Navigating the Impossible

Build Extraordinary Teams and Shatter Expectations

Jason Caldwell

• Publisher: Berrett-Koehler Publishers
• Year: 2019
• eBook ISBN: 9781523086733
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Business
• Subtopic: History of Modern Art
• Index: Business

World-record endurance athlete and professional leadership coach Jason Caldwell draws on his amazing experiences to show how anyone can build and lead teams that accomplish incredible things. Thirty-five days, 14 hours, and 3 minutes. That's how long it took Jason Caldwell and the crew of the American Spirit to row 3, 000 miles across the Atlantic Ocean during the 2016 Talisker Whiskey Atlantic Challenge—or, as it's known to those who attempt it, "The World's Toughest Row." They not only succeeded but set a world record. This was an extraordinary team effort. And that's what this book is about. Caldwell transfers the hard-won lessons of his transatlantic adventure out of the ocean and into your office, showing how to build and lead teams that do what others say cannot be done and sustain that level of performance. The thrilling details of Caldwell's quest to break the world's record deliver a "just-one-more-page" experience, during which you'll also learn lessons like • How to quit like a winner
• Why results aren't the measure of a high-performance team
• What four questions you should ask yourself before you set any goal
• How to harness the power of emotion-first leadership
• Why the best people aren't necessarily the right people for your team This book is a distillation of Caldwell's worldwide speaking programs delivered to packed crowds at Fortune 500 companies and universities worldwide. It is the answer to a question he is constantly asked: How were you and your teams able to accomplish such seemingly impossible goals? And it's also a guidebook that can teach anyone how to do the same.

INDEX

Abrahams, Harold, 31

Airbnb, 13–15

American Spirit (boat), 79, 83, 86, 89, 91, 92, 124, 131

Angus Collins and, 78, 84, 114–115

building of, 70, 78, 84

cabin, 126

description, 78

practice jaunts, 82

speed, 122

American vs. non-American rowers, 71

Anchoring a boat, 89

Antigua, 7–8, 101, 102, 107–108

docks in, 7, 70, 90, 112

port of, 104

Atlanta Rowing Race. See Talisker Whiskey Atlantic Challenge

Autotillers, 84

Bartman, Michiel, 37–38, 40, 43, 45, 46, 119

Boathouse Row, 31–34, 43–44, 72

Vesper Boat Club and, 33, 34, 43

Booking.com, 9, 69

Boundaries. See Limits and boundaries

Breakfast, 102–107, 117

Brown, Matt, 114–116, 128

Angus Collins and, 114, 128

background and overview, 114

Caldwell and, 114–117, 119

family, 115–117

health problems, 122, 124

personality, 114, 116, 122

at Vesper Boat Club, 114, 115

Business is personal, 55

Butterfield, Stewart, 14

Cabins in boats, 60, 126

Cady, John, 67

Caldwell, Amelia, 63, 88

“Call of the wild,” 61

Carlisle Companies, 8, 9, 76

Catch (part of a rowing stroke), 50

Challenge (as motivator), 76

Change, 129–130

measuring, 75–79

planning to, 132

Chariots of Fire (film), 31

“Chasing my bliss,” 61

Checking in, 105–106

Checking one’s alignment, 49, 50

Chesky, Brian, 13–15...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Contents
• Introduction
• Quit Like A Winner
• Lead by Emotion
• Win Before You Race
• Gathering Points
• Four Questions
• Beyond Motivation
• Celebrate Connection
• Eat Breakfast
• Multiply The Multipliers
• Eighty-Mile Days
• Epilogue The Process of Processing
• Acknowledgments
• Index
• About the Author