Unstoppable Teams
The Four Essential Actions of High-Performance Leadership
Alden Mills is a three-time Navy SEAL platoon commander and the Founder/CEO of Perfect Fitness (which was one of Inc.’s fastest-growing companies in the country). He’s also the father of four boys, a great writer/storyteller and, most importantly, an inspiring human being. I loved Alden’s first book Be Unstoppable. This book (and the AMAZING Unstoppable Teams 101 class Alden created with us for our Optimizers!!) is packed with wisdom gleaned from Alden’s 25+ years of experience working with high-performing teams. It’s fantastic. Big Ideas we explore include a quick look at the CARE loop, the Whiner vs. the Whisperer (+ Samurai swords), The A in CARE, achieving over-the-horizon goals, and jumping headfirst into leading your unstoppable teams!
Big Ideas
- The CARE LoopConnect + Achieve + Respect + Empower.
- Whiners, Whisperers and Samurai Swords+ Samurai swords.
- The A in CARE: AchieveAchieving OTH’s.
- OTH + SMART GOALS+ Unstoppable teams.
- Jumping Headfirstvs. Being pushed.
“Unstoppable teams come in all shapes and sizes, but they all depend on understanding human emotions, motivations, and values. It is both complex and as simple as this: you must care. Caring is the cornerstone for building trust and persistence in any group. When people feel cared for and when they care about the tasks and goals at hand, they’re willing to step beyond their perceived limits and dare to do something greater than they originally thought possible.
I’ve spent the last thirty years daring, failing, and eventually succeeding at building just these sorts of teams–as a member of championship high school and college rowing cruise, as a Navy SEAL, as the founder of a successful startup, as a community organizer, and, yes, even as a father and a husband. Though each one of these efforts has had different objectives, they all use the same framework, same actions, and the same level of “all-in” commitment. If you’re willing to commit to caring for and serving others, then you can become a truly unstoppable force for making greatness happen.”
~ Alden Mills from Unstoppable Teams
Alden Mills is a three-time Navy SEAL platoon commander and the Founder/CEO of Perfect Fitness (which was one of Inc.’s fastest-growing companies in the country). He’s also the father of four boys, a great writer/storyteller and, most importantly, an inspiring human being.
I loved Alden’s first book Be Unstoppable. I read it years ago then read it again recently with our six-year-old Emerson. He loved it as much as I did and proceeded to quiz his mom on the eight actions to becoming unstoppable! :) (Check out Emerson making a cameo in a couple +1s on that book: UPERSIST (on the eight actions) and this one on our new family mantra: NEGU!!)
So, I was thrilled when I got an advance copy of Alden’s new book, Unstoppable Teams.
This book (and the AMAZING Unstoppable Teams 101 class Alden created with us for our Optimizers!!) is packed with wisdom gleaned from Alden’s 25+ years of experience working with high-performing teams. It’s fantastic. (Get a copy of the book here.)
I’m excited to share some of my favorite Big Ideas so let’s jump straight in!
Download MP3
Download PDFThat’s what I mean by an unstoppable team, one that brings diverse gifts to bear on the team’s goals through a shared sense of purpose and a deep commitment to each other. You can assemble as many individual superstars as you’d like, but they won’t become unstoppable unless they believe in each other and in their collective mission.
Get the BookThe CARE Loop
“So how do you get people to step outside the safety of their self-interests to join an unstoppable team? From experiencing from training, I’ve identified four actions–connect, achieve, respect, and empower–that, taken together, lie at the heart of every great team. I call it the CARE loop. When these four acts of caring are activated, anything is possible. It’s no coincidence that military strategists consider SEALs (and other military special forces) to be force multipliers ten times more effective than conventional troops. Moreover, this extreme team dynamic–what I call the 10x advantage–is not unique to the SEAL teams. It can be harnessed by any well-constructed and highly functioning small team. I’ve experienced this as a startup founder of one of the fastest-growing consumer-products companies in the country. Much like a SEAL team, my company’s power derived from a handful of people, each with a diverse background and skill set, who went all in on a shared objective: make our core product (the Perfect Push-up device) a category-defining one. The results were staggering: our team created a business that generated nearly $100 million in revenue in just two years and competed against businesses ten times its size.”
Want to create an unstoppable team?
Alden says: It’s simple. CARE.
Connect.Achieve.Respect.Empower.
His CARE loop forms the basis of his “four actions of high-performance leadership.” Each has its own chapter with compelling stories and wisdom. All of which leads to creating the 10x advantage. We’ll take a quick look at a couple aspects of the CARE loop in a moment.
