R8 Media Group

7 lessons entrepreneurs can learn from Navy Seals

Scott Wagner — Sun, 11 Dec 2011 16:40:41 +0000

Here are 7 lessons entrepreneurs can learn from Navy Seals.

1. Take Decisive Action: Build your company so that you can move quickly, regardless of the situation. You won’t have perfect information. You won’t make perfect decisions. But you can’t afford to delay and ponder. Being decisive and nailing the execution will make you effective in the long run.

2. Fear Nothing: Life is full of danger. You can spend your time worrying or you can build a team, plan an attack, and go to battle. Seals volunteer for missions few people would face. But that’s not because they’re reckless. It’s because they train constantly and know their team can handle it. Put together a solid team, a sensible plan, and work your ass off and you can beat the odds.

3. Seek Excellence, not Fame: How many athletes can you name? How many politicians? How many CEO’s? Probably quite a few. How about Navy Seals? Not so many. They devote everything to mission success, but don’t go looking for headlines. Entrepreneurs should do the same. Build a great product, a great company, and a great culture. Do these things and press will come, but headlines should be a side effect and not the goal.

4. Lock and Load: “Lock and Load” literally means preparing your weapon, but also represents a state of mind. Seals don’t know when they will be called on, but are ready to perform at a moment’s notice. As an entrepreneur, opportunities will come in weird situations and you won’t have advanced notice. So be prepared to give your elevator pitch or launch an immediate demo. A 30 second chance encounter can change your life, but only if you’re locked and loaded.

5. Leave no Man Behind: Teamwork is everything. But that doesn’t end at holding meetings and dividing tasks. You should be maniacal about defending your team. Cohesive teams are forged over months and years of going to war together. Showing loyalty to your team is one of the most powerful messages in business. Missions can fail. Features can fail. Products can fail. But your loyalty should never fail. Ever.

6. Plan Your Mission, but Prepare to Pivot: Seals plan carefully. They prepare for dozens of scenarios and pay attention to every detail. Yet unknowns will always happen. Their teams are agile, handle surprises, and make adjustments on the fly. Entrepreneurs need to prepare diligently. But it’s the combination of preparation and agility that turns a good team into a great company.

7. Make Peace with Constant Chaos: You don’t know where the land mines are. You don’t know what announcements will be released tomorrow. Your life is full of legal issues, product issues, service issues, sales issues, financing issues, recruiting issues, travel issues, etc. There are always 1,000 things to do and only time for 100. Yet that will never change. So you need to make peace with the idea of being around constant chaos. Break down your mission into components, define them, plan them, execute on them, and train yourself to be calm under fire. The ability to sit amidst chaos yet focus on the task at hand and execute well is the key to running a high-growth venture (and is SOP for a Seal mission).

This post originally appeared on Keith Cowing’s blog and is republished here with permission.

Leadership Principles

Scott Wagner — Sun, 11 Dec 2011 16:39:35 +0000

1. Know Who You Are: Wear one hat

2. Know Why You’re Here: Do it because it’s right, not because it’s right for your resume’

3. Think Independently: The person who sweeps the floor should choose the broom.

4. Build Trust: Care, Like you really mean it

5. Listen For The Truth: The walls talk

6. Be Accountable: Only the truth sounds like the truth

7. Take Action: Think like a person of action, and act like a person of thought

Howard Behar, former President of Starbucks.

Leaders

Scott Wagner — Wed, 11 May 2011 12:28:28 +0000

1. Leaders relentlessly upgrade their team, using every encounter as an opportunity to evaluate, coach, and build self confidence. Take every opportunity to inject self-confidence into those who have earned it. Use ample praise, the more specific the better.
2. Leaders makes sure people not only see the vision, they live and breathe it. There were times I talked about the company’s direction so much in one day that I was completely sick of hearing it myself.
3. Leaders get into everyone’s skin, exuding positive energy and optimism. Unhappy tribes have a tough time winning.
4. Leaders establish trust with candor, transparency, and credit. Leaders never score off their own people by stealing an idea and claiming it as their own.
5. Leaders have the courage to make unpopular decisions and gut calls. Don’t run for office. You’re already elected.
6. Leaders probe and push with a curiosity that borders on skepticism, making sure their questions are answered with action. “We’ll look into it,” is the all-too-common business head fake.
7. Leaders inspire risk taking and learning by setting the example. There is no edict in the world that will make people take risks or spend their time learning.
8. Leaders celebrate. Celebrating makes people feel like winners.

