8 Principles Learned Working With The World's Elite
Jul 20, 2025
How Do you Compare?
Over 25 years working with some of the world's greatest business leaders, sports teams, and special forces units -here are the principles that separate the elite
- Elite Leaders Make Themselves Unnecessary
The best CEOs build organizations that exceed their personal contributions.
They create systems, not dependencies.
Liverpool thrived across multiple coaching changes because each leader built for succession, not just success.
- They Beat Themselves Before Competitors Can
Championship teams constantly analyze their own performance from the opposition's perspective.
They ask: "How would we defeat us?"
While competitors study last season's playbook, elite teams are already evolving beyond it.
- Failure Is Intelligence, Not Setback
Elite performers don't just bounce back from failure.
They use it as intelligence to build superior systems.
Special forces selection eliminates perfect candidates because untested people break under real pressure.
- They Focus on Process Under Scrutiny
The difference between a $100M product launch and an NFL playoff game?
Nothing.
Elite performers focus on technical execution right up to the moment, then relax completely.
- Leadership Is Always Developing Leaders (ADL)
Every day, task, and event becomes leadership development.
They don't wait for promotion to develop leaders.
They create organizational cultures where everyone thinks like a leader.
- Small Teams Beat Unlimited Budgets
Bolton Wanderers competed against Manchester United with 10x their budget.
Constraints forced systematic advantages resource-rich teams couldn't see.
Elite organizations use limitations as strategic advantages.
- They Lead Elite Talent Differently
During uncertainty, top performers become high-maintenance exactly when bandwidth is lowest.
Elite leaders provide strategic context, not motivation.
They treat elite talent as partners, not employees needing oversight.
- Isolation Is Optional
Every elite leader faces the 2 AM decision that affects thousands.
The best build principle advisors - people who've operated at equivalent pressure levels.
Championship performance isn't solo effort.
The Reality
These aren't theories.
They're battle-tested principles from the highest levels of performance.
While average organizations hope to get better, elite ones systematically build advantages that compound over time.
That's what separates champions from everyone else.
