On the first day of 2020, I went for a run. Not because I wanted to, but out of necessity. I had consumed a few drinks the night prior, at a New Years celebration, and had wisely left the car at the venue. As you can imagine, the run wasn’t particularly easy; I was hungover, it was breezy and there were a few inclines along the 10km route that make
The first-ever WarriorU live Podcast event was successfully held at the Sir Stamford, Sydney, on Friday the 6th of December, and what an incredible night it was. Bram Connolly DSM delivered a keynote address “How to Build Resilient Teams”, followed in quick succession by ex-SASR Operator and professional Cyclist Andrew Williams with his enlightening talk “How to Truly Define your Purpose.” As if that wasn’t enough, the lads were joined
By way of introduction, my name is Major Bram Connolly. For fifteen of my twenty-year military career, I worked at the tip of the spear in Special Forces as a leader. I commanded the finest young men on reconnaissance and combat missions across multiple operational theatres including Afghanistan. These men were hand-picked, specially selected and specially trained at great expense. Most of the tasks we conducted were long-range vehicle patrols,
Imagine this, you are the expedition leader to summit Mt Everest. The weather is closing in fast and you and your party had planned to have the climb completed two hours prior. One person is showing the first signs of altitude sickness and your team have just run out of oxygen bottles. There are seventy feet left to climb. It seems simple on the face of it; stop here and
We are surrounded by stimulus. Some of the stimulus is important and some of its just white noise distracting us from our mission. Some of the stimulus we bring on ourselves, while most of it is a natural reaction to the environment that we are operating in. Early on as a platoon commander in Afghanistan, I was often overwhelmed by stimulus. I had a radio handset on my body armour
Bottom Line Up front: Think of leadership like this – You are tentatively balanced on a seesaw. One foot on the left and one foot on the right. If there is too much weight or effort exerted on either side, then it’s no longer leadership – it’s a bad character trait. The left of the seesaw is arrogance, narcissism and bullying. The right of the seesaw is modesty, altruism and
Training Communication is a skill! It’s a rare exception for someone to be a great oral communicator without any form of training. Communicating complex issues is a highly prized skill. It requires a leader to be able to break down issues into component parts. It’s a skill to convey concepts so that they are easily understood. The maxim of practice, practice, practice; is the key here. The new leader needs
Focus is everything Let me start with a simple question. What does a monk, a ballerina, a special forces soldier and an elite athlete have in common? The answer is equally simple. All of them, the monk, the ballerina, the soldier and the athlete have mastered something psychologists call flow. Remember that saying “go with the flow”? Remember that time when everything fell into place and you seemed to be almost on
On the first day of 2020, I went for a run. Not because I wanted to, but out of necessity. I had consumed a few drinks the night prior, at a New Years celebration, and had wisely left the car
The first-ever WarriorU live Podcast event was successfully held at the Sir Stamford, Sydney, on Friday the 6th of December, and what an incredible night it was. Bram Connolly DSM delivered a keynote address “How to Build Resilient Teams”, followed
By way of introduction, my name is Major Bram Connolly. For fifteen of my twenty-year military career, I worked at the tip of the spear in Special Forces as a leader. I commanded the finest young men on reconnaissance and
Imagine this, you are the expedition leader to summit Mt Everest. The weather is closing in fast and you and your party had planned to have the climb completed two hours prior. One person is showing the first signs of
We are surrounded by stimulus. Some of the stimulus is important and some of its just white noise distracting us from our mission. Some of the stimulus we bring on ourselves, while most of it is a natural reaction to
Bottom Line Up front: Think of leadership like this – You are tentatively balanced on a seesaw. One foot on the left and one foot on the right. If there is too much weight or effort exerted on either side,
Training Communication is a skill! It’s a rare exception for someone to be a great oral communicator without any form of training. Communicating complex issues is a highly prized skill. It requires a leader to be able to break down
Focus is everything Let me start with a simple question. What does a monk, a ballerina, a special forces soldier and an elite athlete have in common? The answer is equally simple. All of them, the monk, the ballerina, the
