Every Sunday morning, Jonathan and I send out our Weekly Profile email to our subscribers with articles to support our nation’s protectors. By selecting articles that come from business, decision-making, training and threat recognition, our goal is to help professionals in dangerous jobs find solutions to problems by considering perspectives to specific situations from outside of their particular field. Here is this week’s email.
To receive these articles in your inbox every Sunday morning, you can subscribe here.
The articles that we chose this week weren’t intentionally selected because they are storylines from a Rocky movie, but after watching the movie Creed this past week, I can’t help but notice the similarities. From overcoming initial obstacles, having setbacks along the way, training in an environment of constraints, having a compelling story and knowing when to be competitive and when not to be are themes in nearly every Rocky movie and likewise are in this week’s articles.
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So cue “Eye of the Tiger” and start your training montage with the five articles we read this week and wanted to pass along.
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1.
“Transaction Cost.” This article from the
Making Sense blog is a must read for professional trainers. While many of the trainers that I talk to are striving to improve the performance of their students, the fact that life goes on for a seminar attendee once the class is over is a major obstacle to be dealt with. By applying an economics perspective to this challenge, Dr. Leon Standler’s article might be the help you need to find a way to keep your students engaged following time spent in the classroom.
You can find the article here.
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. “Failing Forward: What We Miss In a Search For Perfection.” This article from Thom Dworak of the Virtus Group (the hosts of the
WINx Conference) looks at the role that failure plays in the development of new police officers in non-critical situations. This article caught our attention because as we seek to develop protectors who can adapt to changing situations and can rely on their judgment while operating in uncertainty, the limitations that come with a zero-defect mentality can do more harm then good.
You can read the article here.
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3.
“The Case Against Startups Raising As Much Money As Humanely Possible.” This
Fast Companyarticle shows how some of history’s most innovative companies were built not only in an environment of constraints, but also designed to solve massive problems that the world faced. There is a line in the article that says, “there is nothing that brings people together like stress and necessity,” and as our country certainly has some pressing problems that need to be solved, there is a lot of room for people to build profitable companies who see the way forward in these areas. Often times, our nation’s protectors operating on the ground might see ways to fix the system that they are tasked with protecting, and if that is you,
you can find the article here.
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“The Importance of Storytelling Ability.” Winning isn’t always about facts or rational thought, more often it is about motivating people to act through emotion. As the article’s author, Ben Carlson from the
Wealth of Common Sense blog, highlights, transparency and honesty are often the sources for the most compelling narratives, Whether you are looking to drive social change, be a stronger presenter, grow your business, or counter the narratives being told by our adversaries, the ability to tell stories s a key skill worth developing.
You can find the article here.
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“Situationally Competitive vs. Always Competitive.” This article from Ben Casnocha highlights two key components to emotional intelligence (EQ): self-awareness and self-regulation. While he never actually uses these words, as he tells the story of a team building exercise dominated by overly aggressive “leaders”, simply ask yourself, are you more likely to follow someone who is situationally competitive or always competitive?
You can find the article here..
Until next week – get left of bang and stay there.
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