Archer's Edge

MICHAEL D. WATKINS is a Professor of Leadership and Organization Change at the IMD Business School and co-founder of Genesis Advisers. He is the author of The First 90 Days and an expert on accelerating leadership transitions. Recognized among the world’s leading management thinkers, he was inducted into the Thinkers50 Hall of Fame in 2023. JUAN CARLOS HOLGADO is an Olympic champion, international sport executive, coach, and strategic advisor whose work bridges elite sport performance and organisational leadership. Through his experience building archery teams, supporting high-performance programmes, advising federations, and leading major international sport projects, he helps leaders and organisations translate strategic principles into practical action. His work focuses on strategy planning, decision-making, alignment, focus, preparation, and execution—the same disciplines that define success in Olympic sport and in high-performing organisations.

• ContentsFOREWORD XVIIINTRODUCTION: THE ARCHER’S EDGE 1CHAPTER ONE: DEVELOPMENTAL AGILITY: LEARNING FASTER FROM EVERY EXPERIENCE 15Juan Carlos’s Long Bus Ride Home 15What Happened on That Bus 17What Developmental Agility Actually is 19Practice 1: Extract Lessons from Experience 21Conduct Structured Reflection 22Seek Multiple Perspectives 23Extract Transferable Patterns 24Separate Process from Outcome 25Practice 2: Engineer the Feedback Leadership Naturally Lacks 26Observe Yourself 27Track Specific Behaviors 28Create Comparison Points 28Seek Immediate Micro-feedback 29Practice 3: Build the Habits That Sustain Development 31Start With Early Wins 33The Choice Ahead 34Michael on Developmental Agility 35Connecting to Purposeful Practice 36Key Takeaways 36Start Here 37CHAPTER TWO: PURPOSEFUL PRACTICE: BREAK IT DOWN TO BUILD IT UP 39Juan Carlos Finds the Light Switch 39What Purposeful Practice Actually Means 44The Weakest Link 45Practice 1: Decide What to Practice and Where to Start 47Practice 2: Execute Each Practice Session with Discipline 53Practice 3: Track Your Repetitions and Reassess Your Weakest Link 56How You’ll Know It’s Working 59Building Purposeful Practice into Your Daily Work 61Michael on Purposeful Practice 62Connecting to Focused Attention 62Key Takeaways 63Start Here 64CHAPTER THREE: FOCUS: DIRECTING ATTENTION WHERE IT MATTERS 67Juan Carlos and the Curse of the Scoreboard 67The Power of Process Focus 70The Three Dimensions of Leader Focus 71The Science of Optimal Focus: Flow 73Practice 1: Design Pre-situation Routines 74The Routine Under Pressure 76Practice 2: Redirect Captured Attention 79Redirecting When You Can’t Pause 80When Redirects Fail 82Practice 3: Build Attention Resilience ThroughDeliberate Exposure 83Identifying Your Triggers 84Graduated Exposure 84Using Chaos as Training 85Tracking Your Development 86Integrating Focus into Daily Work 88When Focus Breaks Down 89Michael on Focus 90Connecting to Mental Toughness 91Key Takeaways 92Start Here 93CHAPTER FOUR: MENTAL TOUGHNESS: PERFORMING WHEN THE STAKES ARE HIGH 95Juan Carlos Pushes The Right Button 95How Mental Toughness Differs From Focus 99The Two-tier System to Build Mental Toughness 100Why Leadership Pressure is Particularly Demanding 101Practice 1: Build Your Reset Buttons 103Your Breathing Reset 103Your Posture Reset 104Practice 2: The Mental Reset Between Situations 107The 10-Second Reset 107How Resets Prevent Downward Spirals 108Build Reset Automaticity 109Practice 3: Build Pressure Tolerance Through Progressive Exposure 110Design Your Pressure Progression 111Make Practice Harder Than Reality 113Seek Pressure Deliberately 114When Everything Falls Apart: The Override 115Assessing Your Progress 116Building Mental Toughness into Daily Work 117Michael on Mental Toughness 119Connecting to Strategic Adaptability 121Key Takeaways 121Start Here 123CHAPTER FIVE: ADAPTABILITY: KNOWING WHEN AND HOW TO CHANGE 125Juan Carlos and the Storm at the Spanish Championships 125Where the Capabilities Converge 128Practice 1: Recognize When Adaptation is Needed 130The Three Diagnostic Questions 131Knowing When to Adapt 133Knowing When to Keep Going 135When the Signals Are Ambiguous 137Track Your Diagnostic Judgments 137Practice 2: Adapt Efficiently 137What Is Essential and What Is Contextual 138The Two-Column Exercise 139When the Exercise Reveals You Don’t Know 141Practice 3: Build Capability Through Anticipatory Adaptation 141Anticipating the Types of Challenges 142Training for Crisis Management 142Preparing for Gradual Shifts 144Reading Early Signals 145Making Practice More Variable Than Reality 145Assessing Results and Adjusting 146When Correct Adaptation Still Creates Problems 147Signs of Deeper Issues 148Recovering from a Wrong Call 148Building Adaptability into Your Daily Work 149Michael on Adaptability 150Connecting to Team Excellence 151Key Takeaways 152Start Here 153CHAPTER SIX: TEAM EXCELLENCE: MAKING THE WHOLE GREATER THAN THE PARTS 155Juan Carlos and the Birthday Dinner 155From Individual Excellence to Collective Performance 159What Team Excellence Actually Requires 160Practice 1: Build Trust That Enables Vulnerability 162How Trust Develops 162What the Research Shows 165Practice 2: Deal With Conflicts Productively 165Diagnosing Conflict Types 166Making It About Evidence 166Practice 3: Refine Structure to Enable Performance 168When Structure Cannot Wait 169Establishing Boundaries Between Support and Execution 169Diagnosing Performance Gaps 170The Limits Of Trust-building 172Recognizing Progress 173Building Team Excellence into Daily Work 174Michael on Team Excellence 175Connecting to Coaching for Development 176Key Takeaways 177Start Here 179CHAPTER SEVEN: COACHING: DEVELOPING OTHERS TO DEVELOP THEMSELVES 181Juan Carlos and the 12 Archers 181From Archery Coaching to Leadership Development 185What Research Reveals About Effective Coaching 186Why Coaching Your Team is Different 187Practice 1: Observe Systematically to Diagnose Root Causes 188Using the Six Capabilities as a Diagnostic Framework 188Diagnosing a Developmental Agility Gap 190When Your Diagnosis Is Wrong 193Practice 2: Give Feedback That Builds Awareness 194Building Awareness of a Team Excellence Gap 195When Feedback Consistently Fails to Land 198Practice 3: Structure Work Strategically to Accelerate Development 199Matching Assignments to Capability Gaps 199When to Intervene versus Let Struggle Continue 200Making Progress Visible 201Building Coaching Into Your Daily Work 202When Coaching Reaches Its Limits 203Michael on Coaching 204Connecting to the Conclusion 205Key Takeaways 207Start Here 209CONCLUSION: FROM UNDERSTANDING TO MASTERY 211APPENDIX A: A BRIEF HISTORY OF ARCHERY 225APPENDIX B: WEEKLY PRACTICE PLANNER 237APPENDIX C: LEADERSHIP PROCESS COMPONENTS 243APPENDIX D: SITUATION DIAGNOSTIC FRAMEWORK 263APPENDIX E: YOUR 90-DAY CAPABILITY DEVELOPMENT PLAN 269NOTES 283ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 291ABOUT THE AUTHORS 295INDEX 297