But before we’re ready to lead others, we need to lead ourselves first…
What does it mean to deeply connect with others? It means you must bring curiosity, authenticity and candor, a willingness to listen, and above all else a consistency to your intent to build connections.
Whiners, Whisperers and Samurai Swords
“‘I want to let you know how to make it through Navy SEAL training. It ain’t that complicated, you know.’ He paused for effect . . . we leaned even closer to hear his answer. ‘You just have to decide how much you’re willing to pay. You see, I happen to know for a fact that about eighty percent of you aren’t going to be willing to pay the price to be a Navy SEAL.’
He paused again.
‘You see, you all want to be a SEAL on a sunny day, but your country don’t need SEALs on sunny days. She needs them on scary days.’ …
‘When it’s cold, dark, and wet and that crack over your head ain’t thunder, it’s from somebody who wants you dead… How bad you want to be a SEAL on that day?’
He let that question hang for a moment as his eyes scanned the young men standing before him.
‘Well, that’s my job—to figure out how many of you are willing to pay the price. And you know how I’m going to do it? I’m going to create a conversation between here [pointing to his head] and here [pointing to his heart].
‘And I’m going to make this conversation occur the same way those Japanese make a samurai sword.’ He holds his hands at about stomach level to demonstrate the process.
‘You know how they make that sword?’
No one responds, as he cups his left hand.
‘They take a hunk of metal, heat it up, and then’—his right hand balls into a fist and slams into his cupped left hand—‘then the swordmaker pounds on it. Then he dunks it in cold water. You know how many times he repeats that process to turn that hunk of metal into a sword?’
We slowly swayed our heads back and forth, dreading the answer.
‘About two thousand times. I figure that’s about how many times we’re goin’ do that to you over the next nine weeks in my phase.’”
Welcome to Chapter 1 called “Your Platform” in which we meet “Instructor Half Ass” aptly named for the butt cheek he lost fighting in the Vietnam War.
Alden brilliantly (!) shares this scene in his 101 class.
Once again: Before we lead others we must first lead ourselves. Which just so happens to be the theme of the 101 Mike Erwin filmed in our studios a week before Alden filmed his. Alden is a Naval Academy graduate and top SEAL commander. Mike is a West Point grad who served multiple tours as an officer in the Army before heading back to teach leadership at West Point.
His book/class? Lead Yourself First.
That book is all about using solitude to cultivate clarity, creativity, emotional balance and moral courage. What’s that help us do? Well, in part, it helps strengthens the lines of communication between our head and our hearts so we know how to show up as the best version of ourselves not just on the sunny days but on the scary ones as well.
Alden tells us we have two voices: the “Whiner” in our heads and the “Whisperer” in our hearts. We need to learn how to turn down the volume of that Whiner who’s constantly telling us all the reasons we should give up/etc. as we pay more attention to the Whisperer that’s encouraging us to stick with it and show up as our heroically best selves—ESPECIALLY when we least feel like it.
How often shall we plan to look forward to this experience?
Enter: The forging of that samurai sword.
We can expect to get pounded thousands and thousands of times. And then some more. (Have I mentioned that we’ll never be exonerated? lol)
Which reminds me of this +1 on Swords vs. Sporks.
And this wisdom from Josh Waitzkin’s The Art of Learning: “How can we incorporate these ideas into the real world? … My response is that it is essential to have a liberating incremental approach that allows for times when you are not in a peak performance state. We must take responsibility for ourselves, and not expect the rest of the world to understand what it takes to become the best that we can become. Great ones are willing to get burned time and again as they sharpen their swords in the fire. Consider Michael Jordan. It is common knowledge that Jordan made more last-minute shots to win the game for his team than any other player in the history of the NBA. What is not so well known, is that Jordan also missed more last-minute shots to lose the game for his team than any other player in the history of the game. What made him the greatest was not perfection, but a willingness to put himself on the line as a way of life. Did he suffer all those nights when he sent twenty thousand Bulls fans home heartbroken? Of course. But he was willing to look bad on the road to basketball immortality.”
Whiner vs. Whisperer.
Who’s winning that internal debate these days and how can you Optimize a little more Today?
We all have doubts about our own capabilities, but when someone we trust encourages us to persist despite our fears and reservations, we can accomplish more than we originally thought was possible.
Do you know that ninety-four percent of face-to-face communication occurs without even muttering a word? That’s right: studies have proven that most of our communication comes through body language. The other 6% is not only what you say but how you say it–your tone.
