I really enjoyed this book and the relentless focus on not being self-indulgent, but looking to improve your business and your personal and team performance. Some great practical tips – like start an activity for just 10 minutes – you then break the procrastination and often work for longer.
Here are the top 10 lessons for business leaders from the book “Will It Make The Boat Go Faster?” by Ben Hunt-Davis and Harriet Beveridge:
- Have a clear vision: Business leaders should have a clear, compelling vision that inspires and motivates their team to achieve their goals.
- Focus on what matters: Leaders should prioritise the actions that will make the biggest difference to achieving their vision.
- Develop a winning mindset: Leaders should cultivate a mindset that is focused on success and overcoming obstacles.
- Embrace failure: Leaders should view failure as a learning opportunity and use it to improve their performance.
- Build a winning team: Leaders should surround themselves with people who share their values and are committed to achieving the team’s goals.
- Communicate effectively: Leaders should communicate clearly and regularly with their team, ensuring that everyone is aligned and working towards the same goals.
- Set clear goals: Leaders should set clear, measurable goals that are challenging but achievable.
- Create a culture of excellence: Leaders should foster a culture of excellence by setting high standards and holding themselves and their team accountable.
- Prioritise preparation: Leaders should invest in preparation and planning, ensuring that their team is ready to tackle any challenge that comes their way.
- Perform under pressure: Leaders should develop the skills to perform under pressure, staying focused and resilient in the face of challenges and setbacks.
With its winning mix of gripping narrative and easy-to-implement performance-raising tips, this book has become a best-selling classic. It’s garnered five-star reviews and wide-ranging endorsements – from Sebastian Coe and Dame Kelly Holmes to Lord Digby Jones.
The book tells the inspiring story of how Ben Hunt-Davis – an ordinary guy on an ordinary team – achieved something pretty extraordinary: Olympic gold. Co-author Harriet Beveridge, executive coach, then gives a simple, engaging account of how we can apply these strategies to raise our own game…in sport, in business, and in life.
Building on the huge success of the original, this second edition includes two completely new chapters – on high-performance conversations and performance under pressure – as well as a general update based on the successes people and businesses have reaped from the first edition.
In the book’s signature down-to-earth and practical style, the new chapters unlock simple ways for listeners to thrive in their own pressured environments and to communicate in ways which consistently improve results.
Whether you are a business leader looking to achieve a compelling vision, an individual with a dream, or a coach supporting others to unlock their potential, this book is jam-packed with tried and tested methods to help you achieve your own “gold medal”.