Warner & Swasey were a well-known US tool hire company. In the 1950’s they ran an advert with the tag line, ‘The man who needs a new machine tool, and hasn’t bought it, is already paying for it.’ Charlie Munger, Warren Buffet’s business partner at Bekshire Hathaway recalled the line and underlined the truth of it.
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Most teams are weak because they have a deficit of trust and inadequate relationships between team members. Almost every problem or performance issue will relate at root to the deficiency of these two qualities.
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In the Armed Forces of the United States there is an award known as the Presidential Unit Citation. It is a collective award given to a unit in the US military of Allied Forces that shows extraordinary heroism against an armed enemy.
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This is a super short précis of 10 characteristics that set high performing Elite teams apart. You can use these as health markers for you to assess the health and performance of your own teams and organization.
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Authority [mass noun] the power or right to give orders, make decisions, and enforce obedience: he had absolute authority over his subordinates. An ‘authority gradient’ is a way of imagining how far and how steep the gap is between leaders and team members.
Read OnCheck out the TEDx presentation from Olympic performance psychology coach and former GB athlete Charlie Unwin talking about one of the secrets of elite performance.
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I had the privilege once of meeting Prince Philip and the Queen and talking with them briefly about life in the military and work we had been conducting. It was just one of their engagements, no doubt lost in the memory to them but precious to me like so many others whose lives they have touched.
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he quote above is often attributed to Bob Marley, though more likely the expression was first coined by Roger Miller, a popular US country singer and song writer, best known for the hits 'King of the Road' and 'Dang Me'. Whoever said it, it captures something.
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The 3 most important ski turns on a descent are the last 3 you make before you get back in the lift for the top. Why should that be the case? It's easy at the end of the run to relax and drift into bad form, an issue because sub-consciously that's what you take back up the mountain with you. That's why the habit of making the last 3 turns the best is important.
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In November 1939 the Soviet Union invaded Finland with an army of nearly half a million men. They outnumbered the Finns more than 3-1 but worse than that, the Soviet Union had 6,000 tanks and 4,000 aircraft. The Finns had 32 tanks and 114 aircraft. Against overwhelming odds and in brutal winter conditions where the temperature was frequently – 40 degrees, the Finns relied on a part of their culture called Sisu. The word has no direct translation in English but as a concept it means continuing to act even in the face of overwhelming odds and in spite of every failure and setback. It is about perseverance beyond the limits of physical and mental endurance
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