The Wisdom of the Bullfrog

The Wisdom of the Bullfrog breaks down 18 sayings, mottos, and parables used in the military, which helped admiral William H. McRaven throughout his four-decade Navy SEAL career to lead and inspire himself and others.

I first learned about bullfrogs during the Simpsons episode “Bart vs. Australia.” After Bart accidentally introduces one into the Australian ecosystem, they soon become a plague. Puzzled by the animal, an uninformed store clerk calls them “chazzwazzers,” or “sheep creatures” in the German voiceover.

In the Navy, however, the title of “Bull Frog” goes to “the longest, continuously serving active-duty SEAL.” Even a year before he received the award, however, McRaven’s reputation already preceded him. When he met the new CIA director Leon Panetta in 2010, Panetta introduced him to the senior CIA officers — except he knew them all already.

Since he had served with many of the directors throughout his career, Panetta knew he could trust McRaven right off the bat. “Because when it hits the fan, we won’t have time to build trust,” he said. About a year later, it did. The CIA finally identified the compound in which Osama bin Laden, the terrorist mastermind behind the 9/11 attacks, was hiding. Panetta called in McRaven to plan the operation, and a SEAL team assassinated bin Laden in May 2011.

“If they do not trust you, they will not follow you,” McRaven writes. “It takes time to build trust, but it is time well spent if you intend to lead effectively.” We have a saying in Germany: “You always meet twice in life.” Do the right thing, and people will remember you. Build trust before you need it, because by the time you do, it’ll be too late to pull it out of thin air.

Most of the best things in my business have happened because I did something I thought was needed but that no one gave me permission to do. This summary is a perfect example: I didn’t ask McRaven for his permission to write it. I just think you deserve one, so I’m trying to do the best job I can and hope if McRaven ever sees it, he’ll appreciate the effort. “Sua sponte” is Latin for “of one’s own accord.” It’s also the motto of the US Army Rangers. No one lived it better than Ralph Puckett, McRaven suggests, a lieutenant who charged the Chinese in a battle for a hill during the Korean War. Thanks to Puckett’s “reckless” sprinting across the battlefield, his comrades could spot enemy shooter positions and take them out. But taking initiative can be much simpler, too. During an award ceremony for a disabled veteran, the microphone was too high for the honorary to…