From 600+ conversations with the world’s leading thinkers.
It was her death that actually made us say 'right, that's it – we've talked a lot but we haven't done anything. Now we've got to do something'. And that's when Zoo Check began which is what we were called in those days.
When dealing with people, remember you are not dealing with creatures of logic, but creatures of emotion.
There's an old adage that the boxer is the last one to know – it's not true, he's the first one to know, but the last to acknowledge it. You can learn from defeat – it's not the end of the world, but you have to learn from it and realise that there are times when you can come back, and times where you have to say, 'enough… enough…. You're getting too hurt… you're just not the guy you were…'
Freedom without struggle is an illusion. I love problems. How we deal with problems defines who we are and what values we stand for.
What makes him dangerous is an unwavering determination; those who suggest potential exit strategies are overlooking a key aspect of his character. Any off-ramp simply provides an opportunity for him to seek the next on-ramp.
It's not enough to lead yourself, you need to tune into the people you work with- the people that you know- your family. You need to pick up non-verbal cues, facial expressions, tone of voice.
An elite performer is distinguished not just by skill but by their ability to leverage their mindset to excel during critical moments. This redefines the notion of elite performance to include anyone and everyone. Regardless of the field, role, or domain, anyone can achieve elite status if they consistently deliver outstanding results and rise to the occasion when it's most crucial.
The tendency is to avoid the need for more options because anything that's unfamiliar, as human beings we tend to flee uncertainty. We naturally go towards what we already know because we know how to deal with something we have done before.
Too often, organizations become like frogs in boiling water—gradually losing their competitiveness because everyone is afraid to take risks. The short-term pain of taking a risk seems more daunting than the long-term consequences, even though the long-term pain could be the loss of competitive advantage and, ultimately, the entire value of the enterprise.
Since we started really living these tools, we are now better at uncertainty than we were even two years ago. You can't go back to believing that it's too risky, you've got to keep going.
If you get the culture right, most of the other stuff — including building your brand to be about the very best customer service — will happen naturally on its own. But if you don't get the culture right, then you're not going to accomplish any of the other stuff.
As a team captain, you have to figure out how people work, you have to make sure you say the right thing to the right person… you have to know when to shout, when to listen, when to be tough and when to be kind.