–Jack Welch

Character vs. Talent

Scott Wagner — Fri, 21 Jan 2011 14:12:33 +0000

“Too often organizations have placed unfaithful people in positions of responsibility hoping to inspire a transformation of character. These have been both costly and painful decisions. When a person is placed into a position of leadership on the basis of talent, even though known to be untrustworthy, a great travesty has taken place. Power does not make a person trustworthy. Authority does not make a person responsible. When we are trustworthy, we can be entrusted with power. When we are faithful, our influence in the lives of others will naturally expand. Talent without character is a dangerous thing. Talent fueled by character is a gift from God. Character is formed in the crucible of faithfulness and refined through the gauntlet of perseverance. Remember, the shape of our character is the shape of our future. It is through the transformation of our character that God both points the way and lights our way. The character of Christ fuels us with a passion that moves naturally in the direction God desires for us.” — from Uprising, by Erwin Raphael McManus

Today Matters

Scott Wagner — Fri, 21 Jan 2011 14:12:13 +0000

Just for today … I will choose and display the right attitudes.

Just for today … I will determine and act on important priorities.

Just for today … I will know and follow healthy guidelines.

Just for today … I will communicate with care for my family.

Just for today … I will practice and develop good thinking.

Just for today … I will earn and properly manage finances.

Just for today … I will deepen and live out my faith.

Just for today … I will initiate and invest in solid relationships.

Just for today … I will plan and model generosity.

Just for today … I will embrace and practice good values.

Just for today … I will seek and experience improvements.

Just for today … I will act on these decisions and practice these disciplines,

and

Just for today … I will see the compounding results of a day lived well.

–John C. Maxwell

Covenant for Integrity of Life and Ministry

Scott Wagner — Wed, 15 Dec 2010 02:45:34 +0000

I now renew my commitment to Jesus Christ.
With God’s help, I will be a person of integrity;

I will speak and live a relevant, authentic, consistent witness
I will pursue consistent spiritual growth in the context
of an ongoing relationship with my Church and Pastor;

I will seek opportunity to serve in Christ’s name
I will honor my body as the temple of God, dedicated to a
lifestyle of purity;

I will be Godly in all things;

Christ-like in all relationships, both professional and personal;
I will live without prejudice and contempt toward those who
differ from me;

When I sin, I will repent and return to the Lord.

Be filled with the Spirit

Scott Wagner — Wed, 15 Dec 2010 02:27:39 +0000

Lord, fill me with your Spirit today. I can’t fix yesterday, and tomorrow seems a long way off.
Today, Lord: Cleanse my heart from the fleshly residue of yesterday’s fallen humanity.
Today, Lord: Scrub my thoughts and motives till they shine with singularity – wanting Your glory alone.
Today, Lord: Wash me and I will be whiter than snow, purposed afresh to follow Your footsteps.

Lord, fill me with Your Spirit today. The tasks ahead are too much. If I must go alone, I cannot go at all.
Today, Lord: I’m not smart enough to know what is best, and not strong enough to choose what is righteous.
Today, Lord: My wife, my family, my friends, my church . . . I am not sufficient for these things, and I know it.
Today, Lord: Or what unfolds in the hours ahead will fade into the abyss of worthless, wasted time.

Lord, fill me with Your Spirit right now. Come, make these 24 hours all You created them to be.Now,
Lord: You know how to ‘give good gifts’ and I am so thankful to be called Your child.
Now, Lord: By faith, I receive the Presence You’ve promised, and delight to know that Your Word is true.
Now, Lord: You are filling my life with peace and purpose and freeing my soul to sing.

Galatians 5:16, 22, Walk then in the Spirit, and you will not fulfill the desires of your flesh. The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, and self control.

R8MG Site Now Live

Scott Wagner — Tue, 05 May 2009 01:27:43 +0000

The R8 Media Group website is now live!

Welcome!

We, at R8 Media Group, are dedicated to reaching out with the message of Jesus Christ and to building up His Kingdom through quality media.

We look forward to the journey ahead!

Also, if you find anything broken or odd with our new site, please leave a comment below so we can be sure to make it right!

Enjoy!