#1891 They Just Keep Coming

In our last couple +1s, we’ve been hanging out with Sam Walker and learning more about his historically great teams and the qualities of the captains that led them.

As you may recall, the SEVEN qualities of Heroically elite captains include:

1. Extreme doggedness and focus in competition.
2. Aggressive play that tests the limits of the rules.
3. A willingness to do thankless jobs in the shadows.
4. A low-key, practical, and democratic communication style.
5. Motivates others with passionate nonverbal displays.
6. Strong convictions and the courage to stand apart.
7. Ironclad emotional control.

(You crush those qualities as the captain of all the teams YOU lead? Awesome. 🙌 )

Today I want to chat about that first quality…

EXTREME DOGGEDNESS.

Let’s get to work.

Sam tells us: “It should come as no surprise that [Yogi] Berra, or any athlete who makes it to the highest level of sports, was unusually determined. But the brand of perseverance Berra and the other Tier One captains showed is peculiar, even among the elite.”

He continues by saying: “The main point of difference is that their natural ability seemed to bear no relation to the size of their accomplishments. Something enabled them to set aside their limitations and tune out the skepticism from their critics. But what was it? What allows some people to press on until they achieve mastery?”

That’s from the first chapter of Part II in the book featuring the first trait of elite captains.

The chapter is called: “They Just Keep Coming: Doggedness and Its Ancillary Benefits.”

So...

Yogi Berra was the captain of the New York Yankees team that made the list of all-time greats.

Sam gives us a snapshot of his career and tells us just how BAD he was at the beginning of his career and just how HARD he worked to become great.

And...

You know how Sam answers the question he posed about what allows some people to press on until they achieve mastery?

He tells us about Carol Dweck.

As you know if you’ve been following along, I’m a HUGE (!) fan of Dweck and her research on the growth mindset. As I have mentioned MANY (!) times, her two books have shaped my parenting philosophy more than any other.

In Mindset, Dweck tells us: “The passion for stretching yourself and sticking to it, even (or especially) when it’s not going well, is the hallmark of the growth mindset. This is the mindset that allows people to thrive during some of the most challenging times in their lives.”

While in Self-Theories she tells us: “The hallmark of successful individuals is that they love learning, they seek challenges, they value effort, and they persist in the face of obstacles.”

If you were a fly on the wall of the Johnson house, you’d hear Alexandra and I CONSTANTLY chatting about these ideas with Emerson and Eleanor.

I remember Dweck emphasizing the importance of relentlessly (and exclusively!) praising EFFORT rather than TALENT. And, modeling a love of challenges for your kids. She encourages us to literally (!) rub our hands together when facing a challenge and say: “I love challenges!”

So...

That’s what I’ve done over and over and over again.

Then there’s Angela Duckworth.

No discussion of “extreme doggedness” in pursuit of mastery would be complete without discussing her ideas on how to cultivate Grit.

Again, as we’ve discussed countless times, her definition of grit is INTENSE PASSION (a deep, intrinsic, sustained love for what you do) matched with INTENSE PERSEVERANCE (a deep, relentless drive to show up and do your best).

You put those two things together and give yourself enough time and... voilá.

You have a VERY good shot at mastery.

Which leads us to another one of the key things I strive to bring to my parenting. I talk about it in this +1 called Effort Counts Thrice. Here’s the abridged take...

Duckworth created an equation for achievement. She tells us that Talent (which she defines as the speed with which you can acquire Skill) matters. But Effort counts TWICE.

Here’s the equation: You start with Talent x Effort. That creates Skill. Then you take that Skill and multiply it by MORE Effort to produce Achievement.

I taught that equation to Emerson. I quiz him on that (and all the other stuff we chat about!) all the time. After he won his division of the San Antonio City chess championships (and officially became a professional chess player with a $150 prize check at 10 years old—hah!), I turned on my iPhone camera to record a video of him sharing Duckworth’s equation. You can watch it here.

After a couple takes he nailed it.

Only...

He added an EXTRA line.

He started by saying that Talent x Effort = Skill. Then he said that Skill x more Effort = Achievement. THEN he added a line about the fact that Achievement x MORE Effort = Mastery.

And…

That’s Today’s +1.

Want to achieve Mastery in YOUR life?

(Me, too.)

Let’s remember: Effort counts thrice.

Here’s to the “extreme doggedness” that forges greatness.

Let’s have fun giving the world all we’ve got.

TODAY.

P.S. Josh Waitzkin comes to mind. Josh was a young chess prodigy. He’s featured in Searching for Bobby Fischer. He wrote a book called The Art of Learning. In that book, he tells us: “One thing I have learned as a competitor is that there is a clear distinction between what it takes to be decent, what it takes to be good, what it takes to be great, and what it takes to be among the best.”