What Is Executive Toughness?

What is executive toughness?

Does it require you to develop a thicker skin than others?

Be less compassionate?

Be more competitive?

Can it be taught or modeled?

Answer by Dr. Jason Selk, Director of Mental Training for the St.Louis Cardinals – 2011 World  Series Champions.

When doing the research for my  book “Executive Toughness, The Mental-Training Program to Increase Your Leadership Performance,” I had the rare good fortune to meet and spend in-depth time with individuals who are some of the most mentally tough individuals on earth, whether it be an athlete, a coach, or a businessperson.

One of those people was Nando Parrado. If you don’t recognize the name, he was one of the survivors from the plane crash in the Andes in 1972, a famous book and movie Alive was made about his story.

What you have is an individual who gets on a plane to go to an international rugby match and seven hours after departure the plane crashes into the Andes Mountains. Several of his teammates are killed and they’re left stranded on the mountain. They have to do whatever they can do on that mountain to stay alive.

I think the normal course of action for human beings might be to get caught up in all the problems, and rightfully so, especially in that situation. In the book I write about the 10 mental toughness fundamentals, one of which is a relentless solution focus (RSF). Nando is the perfect illustration of RSF. He refused to let his mind focus on the direness of the situation. Instead he was maniacally relentless about identifying solutions. In the end this relentless solution focus is what put him in a position to save himself and 16 of the other teammates that survived. It’s an amazing story.

What I  did for the book was to look for patterns in people that had exhibited  mental toughness in many facets of life. Toughness can be taught. Toughness can be modeled.

Human beings are made up of thoughts, feelings and behaviors. What we found is that what goes on in your head, the thoughts, are literally what controls the way you feel and behave.

And so, if you kind of look at the key to the entire human organism’s success, it really is what I coin that “mental toughness.” If you can learn to get the right thoughts in your head, then you are going to not only control your thinking but you are going to control the way you act, the way you behave and the way you feel. That’s the whole kit and caboodle. That’s what we are really looking for.

That mental toughness, going back to Nando, is the mind’s ability to stay focused on solutions, especially in the face of adversity. I am going to say it again. The mind’s ability to stay focused on solutions, especially in the face of adversity. When things are going well, when the cash register and the phone is ringing, and you are winning games, mental toughness really isn’t necessary. It’s when times are difficult, when you are losing on the scoreboard or when the economy is down, as it has been for the last several years, that’s when people really need to get in control of those thoughts.

The first step to mental toughness is to identify,

“Okay, what is going on in my head?”

The second step is,

“What really should be going on in my head?”

The third step is to train yourself to  control your thoughts in a way to produce an increased level of health, happiness and success.

That’s really where mental toughness begins.

Let’s take baseball players. Like the St.Louis Cardinals, since I know a little about them. At the beginning of a season I teach a mental training plan from my first book, which is a sports psychology book written just primarily for athletes and coaches. It’s all about being accountable. Doing the work. Both physical and mental. I work with the players throughout the season who was for additional help, making sure that they are doing the right things; they are staying accountable, doing the work. And if they do  you cannot help but become more mentally tough.

You get that? The 2011 World Series Champs have a psychological mental training plan.

If people can improve their mental toughness they are going to put themselves in a position to increase their ability to be in control of their lives, be happier, healthier and  more successful.

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This article is an excerpt from the Expert Access Radio interview with Dr. Jason Selk. Courtesy – Expert Access

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