A motivating and inspiration guide to Leadership from an ex-navy seal. Most of the examples are from the navy seals and may not interest the everyday manager of a normal business. They would soon lose interest. Some of the teachings seem dated and old school.

Content is good overall but would have preferred it more to the point.

I should reread at some point as I didn't quite understand the progression of the plateus.

I like Mark Divine’s first book “Way of The Seal” a lot as well as his second book. Wanted to like this one but it seemed very repetitive of the previous two books. Disappointed but maybe someone else will enjoy it.

Staring Down the Wolf is written by Mark Divine, a retired Navy SEAL Commander turned corporate leadership coach. I really love books like this, and I’ve read a bunch (see my reviews for Extreme Ownership and The Dichotomy of Leadership), but I have to say that this book has impacted me in ways I’m still having trouble articulating.

The book talks about seven principles that, when done correctly, make effective leaders (and good humans). They are courage, trust, respect, growth, excellence, resiliency, and alignment. There’s also an eighth chapter that encourages people to be willing to commit to a big mission, something worthy of your time and energy, your life. (On a side note, the interview with former Navy Seal Damien Mander in the final pages of the book brought honest-to-God tears to my eyes. Mander lives in Zimbabwe and trains locals to be part of anti-animal-poaching units. His description of the all-women units who have succeeded beyond anyone’s expectations and completely transformed the way Mander views conflict resolution, gave me goose bumps. Let’s just say that women are the steadfast providers and protectors who know how to bring stability to chaos, and there’s a good chance that the Power of Vagina is going to be the very thing that will save this world from itself. But I digress…)

I could give you a play-by-play of each chapter in here, but my review would read like its own novel. I pulled so many quotes out of the book, I could go on and on. What I will tell you is that author Divine has given me so much peace—peace because I feel like it’s okay to believe that it’s possible to be kind and also incredibly badass at the same time. The last few years I have felt rudderless, in a way. I’ve seen so many assholes in positions of power, getting away with such reprehensible conduct—from the ruthless Real Housewives on my block to our dip shit president—that I’ve lost hope. I’ve allowed myself to stop believing in the importance of a higher standard, one that’s just for me, no matter the external circumstances, just because it’s good and moral and right. I’ve allowed myself to be lesser than, certainly less than I could be. This book reminds me of what it once felt like to be young and to trust and to believe, with my whole heart, in the goodness of a message that I know in my bones to be true. I’m going to sound dramatic now, but, honestly, this book felt like a homecoming for me.

I loved the chapters on courage, trust, and respect, with the emphasis on mastering fear through training, being transparent and honest, willing to admit your fuckups quickly and bravely so you can repair relationships and move on. I also really appreciate the theme that comes up again and again, to know what you’re doing and why you’re doing it, to have that focus and vision that you reinforce to yourself daily so that you act in a way that aligns with your true values.

I’m gushing, guys, I know. But wow, this book has stopped me in my tracks. Given everything that is going on in the world, it is exactly what I needed to read at exactly the right time. I’ve got a lot to think about and I couldn’t be more grateful.

The approach provided by the author in this book is based on his experiences in military as well as in business. It is unique in a way that the author put so much of himself in this book.

It is a humbling vicarious kind of experience every time he narrates his past mistakes and how he overcome those. It is inspiring.

The leadership lessons here will help many of us in finding holistic view in inspiring people.

Well-written leadership development book, where the core message - looking fear in the face - empowered me to not be afraid of the events that frighten me. As Mark articulates, “to stare down your own fear wolf to overcome lingering negative conditioning so you can evolve to your fullest capacity. It’s the only way to unlock your truly massive potential.”

”You must stare down the wolf of fear.” Staring Down The Wolf: 7 Leadership Commitments That Forge Elite Teams by Mark Divine

4 stars! I got this book because my hubby is such a fan of @realmarkdivine (my hubby LOVES The Way Of The SEAL) and I’ve been meaning to read sometime The Way of The SEAL. So when I saw this available, I had to get it. Took me awhile to finish this in between the fiction though.

This is my first book by the author and there are just so many great points in the book to mention or to quote here. He tackles each commitment in detail and it’s great that there are some exercises to hone that trait.

The author shares his experiences and what he learned as SEAL leader and team member and sometimes his experiences afterwards as a civilian . They serve as great examples to the 7 leadership commitments.

As a team member, I sure would appreciate my leader displaying such commitments to us. As a leader in training, these are the traits that I need to have to be a great leader.

Thank you @stmartinspress for the advance copy of this book! I enjoyed learning from it! Thanks also @netgalley for making this accessible.

A Motivating and Inspiration Guide to Leadership

Mark Divine, an ex-Navy Seal Commander, shares his approach to leadership and building elite teams. I enjoyed his descriptions of his failures in team-building as well as his successes. It underlines the point that team-building requires learning both about yourself and the skills to inspire others.

