Mike Hayes has lived a lifetime of once-in-a-lifetime experiences. He has been held at gunpoint and threatened with execution. He’s jumped out of a building rigged to explode, helped amputate a teammate’s leg, and made countless split-second life-and-death decisions. He’s written countless emails to his family, telling them how much he loves them, just in case those were the last words of his they’d ever read. Outside of the SEALs, he’s run meetings in the White House Situation Room, negotiated international arms treaties, and developed high-impact corporate strategies. Over his many years of leadership, he has always strived to be better, to contribute more, and to put others first. That’s what makes him an effective leader, and it’s the quality that he’s identified in all of the great leaders he’s encountered. That continual striving to lift those around him has filled Mike’s life with meaning and purpose, has made him secure in the knowledge that he brings his best to everything he does, and has made him someone others can rely on.

Section I :Never excellent enough : -- Choose the hard path--excellence in knowledge and capacity -- Build comfort with discomfort--excellence in strength and control -- Live with incredible confidence--excellence in accountability and orientation -- Section II : Never agile enough : -- Be a leader and a follower, and know when to be which--agility in the roles you play -- Learn how to think, not what to think--agility in the decisions you think -- Gain authority by giving it away--agility in the organizations you lead -- Section III : Never meaningful enough : -- Push your values out into the world--finding meaning as an individual -- We live and die for people, not causes--meaning in the bonds we build with others -- Make differences where they will count the most--meaning in contribution to the world.