One of the subjects I am most fascinated by is why are the best the best? What makes an elite performer? Are there unique characteristics or common threads of those who have reached the pinnacle of success in their chosen fields? This is why I wrote my book Timeless: 10 Enduring Practices Of Apex Leaders. This two-year journey was to find the answer to those questions.
It is also why I am so excited about next month’s release of Game Changer: How to Be 10x in the Talent Economy by Michael Solomon. This book will be the next step of my continual search about the secrets of high-performance.
When it comes to high-performance, few are better equipped to discuss the topic than Alan Stein Jr.. Alan teaches proven strategies to improve organizational performance, create effective leadership, increase team cohesion and collaboration, and develop winning mindsets, rituals, and routines. He also wrote my favorite high-performance book of 2019, Raise Your Game: High Performance Secrets From The Best Of The Best.
This was one of the finest books on the subject I have read. If you have not purchased a copy yet, I cannot recommend it enough. You can do so by clicking HERE or on the image above.
To give you a preview, the following are 20 Must-Read Leadership Quotes On High-Performance From Alan Stein Jr.’s Book Raise Your Game: High Performance Secrets From The Best Of The Best:
- “You get strong by going uphill.”
- “Success is a result of what we do all of the time.”
- “The happiest, most influential, and most successful people I’ve ever met are able to put their full attention into the present moment. They have learned how to focus on three things: 1. The next play 2. The controllables 3. The process.”
- “The single most important thing a person needs for success is self-awareness.”
- “You will have reached a high level of self-awareness when your evaluation of your strengths and weaknesses is aligned with your inner circle’s.”
- “Average players worry about what their coach is doing, what their teammates are doing, and what their opponent is doing, even what the referee is doing! Great players process feedback from each of those domains. But they spend each play and practice session focusing on what they’re doing and how they process what is happening. The work on their effort and attitude.”
- “When Sir Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norway became the first men in history to summit Mount Everest, they celebrated. They took it all in: for fifteen minutes. Then they climbed back down.”
- “The most successful people in any industry thrive in discomfort. Why? Because, temporary discomfort leads to permanent improvement.”
- “Someone is always watching you, and everything you do matters.”
- “The off-season is ‘the real season’, he (Kevin Durant) told me. ‘It’s where you get better.'”
- “The first thing (Kirk) Hammett did after getting the job of lead guitarist for what was about to be the biggest bank in the world (Metallica)? He hired a guitar teacher.”
- “Self Awareness + Passion + Discipline + Coachability = Confidence”
- “Vision requires an openness to exploring the new and. not, like Blockbuster and Kodak, being satisfied where you are. Remember: your comfort zone is your cage.”
- “Worldwide, only 13 percent of adults are engaged in what they do. A poll in 2015 also found 70 percent of people ‘hate’ their jobs.”
- “According to the Carnegie Institute of Technology, ‘85% of your financial success is due to your personality and ability to communicate, negotiate, and lead. Only 15% is due to technical knowledge.'”
- “Leadership is not what you say. Leadership is what you accept.”
- “I’ve been fortunate to meet with some of the all-time great coaches, and one common thread that links all of them is that they are never the kind of people who are out for themselves. They are connectors, givers, and sharers. They are servants to their players.”
- “People follow examples, not advice.”
- “(Bill) Walsh’s ‘Family Tree’ is unmatched in professional sports. In a span of thirty-six years (between 1979 and 2015), Walsh and head coaches that once worked under him had a total of 32 Super Bowl appearances and 17 championships. His legacy continued long after he left the game. As of 2008, the year after Walsh’s death, coaches trained by Walsh led 26 of the league’s 32 teams.” ***Editor’s note. For more on the brilliance of Coach Walsh, click The 17 Principles of Bill Walsh’s Standard of Performance.
- “The three most powerful things you can say to a colleague or teammate: 1. I got your back. 2. I believe in you. 3. I care about you.”
Trust me, I have just scratched the surface of the gold contained in Alan’s book. If you have not already purchased a copy of Raise Your Game: High Performance Secrets From The Best Of The Best, do so TODAY by clicking HERE. This book will make you a better leader, perhaps even an elite one.
Speaking of elite performers, during the 2019 college football season, fans were given a gift when legendary coach Urban Meyer joined Fox’s Big Noon Kickoff preview show as a studio analyst. As a three-time national championship head coach, Coach Meyer’s ability to deliver complex leadership principles with brevity and concise terminology created a compelling experience for educated and “smart” fans. Throughout the season, I captured Coach Meyer’s best leadership quotes from this weekly show. I wanted to make them available to you in this new complimentary resource Urban Meyer 2019 Fox Sports Big Noon Kickoff Ebook.
The contents includes Winning Cultures, 3 Types of Teams, Strategy and Competition, Recruiting, Rivalry Games, Personal Performance, and much, much more. Click HERE to get your complimentary copy today! Trust me – this resource will make you a better leader.