Alan Chambers - Lead Yourself to Success: Ordinary People Achieving Extraordinary Results Through Self-leadership

Alan Chambers MBE

LEAD YOURSELF TO SUCCESS

Ordinary people achieving extraordinary results through self-leadership

2019 Alan Chambers MBE

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Library of Congress CataloginginPublication Data is available:

ISBN 9780857086945 (hardcover)

ISBN 9780857087003 (ePDF)

ISBN 9780857086976 (ePub)

Cover Design: Wiley

Cover Image: MSSA/Shutterstock

Credit: Timo Kohler

My birthday falls on Armistice day, and so it would be remiss of me not to dedicate this book to all the veterans fallen, and the serving and retired service men and women across the globe who have given so much. This year marks the 100year commemoration of the end of the Great War and, a century later, we are still learning from incredible tales of selflessness, bravery, courage, and leadership, from the youngest soldier to the wisest Commander. These leadership lessons inspire generations past, present and for decades to come. A simple thank you will never be enough.

To Ann and Colin Chambers, who in their own way inadvertently encouraged me to believe in everything I have done, including all the ideas that never flew, and showed me anything is possible with purpose. Thank you.

To everyone who kindly contributed to this book with their thoughts, knowledge, experience, time, and enthusiasm. Your contribution to the tapestry of leadership is what this book is all about. There is no Holy Grail to Leadership; it's the pick and mix of life that helps create the learning. Selfleadership never ends it's one of the circles of life and that's why it's necessary to take time out with Prosecco and cake to evaluate who you are.

Finally, to everyone I have shared a tent with across the planet from the equator to the ends of the Earth I apologise for my habits!

Foreword

Sound Leadership is like true love It is all powerful, it can overcome the seemingly impossible, and its effect on both leader and led is profound and lasting

Sydney Jary MC

Everything is about Leadership!

Everything I have ever done, and anything I ever do will be as a result of the actions and influence of others. Influence from those that have commanded me, those in my charge, and those whom I may not have met, but I have respected from afar. We are influencing one another all the time, indeed, all who read these words are being influenced, for better or worse, whether they like it or not, ergo, influence is by pure definition a leadership responsibility. We are all leaders; of course, we have different levels of responsibility and accountability, but we are all leaders. The only question is: are you a good one, or bad one?

Successful teams are made to feel safe, not only from the physical environment in which they operate, but also safe to share their opinions, and contribute to the decision process without fear of ridicule or reprisal. They feel connected because the leader has identified shared values and has created strong emotional bonds, and they have a common goal; a vision is less likely to succeed if it is not shared.

The real art of leadership, whether it be on the battlefield, on the sports field, in the conference room or on the icy tundra, is the art of dealing with humanity and working diligently on behalf of your team, of being sympathetic with them, but equally, of insisting that they acknowledge their challenges and hit them head on.

I have never met a man more proficient in the delivery of all these fundamental disciplines than Alan Chambers; he has been one of my greatest influences.

Wayne Hoyle

Former Special Forces Officer and Extreme Leader

Acknowledgements

The undertaking and completion of this book would not have happened if it was not for the great team at Wiley Publishing, ensuring they kept us all on the right course, especially myself despite the many expeditions and leadership courses I was delivering while writing the book.

My utmost gratitude to:

Sir Charles Dunstone, Sir Ian McGeechan, Sir David HemplemanAdams, Lewis Moody MBE, Dave Segel, Rachel Chandler, Steve Bennett, Guy Bloom, Mark Brown, Phil Clarke, Sean Swarner who all gave up their time and knowledge to help create the magic.

As with any publication there are many times more people behind the book than feature in it, and I owe a debt of gratitude to all the leaders I have been fortunate to work with around the globe who have taught me how, and how not, to lead a team.

This book would have no content without the hundreds of women and men who have trusted me to lead them in some of the most inhospitable places on this planet. I thank you all for your confidence in me to lead, make decisions and help achieve your goals while having the responsibility of your lives in my hands.

Thank you to my entire family and friends for their continuous support, love, and understanding of my passion to take on challenges that are driven by a real purpose to bring many others along with me to share the experience and learning.

In particular, I have a huge amount of gratitude for all the participants of the Extreme Classrooms Expeditions. Extreme Classrooms is a wonderful platform to give some of the most vulnerable children in society the chance to experience a real adventure. We endeavour to teach them to develop their own self leadership, resilience and confidence Thank you all you have shown me so much about how we can learn from the challenges you face every day.