#170 - Jamie Cochran - Jocko Willink's Secret Weapon on Extreme Ownership & Creating Leaders (Encore Episode)

Built Not Born Podcast: Jamie Cochran - Jocko Willink's Secret Weapon on Extreme Ownership & Creating Leaders

POWER QUOTE:

"You are doing your team a disservice if you are not putting them in a position to lead. If you are not giving them those opportunities to solve problems, to come up with solutions, to come up with plans and then go execute on those plans, you are not creating a team that can function without you." - Jamie Cochran

📺 Watch the Full Episode

Jamie Cochran, Chief Operating Officer of Echelon Front, shares her incredible journey from working in higher education to becoming a leadership expert alongside Navy SEALs Jocko Willink and Leif Babin. Jamie he breaks down the core principles of Extreme Ownership and reveals how these battle-tested leadership concepts apply to business, family, and personal growth.

🎯 Key Takeaways

✅ How Jamie went from part-time admin to COO in 9 years using an "experiment mindset"

✅ The four core beliefs of leadership that transform organizations

✅ Why "Cover and Move" is really about building relationships and teamwork

✅ The power of the "Read Back" technique for clear communication

✅ How to master "Prioritize and Execute" when overwhelmed with multiple priorities

✅ Why Decentralized Command creates stronger leaders at every level

✅ The barriers to Extreme Ownership and how to overcome them

⏰ Timestamps

[00:01:45] 🎯 Jamie's journey from SDSU to Echelon Front COO

[00:06:30] 🧪 The "experiment mindset" - giving yourself one year to assess

[00:11:15] 👥 Leadership definition: "Any human being who interacts with other human beings"

[00:14:20] 🤝 Cover and Move - Building relationships through reciprocal trust

[00:19:45] 📝 Simple - The Read Back technique for clear communication

[00:24:10] 🎯 Prioritize and Execute - Detaching from emotions to see clearly

[00:29:35] 🚶 "Relax, Look Around, Make a Call" - The power of stepping back

[00:34:50] 👑 Decentralized Command - Empowering everyone to lead

[00:41:20] 💪 Extreme Ownership - The barriers and how to overcome them

[00:47:15] 👩‍💼 Women in leadership - Natural advantages and self-imposed barriers

[00:52:30] 🏔️ Hiking for mental clarity and detachment

[00:55:45] 🥋 Jamie's Jiu-Jitsu journey and earning her blue belt

[01:01:10] 💡 Final advice: "Stop making excuses and start taking ownership"

🔥 Power Quotes

💬 On Leadership:

"Leadership is truly how we solve every single problem or challenge we face in our life, business, or in our personal lives. Leadership can guide us to solving those problems and challenges."

💬 On Taking Ownership:

"The reality is that fear is completely unfounded. If I give you two options of people to work with - one who casts blame and makes excuses, or someone who steps up and says 'This is my fault, here's how I'm gonna solve it' - anyone would rather work with the person taking ownership."

💬 On Communication:

"I wanna get a read back so that I can make sure I communicated effectively and I didn't miss anything important. When I put that on me and show them this is a test for me, if they can give me a read back and we are aligned, I can say go execute."

💬 On Detachment:

"Look for every opportunity in your day to detach. The better we get at detaching in the small, insignificant ways, the more equipped we're going to be to detach when the time comes where we have big problems we need to solve."

💬 On Creating Leaders:

"You are doing your team a disservice if you are not putting them in a position to lead. If you are not giving them those opportunities to solve problems, to come up with solutions, you are not creating a team that can function without you."

📖 About Jamie Cochran

Jamie Cochran is the Chief Operating Officer at Echelon Front, where she has worked for 9+ years building the company alongside Navy SEALs Jocko Willink and Leif Babin. She started in higher education at San Diego State University before joining Echelon Front in a part-time administrative role and working her way up to COO. Jamie specializes in teaching leadership principles to organizations worldwide and leads the Women's Leadership Assembly at Echelon Front.

🏢 Key Topics Covered

#Leadership #ExtremeOwnership #EchelonFront #JockoWillink #LeifBabin #NavySEALs #WomenInLeadership #TeamWork #Communication #CoverAndMove #PrioritizeAndExecute #DecentralizedCommand #JiuJitsu #BJJ #MilitaryLeadership #BusinessStrategy #PersonalDevelopment #Ownership #BuiltNotBorn #Podcast

📚 Resources Mentioned

Company: Echelon Front
Book: "Extreme Ownership" by Jocko Willink and Leif Babin
Book: "The Dichotomy of Leadership" by Jocko Willink and Leif Babin
Training: Extreme Ownership Academy (free courses available)

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💬 Comment below with your biggest takeaway from this conversation

Connect with Jamie Cochran & Echelon Front:

Connect with Joe Ciccarone & Built Not Born Podcast:

🥋 Jiu-Jitsu Connection

Jamie trains at Gustavo Machado's academy in Virginia Beach (Jocko's former instructor) and recently earned her blue belt. She discusses how Jiu-Jitsu reinforces leadership principles through humility, ego-checking, and present-moment focus.

Disclaimer: The opinions expressed by guests on this podcast are their own and do not necessarily reflect the views of the host or Built Not Born Podcast.

BUILT NOT BORN

Episode 170

19th Jul 2025