some of which we've deployed at The Home Depot. What I admire most about Jim's work is that he understands that at the heart of every strategy...at the core of every successful campaign...are people." —Carol Tomé, Chief Financial Officer and Executive Vice President, Corporate Services, The Home Depot "Our PepsiCo leadership team has leveraged Jim Murphy's Afterburner frameworks and lessons learned to enhance our executional excellence; from how we plan to our execution at the point of purchase." —Brian C. Cornell, CEO, PepsiCo Americas Foods "In Courage to Execute , ex-fighter pilot Jim Murphy explains the proven frameworks and techniques used by our military's highest performing units to drive Flawless Execution while performing at the highest levels. He clearly and simply adapts those tools for business leaders who want to improve their teams' execution at any level. It is a great read full of practical insights and tools to drive executional excellence." —Mike White, Chairman and CEO, DirecTV "A true disrupter, Jim Murphy teaches organizations how to accelerate their performance. His work with us and his latest book, Courage to Execute , provides businesses with a framework for success." —Ryan Kavanaugh, CEO, Relativity Media, LLC

Preface vii Acknowledgments xi Chapter 1 The Military Response to a ComplexWorld: The New Value of Effective Execution 1 Chapter 2 Basic Training: Indoctrinating Your People with Values and Skills 13 Chapter 3 Team Alignment: Connecting the Troops with the Leader’s Intent 37 Chapter 4 Mission Preparation: Moving from Strategy toward Accountable Actions 63 Chapter 5 Battle Rhythm: On Track, On Target, and On Time 89 Chapter 6 Continuous Improvement: The Debrief Imperative 119 Chapter 7 Leadership on Purpose: Developing Teams and Leaders from Day One 143 Chapter 8 The Courage to Execute: A Smart Bias toward the Right Action 163 Appendix: Mission Checklists 171 Bibliography 179 Index 183

JAMES D. MURPHY is Founder & CEO of Afterburner, Inc., one of the most dynamic training and consulting firms in the United States. A former Air Force F-15 pilot, he and his team of fighter pilots and Special Operations officers have used lessons distilled from the military's elite units to help thousands of major clients focus their strategy and adapt to change, improve team performance and business process, and develop leaders at all levels of their organization.