In the introduction and first chapter, Divine discusses the personality characteristic required to be an effective leader and includes an exercise at the end of chapter one for you to assess yourself. I thought this was exactly the right place to start. Staring down the wolf is a phrase that says that you have to first conquer your fears before you can inspire others. It’s an apt title for this book.

In the remaining book, Divine devotes a chapter complete with exercises to each of the concepts he feels are most important for leadership and team-building: courage, trust, respect, growth, excellence, resiliency, and alignment. The chapters are interesting and easy to read partly because the author includes examples of his personal experience.

I’ve read many leadership books. I can’t say this one brings any earth-shattering new concepts to the field, however, it does discuss the concepts in an interesting an informative way. I particularly liked his action steps and exercises. They give you a way to plan for team-building and evaluate yourself.

I received this book from St. Martin’s Press for this review.

If you've read any of Mark Divine's previous books, this one will have a lot of review/ repeat material. I found it a deeper dive into some of the topics he's discussed previously, as well as how to specifically apply it as a team leader. The anecdotal stories added interest and insight to the book and I found it a good read. I think one of the hardest parts about being a team member is wishing one could have a leader that adheres to the principles in the book, as well as team members who do likewise.

If you are looking for not just personal, but cultural change within your organization, Mark Devine’s “Staring Down the Wolf” may be your blueprint. Using the Seven Commitments, Mark shares multiple techniques and exercises to stare down both your fears and successes with the ultimate goal of ascending the five plateaus of development and reframe yourself or your team as better leaders.

This book really failed to connect the premise (staring down the wolf) with the leadership lessons. It seemed disorganized. I would not recommend it for anyone trying to learn more about leadership.

ARC from Net Galley

Nothing wrong with this book or the content. For me though with 30 years in the military there is just nothing new. Let that be your guide,

I have read Mark Divine’s both earlier publications - the Way of the Seal, and the Unbeatable Mind - which dealt with a way to personal greatness, and this new book deals with the building of great elite teams - with the lessons drawn from the Navy Seal teams. The title - Staring down the wolf - is a metaphor for challenging head-to-head one’s deepest fears and defeatist mindset. Divine set out seven leadership commitments - which once integrated to our way of life, seamlessly, with daily practice and effort - will help us become a greater whole - as an individual, as a part of a team, and in the way of the society. Divine explains all these by drawing lessons and learnings from real-life exemplary individuals with whom he had interacted - Olson, McRaven, O’Connell, Marcinko, Marcus, McChrystal, and Margaraci. Divine also covers a huge range of topics that trouble the real-life teams (especially in the corporate world) - egos, meetings, setting and maintaining standards of excellence, innovation, continuous learning in a fast-changing environment (though much simpler than Seals facing enemy fire at Afghanistan, etc.). In sum, as Divine put it, fear holds us back, so first we have to take it down, which leads to courage (to take a stand), which begets trust (of team members, society), which needs humility and respect for self and others, and a growth mindset, which also requires excellence (in what we set out to do - even, by prioritising), finally, by being resilient (by continually aligning, and realising self and teams towards the desired goals, vision, and missions). Apart from overarching themes - there are some tools to help us take a step forward, like box-breathing, visualisation, review and tradition of the superfluous — overall a great book.

A very helpful, interesting read. I broke this book into stages and could then apply to my current processes. I found a number of great ideas and believe it will help many in both their personal and professional lives.

Thank you NetGalley for early access to Staring Down the Wolf. Leadership is an ever evolving must in the work place, at home, strangers & with friends. A great addition to the many different leadership books out there.

This book was very well put together and reads really easy. I would recommend this book to those who enjoy books about leadership, Navy, SEALS, and organizational development. It’s not for your everyday manager of XYZ company. They would lose interest and not enjoy it.
There are ALOT of acronyms and if you miss it the first time the author uses it, you will have no clear understanding. This happened to me with VUCA.

A quote I highly enjoyed:
When the structure of an organization can shape the courage, trust, respect, growth, excellence, resiliency, and alignment of its individuals and teams, then it is much more likely to rout out issues arising from the negative conditioning of any individual leader. The organization becomes resilient and responsive to volatility, rather than reactionary.

One note: the last chapter lost me. It was an interview and I skipped over most of it as it wasn’t interesting nor followed the restOf the sequence of the book.

Must be read in increments so as to digest the content that comes on fast and furious. Obviously the author has great enthusiasm for his subject matter and related it to his personal experiences. I would suggest leadership team read a chapter individually then form work groups to brainstorm the utilization of his techniques as related to their particular business.
I received this book as a complimentary copy for an unbiased review.The opinions expressed are my own.

An interesting book on leadership and building teams. I enjoyed the examples the author brought, they were realistic and very relatable.

Very interesting approach to leadership and building teams. You will find a lot of life situations where you found yourself in earlier. If not, just learn from examples. Alsi, the book is nicely structured and easy to read. The goal is to teach in how to build a great team.