Through reflecting on her life as a firefighter and adventure racer, Robyn Benincasa has boiled down what it takes to succeed to eight key concepts – TEAMWORK.

These aren’t just theoretical ideas, but proven strategies for winning – eight steps to unlocking your leadership potential.  Here they are:

• Total commitment
  • Keep the end goal in mind. Remember, it’s not over until it’s over.
• Empathy
  • Put yourself in one another’s shoes often; focus on coaching versus criticism
• Adversity management
  • Take care of small issues before they become big problems.
• Mutual respect
  • Respect teammates; praise in public and coach in private.
• We thinking
  • Avoid competition within the team; we all finish together or nobody finishes.
• Ownership of the project
  • Give each member a role that affects the project outcome.
• Relinquishment of ego
  • Satisfy your ego with your team’s success, not your own; ask for help and ask to help.
• Kinetic leadership
  • Allow leaders to emerge; recognise and utilise individual strengths.

The book is a fantastic read – one of the most inspiring leadership books I have come across: