Greatness, Biles, Mickelson, Inefficiencies, Think For Yourself
“If you walk by something that is substandard, and you do nothing, it becomes the new standard.” - Bob Kerrey, Former Senator
Good morning, coaches!
Today we have:
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Here we go!
✍️ ARTICLES
***Must Read*** Whiplash and Extreme Greatness: There is a difference between being “great” and being “one of the greats.” Those who are in the latter category have an obsession with their craft and won’t let anything get in their way (Kobe Bryant, Kyrie Irving, Elon Musk).
As I’ve studied individuals of many professions who would fall into the “one of the greats” category, it seems that they’ve made a deliberate decision to pursue this type of greatness — fully knowing the price tag.
Simone Biles and Team USA Redefine Mental Toughness: This read takes a look back at the impact and situation around Simone Biles at the Olympics earlier this year.
"Prioritizing mental health and knowing one's limits takes courage in a society that tends to put performance and profits above wellbeing."
🎙️ PODCASTS
The Ed Mylett Show: Visualize Your Victory w/ Phil Mickelson. Mickelson is a great interview about his process and approach to perfecting his craft. In this episode, he talks about what drives him, his use of visualization and meditation, how he thinks about practice and approaching tournaments, and how he has focused more on taking care of his health as he got older. This is a great listen on achieving high performance. [May 19, 2020–52 minutes] iTunes Podcast | Spotify | Google | Breaker | Website Link
“What drives me is my passion and love for the game of golf and the challenge of trying to do something that others can’t.”
The Twenty Minute VC: 20VC: Sequoia’s Doug Leone. Leone is the Global Managing Partner at Sequoia Capital, one of the world’s most renowned and successful venture firms that’s behind 350-400 IPO’s now worth ~$6.5 TRILLION. The majority of the episode is on the qualitative aspects of running a firm in a way that enables people to perform at their best. He shares the principles of the firm, his maturation process as a leader, and how he’s created a culture that results in employees putting the success of the firm over themselves. [September 14, 2021–49 minutes] iTunes Podcast | Spotify | Google | Breaker | Website Link
“Sequoia is a team, not a family.”
💭 MISCELLANEOUS
Embrace Inefficiencies (via Jason Fried, Basecamp CEO):
“Further, we're going invest in other forms of resiliency and redundancy throughout the company. Historically we've run Basecamp with an eye towards efficiency. We've run exceptionally lean, and to great effect. But running on 3% body fat forever isn't healthy over the long term. We need more inefficiency! More people not assigned to specific work. More roamers, more room to move, slide, and adjust. More ability to pick up reactive work as it comes, rather than always being focused on the work we define up front. And there probably shouldn't be only one person who can do a specific job.”
Must-read thread below…
📺 VIDEO
The Four Most Dangerous Words? A New Study Shows | Laura Arnold | TEDxPennsylvaniaAvenue: Arnold is the co-chair of the Laura and John Arnold Foundation (which is probably the largest philanthropic organization in the U.S. that you haven’t heard of). She shares why ‘new studies’ aren’t always trustworthy or replicable and serves as a good reminder to not trust a blind study, whether it’s with public health or an analytics study for your sport.