A few weeks ago, I got a question from a Work on the Edge Listener. On today’s show, I’ll take a crack at answering the question in true Work on the Edge fashion.

The question I got was this: How do you become authoritative without authority?

This is an excellent question, and one that many people would probably like an answer to. But in that question I sensed that there was actually a different question that the person wanted to ask but didn’t.

In the episode, you’ll learn:

* What question I think this person was really asking

* Why this person asked a different question that the one they really wanted answered

* Why there’s a stigma against telling someone you want to be a leader

* The REAL job that most Americans won’t do

* Why even people at the top actually lead from the bottom

* How you actually serve more people than you realize

* Why new members of a team often have additional “tasks”

* Why deciding to help someone is nothing special

* The simple way to make hard decisions easier

* Why it doesn’t matter if people like you

* About my attempt to become the 2nd best thing to being a Navy SEAL

* And much more

RESOURCES MENTIONED IN THE SHOW:

Help me be a Super Plunger!

WOTE Introduction Episode-Learn what it means to be a professional

In true Work on the Edge fashion, I will take another crack at debunking a myth that many of us hold about teams.

“A chain is only as strong as it’s weakest link.” This is another piece of cliche’ nonsense that many of us believe because that’s what we’ve been told. Work on the Edge is about challenging your assumptions to find the Edge, the advantage, in every situation. Instead of believing that our weak links are holding us back, I’ll propose that we should in fact be thankful for them.

On this episode you will learn:

* What exactly are the weak links that every team has

* What winners like Vince Lombardi and John Wooden have in common

* One thing that weak links force you to do to help you avoid the Best Practices Trap

* What is Organizational Intertia?

* What Spartan warriors have to say about weak links…you are probably going to be surprised. I was

* What Ostriches and Cheetahs can teach us about dealing with weak links

* How human teams are similar to and different from steel chains, and why this metaphor doesn’t always work

* The extent of my knowledge about gardening (Not much)

* Why human chains are NOT as strong as their weakest links, but are as strong as THIS instead

* And much more

RESOURCES MENTIONED IN THE SHOW

When Pride Still Mattered: A Life of Vince Lombardi

Gates of Fire: An Epic Novel of the Battle of Thermopylae

Episode #006 I Screwed Up (Episode on Mistakes)

Episode #002 How to Avoid the Best Practices Trap

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Thanks so much, I really appreciate it.

On this episode, we are going to talk about the unique relationship that high-stakes professionals have with mistakes and failure.

Mistakes. Many of us would rather not think about them, let alone make some ourselves. In high-stakes situations, how we handle the mistakes others make, but more importantly, how we handle ourselves when we make a mistake are of huge importance. Working on the Edge is about creating an advantage, an edge, from every situation, even the negative ones. We are going to talk today about how high-stakes professionals should deal with mistakes

On this episode, you will learn:

* What a terrible singer I am

* The 3 different types of mistakes and how they are different

* The difference between Time on the Job vs. Experience

* When mistakes are acceptable and when they aren’t

* How to evaluate judgement calls

* Why Michael Jordan is wrong about the source of his success

* Why people that care more about something actually make more mistakes

* How to use the Use of 4C concepts to turn mistakes into advantage

* Why I almost stole a Delorian

* And much more

RESOURCES MENTIONED IN THE SHOW

The Rise of Superman-Steven Kotler

Peak: Secrets from the New Science of Expertise-Anders Ericson

Intro to the Work on the Edge Podcast

Start with Why-Simon Sinek

Start with Why TED talk

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On the episode of the Work on the Edge Podcast, we are going to talk about how to handle a crisis like a professional.

As a high-stakes professional, you no doubt handle a larger share of crisis than the average citizen. Along the way, I’ve picked up some tips on how to handle crisis situations from people who have spent the better part of their lives handling crisis professionally. I’m going to share with you what I’ve learned.

On this episode, you’ll learn:

* What sends my team into crisis mode

* How a crisis is different for a high-stakes professional than it is for a regular citizen

* The secret you must keep from yourself in a crisis

* The ultimate gift to give yourself during a crisis

* Two factors that influence the ability to stay calm in a crisis

* The value of humility when confronting a crisis

* How doing this thing wrong can make a bad situation worse

* The difference between Reality and Truth

* What to do when you don’t know what else to do

* How to never let a good crisis go to waste

If you would like the outlines that I use to prepare the shows emailed to you, put your name in the box below.

