About The Podcast
This podcast features Amit Somani, the Managing Partner at Prime Venture Partners, in conversation with Paddy Upton, a celebrated cricket and mental performance coach who coaches business leaders as well. Through discussing his approach towards leading the Indian National Cricket Team to victory in the ICC World Cup in 2011, Paddy uses cricket analogies to share key insights for entrepreneurs and business leaders on how to master themselves by developing the correct mindset, especially during times of uncertainty, as well as on building successful and cohesive teams.
Key Takeaways
- Every entrepreneur or leader must have self-esteem - Being comfortable with yourself reduces the pressure to win and the fear of losing. The win or loss should not have the power to make or break your self-confidence and self-esteem, since in the start-up environment, the odds are against you to succeed. If you start-up for the right reasons, i.e. to find your purpose that speaks to your deeper/spiritual self, then you will be less attached to the outcome but will focus on your journey instead. Do a personal deep-dive to understand who you truly are and what truly motivates you and not what feeds your self-esteem.
- In high-pressure situations, mental preparation is key - During high pressure moments, 80-90% of your performance is actually determined by your frame of mind at the time. While physical preparation is important before-hand, don't underestimate the importance of mental preparation; this helps reduce the pressure you feel in the moment. To mentally prepare, in advance of the situation regularly ask yourself "If I was in X situation tomorrow, would I be ready to handle it?" Once you frame your thoughts with that question, you will automatically act in ways that will prepare you for it.
- How to manage your fear - While entrepreneurs face a lot of fears like securing customers, funding, etc., it's important to realize that the fear stems from a potential FUTURE outcome. While it's good to recognize fears, don't get caught up in them. Rather, let them inspire action in the PRESENT i.e. set up contingencies in the case of those negative potential outcomes down the line.
- When hiring people, behavioral aspects are as important as technical ones - In India especially, we have always been more focused on hard skills and technical knowledge during interviews and as metrics to gauge performance by. While these are important, behavioral aspects are equally important. Try to understand what TRULY motivates a person to join a particular team, so that you can be assured that their incentives will always be aligned with the team even in difficult situations. You can gauge behavioral aspects through examining candidates' social media or via referrals from people you trust.
- Give the team autonomy - As a leader, it's important to harness collective intelligence when making decisions. Collect inputs from the team and use them to inform decisions. Further, once you have already shared your ideas with the team, trust them to devise the best ways to execute them and figure out what is REALLY important. When the team members have more autonomy in decision-making, not only do they feel more connected to the decision, but also to each other.
Notes
- Self esteem is key for entrepreneurs - In the start-up world where the odds are not in your favor as a founder to succeed, its important to have self-esteem. Of course you want to win, but you don't have to win to look good. If the success or failure of your company does not affect your confidence and belief in yourself, then you will not be attached to the results, but will be focused on the process or input metrics instead. This will take away from a lot of the pressure and fear that you feel throughout your journey.
- Separating yourself from the outcome - While this is easier said than done, the way to detach from the outcome is to do a character deep-dive into yourself. When starting up, don't just superficially identify a problem in your environment that you want to solve. Rather, delve deep and try to understand yourself at a human/spiritual level; what is it that truly motivates you? What is your purpose? What are your "God-given" talents and how can you use them productively to create value for yourself and others? If you are plugged into purpose, the motivation and determination to build something will come naturally from within you and you will care more about feeding your purpose than about winning or losing. The company you create should fulfill a deeper purpose that speaks to you, rather than aiming for money or fame.
- Dealing with pressure:
- Mentally prepare well in advance - When Paddy was preparing the Indian cricket team for the World Cup Finals, 10 months in advance during the Asia Cup itself, Paddy would ask the team before every match, "If this was the World Cup final, would we be ready to play?" This would create a framing effect in the players' minds because then they would approach the game with the perspective that they have to be ready for the World Cup final and every ball played would be in some way preparation for that match. By drilling the idea in the players' minds early on itself that they would be playing the final, it helped reduce the pressure on game day. For entrepreneurs, on important days (such as a pitch to a new high-profile VC for example), remember that mental preparation is as important as physical preparation like creating the deck, having the numbers, etc. During high pressure moments, 80-90% of your performance is actually determined by your frame of mind at the time.
- Remember that fans are there to support you, not create additional pressure - Using a cricket analogy, when walking into a stadium, don't think that you have the added burden of half a billion fans on your shoulders as well. Rather, think that the fans are walking with you onto that field. From a business perspective, remember that your investors, customers, employees and other stakeholders are all rooting for your company to succeed. Rather than being intimidated by them, channel their support to motivate you further. Don't ever act just for the purpose of proving a point to them.
- Managing your fears - Entrepreneurs have a lot of fears of not getting funding, of the competitive environment, of not getting customers, etc. Remember that fear is something that is born out of a worry about the future; it's an experience that we create for ourselves. When you're feeling fear, you're looking at things that could potentially go wrong, which is healthy. However, you need to remember to bring yourself back to the present moment, rather than getting caught up in your fears, and figure out what plans/contingencies you can put in place to prevent that situation, or to manage that situation should it occur. This spurs action and the moment you're in action and focusing on that, the fear starts to dissipate.
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💡 If you haven't mastered yourself, i.e. truly understood who you are and what you want, it is not possible to be a successful leader. You have to be comfortable with yourself, your successes and failures to be able to successfully build and lead a team.
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Team Building
- When building a team, the behavioral aspects are as important as technical skills - When hiring someone or picking them to be a part of the team, apart from just evaluating their performance, it's also important to understand what type of person they are. If they are motivated for the right reasons (i.e. they are joining this team because it serves an intrinsic/deep purpose within them), then as an entrepreneur it will dispel a lot of your fears around keeping employees motivated through tough times because they will naturally continue to be motivated. Behavioral aspects can be evaluated via going through the candidate's social media and/or getting referrals from people you trust.