The methods that build and sustain high performance Special Forces teams are directly applicable to business. This means building teams that are highly motivated and engaged, who have a clear sense of direction that stems from strong values that are lived out day by day. It means using all the available experience and expertise in the team to make good decisions, even in complex ambiguous and stressful environments. Our approach is to distill what makes Special Forces teams so successful and model this in combination with lessons and experience contributed by others with a similar background in developing high performance in order to apply these lessons to business.
Leadership is a practical subject, our approach wherever possible focuses on doing. Practice provides greater insight, a better environment in which to learn and consequently the ‘stickiness’ you need to take your learning back to work and embed it. In a recent study performed at the University of Texas, researchers found that individuals retain a mere 10 percent of what they read and 20 percent of what they hear; however, they retain 90 percent of what they do. Adults remember more by doing than by merely reading or listening.
'Tell me and I forget, teach me and I may remember, involve me and I learn' - Benjamin Franklin
Decision Making
How does your organisation make decisions? Is it effective and timely? Does it provide the sort of clarity and buy in you need for the team?
Communicating
Nobody is going to follow if you can’t communicate – how do you get your message across in a way that is understood and gets people committed and excited?
Cultures
What are the norms of behaviour in your organisation? What are your organisational and personal values? Are they effective in aligning everyone to the goals of the organisation, or are there behaviours that cause friction and damage performance? What is a good culture and how do you create it?