The A in CARE: Achieve
“Teams exist for one reason: to achieve results. … Unstoppable teams exist in all environments of crisis, creativity, and productivity, and they all strive to achieve to achieve goals where the outcome is uncertain--over-the-horizon goals that lie beyond our visibility and push us out of our comfort zone. OTH goals stretch into the unknown and often trigger a response of self-doubt. I liken these types of goals, where the outcome is unknown, to a person trying to navigate a small boat across an ocean--that is, a goal characterized largely by what we can’t see and cannot know in advance. How far do you think a six-foot-tall person can see if standing on top of the calm sea? I put this question before audiences all over the world, and they’re always surprised at the answer. It is not nearly as far as you think: a mere 2.9 miles (without binoculars) before the curvature of the earth curtails your field of view. Goals that appear within a line of sight are the most comforting to us because our brains crave certainty. But the goals that most unstoppable teams aspire to reach exist beyond the line of sight of any one individual. The team leader’s role is to help team members see well beyond the visible horizon and find ways to surpass real and/or imagined limitations. I refer to the team leader’s actions as the five A’s of achievement: Aspire, Assume, Assess, Assure, and Appreciate. Taken together, these five actions form the second part of the CARE loop.”
Welcome to the A in CARE: Achieve.
Once we authentically Connect (see the book and class for more on that, of course), it’s time to Achieve. Achieve what? Big, hairy, audacious, “over-the-horizon” goals that are worthy of us and DEMAND an unstoppable team.
Imagine that six-foot-tall person looking out onto the horizon.
How far can they see before the curve of the earth limits your field of view? Alden tells us it’s not as far as we may think. Not even three miles.
Which reminds me of Marcus Aurelius and island hopping and Constructive Living.
First, Aurelius. In Meditations he tells us:“Never confuse yourself by visions of an entire lifetime at once… remember that it is not the weight of the future or the past that is pressing upon you, but ever that of the present alone.”
Now island hopping. In The Procrastination Equation, leading motivation researcher Piers Steel tells us: “This is an example of a success spiral: if we set ourselves an ongoing series of challenging but ultimately achievable goals, we maximize our motivation and make the achievement meaningful, reflecting our capabilities. Each hard-won victory gives a new sense of self and a desire to strive for more. It is similar to the way Polynesian explorers colonized the South Pacific. From their home port they saw in the distance signs of a new island—a new goal—reachable if they made the proper provisions. Setting sail, they eventually made land, only to see another distant island from their new vantage point. Every step forward is enabled by the step just taken.”
And, finally, Constructive Living. What does David Reynolds tell us to ask ourselves when we feel confused or overwhelmed? Simple: “Now what needs to be done?”
Want to hit your over-the-horizon goals?
Let’s dream big but remember to never confuse ourselves with visions of a lifetime as we island hop by focusing on what’s important now. With an unstoppable team, of course. :)
P.S. Another piece of wisdom from another one of my favorite SEAL commanders comes to mind. Here’s how Mark Divine puts it in The Way of the SEAL:“The tougher things get, the smaller your goals should become. These ‘microgoals’ should be laser-focused on achievement of a target or a refined subset of your overall mission—this is benchmarking at work. While my trainees’ arms are shaking, I don’t encourage them to focus on holding their push-up position for forty-five minutes but for just one minute. During Hell Week, I didn’t focus on getting my Trident but on finishing the current physical training round safely with my team intact.
Avoid creating too many goals at one time, which can defuse your front-sight focus. Remember, SEALs focus on one mission at a time—both at the macro, or overall mission, level and at the micro, or target, level. An unrealistic time frame can also lead to frustration. Unwillingness to modify your goals to meet reality (remember that no plan survives contact with the enemy) can indicate inflexible thinking, the opposite of innovation we’re trying to cultivate. If you lack process goals or a ‘being’ purpose, you can become absorbed in achievement without enough focus on actual, lasting improvement (but understand that it’s often necessary to include achievement goals on the way to a bigger ‘being’ purpose). Finally, I can’t emphasize enough how important it is to check with yourself daily, measuring and probing your progress. This ensures you stay on track, maintain momentum, and hold yourself accountable!”
Pass the compliments around, but point the criticism at yourself ... by being quick to praise others for successes and to accept responsibility for failures you aren’t just building credibility; you’re also acting with humility and integrity.
