What I Learned On The Ski Slopes This Weekend

I spent the weekend skiing in Park City, Utah and met up with a few professional business strategists that made some interesting points to me.

I will try to brief you below:

1. Overreaching is the biggest cause of corporate failure. Do what you know.

2. No one gets better without getting worse. Examples - The US Army drives recruits in basic training to the point where they are bound to fail. The training breaks recruits down so they can move up. You can't get better until you see yourself fail.

3. Get the people right, not the right people. This is the case I witnessed first hand last year when I spent time on the USS Truman, Naval Aircraft Carrier. This is the largest ship in the US military and it was run by 3,800 enlisted men (average age 19) and 200 officers. The Navy doesn't have the ability attract only the best and the brightest, so they focus on changing recruits into the right people for the job.

4. Absorb Anxiety - Saving Private Ryan is the best example of how the military handles this. Gripes should always go up the chain of command never down. A manager always should be optimistic yet realistic with his/her direct reports.

5. Convert anxiety to opportunity. Its a manager's job to help his/her reports convert their fears into opportunities for success. Examples - during the Olympics when a gymnast is doing a tough move, her coach will get close to provide a safety net if she falls. This eliminates the fear so she can focus only on success.

6. Stress is a major factor in loss of productivity. MRI brain studies show that the same brain patterns for pain are present in the brain when someone fears imminent pain. When people are subject to pain, they react with tunnel vision and are not focused on the big picture. Again, its a managers job to eliminate the fears so people can be more productive. Its a direct report's job to bring the problems and concerns up to your supervisor, so s/he knows of the issue at hand. Fear is something not always apparent in people.

7. A leader must see things as they are, but not take his eye off the goal or big picture.

8. Hold hands in traffic. - Teams need to work together, not against one another, during difficult times. In the military one of the biggest problems during a firefight is not being shot by the enemy, its being shot by your own. In times of chaos - like these economic times- we need to hold hands and communicate with each other, if we are going to make it out alive.

Please think about how you can take the above and work them into your daily lives
If anyone has any questions on these items please contact me directly.

Thanks for Making it Happen.
Nick