Please subscribe and review the Work on the Edge Podcast HERE

Feel free to contact me HERE if you have any questions or have an idea for a show you would like me to talk about

On this episode of the Work on the Edge Podcast, I am going to tell you why you should always be trying to keep “the man” down, and why this is important for high-stakes decision making.

It’s not what it sounds like, I promise. When I say “the man”, I’m using that as an expression to mean the person with the ultimate decision making authority.  In high stakes situations, it is essential that we keep “the man” as low as possible for as long as possible.

On this episode, you’ll learn:

* Why NO is the default answer in too many situations

* How trust is a pyramid scheme

* The difference between responding to the environment and shaping the environment

* How keeping the man down creates more confident organizations and teams

* The 3 conditions necessary to keep the man down successfully

* The 4 qualities you can develop that will ensure you are able to accept any responsibility someone is willing to give you-And the goofy name I gave them to make it easier to remember

Be sure to get your your free audio book by clicking HERE or putting your name in the box below. I’ll also email a PDF outline to you in case you need something visual to refer back to.

On this episode of the Work on the Edge Podcast, we are going to talk about one of the biggest misconceptions about teamwork, the idea that there is no “I” in team.

We’ve all heard it, we’ve probably said it, and we may even teach it to our kids. The old cliche’ “There’s no I in team.”

At Work on the Edge, I like to take beliefs that we generally accept as true and really look into them and see if our beliefs are actually serving us in a useful way. As a high-stakes professional, you no doubt work closely with others, probably in a team environment. Doesn’t it make you all warm and fuzzy to believe “There’s no I in team”? Isn’t it a good idea to think that team is more important than the individual? I don’t think so, especially in high-stakes situations.

In this episode you’ll learn:

* Why there is really no such thing as a team

* Why I went overboard with wolf metaphors

* That there is actually an “I” in team, at what it is

* What high-stakes professionals (Edge Pros) can learn from outlaw motorcycle gangs

* The common misconception of individual efforts

* The 3 part process to becoming more of an individual on your team

* And much more

On this episode of the Work on the Edge Podcast, we are going to talk about the concept of Best Practices…and how sometimes they aren’t

It seems these days that many people and organizations are very concerned with making sure they are conforming to the recognized “Best Practices” of their profession. The reason for this is that people and organizations want to feel assured that they are doing things in the best possible manner and that they are not opening themselves up to liability for not following what others believe to be the appropriate course of action.

In this episode, you’ll learn:

* An example of a time when people in my own profession fell victim to the Best Practices trap

* Why relying on Best Practices to make us better often has the opposite effect

* How instead of operating using Best Practices to limit liability, that it instead opens you up to more potential liability, the exact opposite of what we intend

* How relying on Best Practices decreases overall confidence in individuals and organizations

* Actionable strategies to help you avoid the Best Practices trap

* Questions to ask when if feels like you are falling victim to the Best Practices trap

* And much more

 

On this episode of the Work on the Edge Podcast, we are going to discuss the differences between amateurs and professionals.

Many people, when they think of these differences will think of the number of mistakes someone makes being the difference between amateurs and professionals. This has nothing to do with it.

Many people will think of those who get paid to do something as professionals and those who do it for fun as amateurs. This is not the kind of professional I’m talking about either.

When you need to decide if the person you are dealing with is a professional or an amateur OR you are trying to move from being an amateur to being a professional yourself, this show is for you.

On this episode, you’ll learn:

* The counter-intuitive way that amateurs and professionals approach asking questions

* Whether amateurs or professionals are more concerned with getting good results…you may be surprised

* In what way professionals are much more selfish than amateurs

* The difference in the way amateurs and professionals approach criticism and being critical

* The types of knowledge that are most important to professionals and amateurs

* Why skills are more important to amateurs than professionals

* And much more…

Be sure to get your FREE audio version of my book “The Confidence Conundrum: How competent people are destroying their confidence and don’t even know it.” You can download it for free HERE

Listen in to the introductory episode of the podcast the hear what Work on the Edge is all about and if it’s right for you.

The Work on the Edge Podcast is about the Mindset, Motivation, and Methodologies of High-Stakes Professionals.

In this introduction episode, you’ll learn:

* What exactly is a Professional? And what is a High-Stakes Professional (Edge Pro)?

* Why the Mindset of a High-Stakes professional is so important

* The types of topics we’ll be talking about throughout the podcast episodes

* Where the name for the podcast came from

* Who this show is for…and maybe more importantly who it’s NOT for

* My background and reason for doing this podcast

* What types of things are planned for the Work on the Edge community

 

If you have any questions or want to connect, feel free to contact me HERE