OTH + SMART GOALS
“Remember, this book is about building unstoppable teams. These kinds of teams aren’t assembled to accomplish easily attainable goals, so-called SMART goals–specific, measurable, achievable, relevant and time-bound. I’m talking about transformative objectives that require the best from everyone, not just contributions from a few outstanding individuals. SMART goal setting works just fine when the course of action is clear and the goal is fully understood, but when you’re working outside the known and achievable, unstoppable teams, bolstered by the 5 A’s of Achievement, are required.
Extreme examples of OTH goals are building the Panama Canal, the Manhattan Project, and President Kennedy’s promise to “put a man on the moon within ten years.” It’s easy to state a bold vision, but until a leader creates a reason to believe, lofty visions are nothing more than dreams. OTH goals are not achieved overnight. They can require years of relentless action while dealing with failures, setbacks, and the toughest enemy: doubt. The team leader’s first responsibility is keeping the team connected to the purpose while reminding them of the reasons they can achieve their goal.”
Let’s continue our Achieve theme for a moment longer shall we?
First, SMART vs. OTH goals.
As I read that I thought of Charles Duhigg’s Smarter Faster Better where he basically connects the last Idea and this one: “In short, we need stretch *and* SMART goals. It doesn’t matter if you call them by those names. It’s not important if your proximal goals fulfill every SMART criterion. What matters is having a large ambition and a system for figuring out how to make it into a concrete and realistic plan.”
Plus:“So one solution is writing to-do lists that pair stretch goals and SMART goals. Come up with a menu of your biggest ambitions. Dream big and stretch. Describe the goals that, at first glance, seem impossible, such as starting a company or running a marathon.
Then choose one aim and start breaking it into short-term, concrete steps. Ask yourself: What realistic progress can I make in the next day, week, month? How many miles can you realistically run tomorrow and over the next three weeks? What are the specific, short-term steps along the path to bigger success? What timeline makes sense? Will you open your store in six months or a year? How will you measure your progress? Within psychology, these smaller ambitions are known as ‘proximal goals,’ and repeated studies have shown that breaking a big ambition into proximal goals makes the large objective more likely to occur.”
Then we have Alden’s point that if we’re going big, we need a united, unstoppable team driven by CARE. One of the biggest threats to that ambition? Doubt.
Re-enter: That sword forging process and strengthening the power of your Heart-Whisperer in the face of the shouting Whiner in your head when confronted with the inevitable doubts.
When the world is crumbling around you and you have no idea what to do your best tactic is to stay consistent.
Jumping Headfirst
“I end with this story for several reasons. First, team building and leading are a lot like taking that first jump. You’re jumping into the unknown. It’s scary, but you jump anyway. Second, we are, in effect, all packing our own parachutes. You may never find yourself on the ramp of a C–130 at 14,000 feet, but it may feel just like that when you’re faced with the task of building a team to conquer seemingly impossible obstacles. Each time you pack that parachute, you get better, more confident, and more skilled. Each jump gets a little easier.
There are three ways you can jump off the ramp (1) Be pushed, as I was the first time; (2) squat down and timidly stick one foot over the edge in an effort to get a little closer to earth, like a child jumping off the diving board for the first time; and (3) jump headfirst. The latter is best because when you jump headfirst you have to commit. Your body follows your head, and you dive out looking just like Superman flying over a building. When there’s a whole team jumping off at once, do you know how motivating it is to watch all your teammates starting off the ramp? If you’re the last one to jump, you’re literally running off the ramp and diving to catch up with them. That’s what it’s like to be all in. That’s what it’s like to be part of an unstoppable team. There are all kinds of challenges to be solved in this world, and there are all kinds of talented people waiting to team up to solve them. The question is, who will take that first jump to lead them?
The jump light for building your team just turned from red to green. Your teammates are waiting … Waiting for you to take the first step.
You are ready. The time is now. Go! Go! Go!”
Those are the final words of the book. (And the final (epic!) story Alden shares in his 101 class.)
Imagine jumping out of an airplane. Now imagine being a terrible folder. Now imagine jumping out of that plane after packing your own parachute for the first time. (YIKES!)
The first time he did it, Alden was literally PUSHED out of the plane. (Gulp.)
Then he learned to jump out HEADFIRST. (YES!!!)
Ready to be unstoppable?
Well… What’s your big, awesome, over-the-horizon goal?
I echo Alden and say that it’s time to CARE enough to do jump headfirst and lead ourselves and our unstoppable teams!
Though he [Wooden] spoke in detail about building championship teams, there is one topic he never discussed with his teams: winning. He didn’t want his teams focused on winning; he wanted them focused on giving their best efforts for the team, respecting each other, and eliminating ego from play.
About the author
