What is a fearless leader?

That’s what we’re going to be exploring in this series of blogs.
Over the course of this series, we’ll be looking at how new findings in neuroscience, and the understanding what we call mindfulness, help shape what makes a fearless leader. We’ll also be looking at the stories of people who represent fearless leaders, and see how we can learn from their examples.

Why don’t we start with a story?

Have you ever wondered what goes through the mind of a world-champion athlete in the final moments before they must compete?

Consider Jeremy Bloom, three-time World Champion freestyle skier. Bloom describes exactly what he was thinking in the minutes before having to lay it all on the line.

“A voice rang through the darkness of the starting area: ‘Bloom on deck.’ I shook out my legs; nervous energy filled my body. My muscles were tightening. I knew I had to stay loose. In about a minute, I’d be skiing for the freestyle skiing world championship. I stretched my legs and swung my arms to loosen my chest and shoulders. While stretching my neck, I heard, ‘Bloom in the hole.’ I let my skis slide down closer to the starting gate, my heart raced, and my breathing quickened. The guy before me took off, and I skied out of the darkness of the shadow of the starting gate into the light of the mogul field in front of me. This is the moment I had trained years for . . . my mental training kicked in.

“I positioned my skis at the starting gate, focused on the first six inches of the course and thought: ‘This is the single-most important turn. It’s all I need to think about. Just make a good turn here, and my skills will carry me the rest of the way.’ I imagined the perfect first turn.

“And then I built a barrier with my mind, a tunnel around the course that blocked everything out. It blocked out the TV cameras, the fans, my parents, everything. Now I existed inside my tunnel. All I could see, all that existed, was the course. My only thoughts were my success keys: the first turn and the jumps. The guy in front of me finished his run. My turn. I planted my right pole, then my left, took a deep breath and exhaled hard. Ready.”

Bloom had already won, just by thinking about victory in this way.

He sounds almost superhuman, doesn’t he? His ability to focus on his goal while mentally blocking all distractions along the way is a remarkable skill.

When he retired from skiing, Bloom continued to use those very same techniques: He went on to play three years of professional football and then built two successful businesses (during the great recession, no less), all by the age of 29.

What was Bloom’s secret? How was he able to rise to the top of not just one, but multiple fields at such a young age?

Bloom is a Fearless Leader.

All leaders — business, humanitarian, military or athletic — use the secrets and the science of becoming fearless leaders. They continuously seek an edge to become great.

What leaders would call Fearless Leaders?

We’re going to be looking at those who shaped history – but just as important, we’d love to hear from you.

For questions about this post or for information on becoming a fearless leader, contact Dr. Cathy Greenberg and The Fearless Leader Group at (888) 320-1299 or by email at hello@fearlessequalsfreedom.com.