Category: Blog

Leaders must have a vision. AND they must have an edge in order to implement that vision. No vision comes to fruition without hard decisions, hard climbs, hard conversations. Without an edge a vision is relegated to a pleasant dream. Soothing to think about, but no hope of becoming reality. So leader, if you've got … Continue reading Vision needs edge

Thermometers measure the temperature, thermostats change it. Leaders must be able to gauge the temperature of the room and adjust it accordingly. If it's too high - if the team is at each other's throats about something, or perhaps panicking over sub-optimal news - the leader must be able to lower it. Calm the room. … Continue reading Thermostats

KISS (Keep it simple, stupid) is a well known design principle first coined by the US Navy back in 1960. It's a great reminder of the power of "making things as simple as possible" - a phrase coined earlier by a dude named Einstein.  During a recent BTL team practice, I shared my tweak to … Continue reading KISS…

If you want to know true capacity, measuring is best done in absolute rather than relative terms. In other words, if you want to know what you or your system is capable of, measure your growth against your own standard, and set it aggressively high. If you're measuring your improvement or standings relative to a … Continue reading Absolute vs relative

At BTL we believe there is great power when one turns routines into rituals. The difference? Routines are good. Rituals? Sacred. This past month I took one of my morning routines (reading and writing) and made a slight change. I made a decidre (Latin - to cut off). I decided to start my day reading … Continue reading Routines to rituals…

Life is hard. Designed to be difficult. And, life is beautiful. Designed to bring us joy. Keep making yourself move. This morning, Littlest, Brother Mick, and I moved it out for 48 beautiful miles in the central ohio countryside. Littlest has two bad Achilles tendons. Getting an MRI next week. Doc’s can’t figure out what’s … Continue reading Together…

Yesterday, we held practice ONE.35 with a team of golfers. It was early am on U.S. Amateur final qualifying day for four of them. They all showed up early for BTL team practice before teeing it up under the pressure and in the heat. Both coaches were there. We talked about Matt Biondi from back … Continue reading Lil Jeggie…

Reaching new levels of success or excellence is usually pretty simple. Very difficult, but simple nonetheless. A client of mine identified the one thing that was the biggest driver of his success, and he's been a maniac in focusing on that one thing. All of the relevant output metrics have just about doubled in a … Continue reading The one thing