A man walks into an appointment with his Doctor for a routine check up. ‘Do you feel unwell she asks, do you have any symptoms’? ‘No, I feel fine,’ the man replies and moments later finds himself back on the street.
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Dream teams are often a fantasy collection of all the talents with the assumption that individual talents will lead to team success. But individual talent is actually a poor predictor for team success. Teams with the most individually gifted members often end up less, or only equal to the sum of their parts. It takes more than talent to transcend the limitations of individuality, as all great teams are exponentially more than a collection of individuals. Here are some quick observations on great team characteristics:
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Benjamin Zander, the conductor of the Boston Philharmonic orchestra once observed that ‘the conductor of an orchestra doesn't make a sound. He depends, for his power - on his ability to make other people powerful. That process of making others powerful is an art but here are 5 thoughts on things leaders can do to help:
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Captain Charles Upham was a New Zealander and one of only three men who have been awarded the Victoria Cross and Bar and the only recipient who served as a combat solider and not a medic. The first award was made for a series of actions in the battle for Crete, and the second for actions during the Battle of Alamein.
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The Sovereign’s parade marks the culmination of the year-long commissioning course at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst. It’s an entertaining spectacle, a monument to many hours of dedicated training and effort, but also a tremendous folly and a glittering example of misplaced precision - the ability to focus intently on the wrong thing.
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There is an implicit narrative about self-discipline in pretty much everything I’ve written about in these posts. With the turn of the year and with at least a couple of lbs of spare Christmas pudding hanging around my midriff, now seems a good time to be thinking about discipline and its role in chasing our goals and improving at the things we care about.
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The use of mirrors in ballet training has a long history, dating back to the eighteenth century. The idea is that the dancer receives immediate visual feedback and using this audience point of view, is able to efficiently develop technique and style.
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John McCrae was a Lieutenant Colonel in the Canadian Army. He had previously fought as a volunteer in the Boer War and at the outbreak of the First World War, aged 41 he volunteered again and served as a gunner and a medical officer. In 1915 McCrae took part in the Second Battle of Ypres – during the battle his friend Lieutenant Alexis Helmer was killed by a canon shell as he went to check on one of their artillery positions. He was 22 years old.
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Resilience is often described as a key characteristic of a tenacious and successful leader. Here our 4 best ways to build leadership resilience.
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This post is not about compliance as a legal or regulatory requirement. It is about compliance as an attitude that means ‘do as you’re told, no questions’, with followers and team members reduced to the status of drones. Leaders aiming for this sort of compliance are kidding themselves; it’s a sure sign of having your priorities wrong.
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