Our Four Pillars

How we help build and strengthen your team.

Humans are more important than hardware, software, laptops, tablets, cell phones and all the other peripherals and distractions that, well, aren’t human. We’re all about helping individuals and groups maximize potential and produce extraordinary results, consistently.

Our approach focuses on four foundational pillars: leadership, teamwork, communication, and accountability. These four pillars are woven into all of our work; whether we are leading a custom team training or coaching individuals for high performance leadership.

We believe these four pillars are critical to success in work and in life. If one pillar is missing or faulty, we teeter. If two or more are missing, we collapse or we’re not on a solid foundation to begin with.

Pillar 1: Leadership

Lead, follow or go home.

Good leadership starts with being a good follower. With time, training, and first-hand experience, good followers become good leaders.

Broadly speaking, leadership is the power or ability to lead other people, but it means much more than that. Effective leaders know how to achieve goals and inspire people along the way. They know when to let others lead and contribute as a team member. Their leadership skills enable them to understand and utilize their talents, and to effectively leverage the natural strengths of their team to accomplish the mission.

Followership is one’s characteristics, behaviors, and processes in relation to a leader. To be a good leader, one must also learn to follow well.

Leadership and followership are symbiotic and skills that anyone can learn and we can teach you. With both, the extraordinary becomes routine. With one or none, you’ll remain ordinary.

Pillar 2: Teamwork

Task before ego, Team before self.

Teamwork is a process of working collaboratively with others to achieve goals. It is key to success in most realms of life and work. It requires people to check their egos at the door, be humble, communicate effectively, and resolve conflicts by consensus or quorum.

We apply our Navy SEAL experience to the lessons we deliver to our clients. Why are SEALs so effective at teamwork? SEALs

1. do not discriminate nor are they arrogant;
2. believe that every member of the team counts;
3. train constantly as a team;
4. function well as a team even when they lose a teammate; and
5. train hard and are mentally tough, resilient and team focused, always.

Teamwork takes commitment to one another and is most successful when the team’s members assess themselves honestly and consistently strive to do their best. When that happens, there’s no limit to a team’s accomplishments.

Your teams, our training: making you the best.

Pillar 3: Communication

Ever play this communication game? You’re in a circle and a facilitator makes a fairly uncomplicated statement to a designated first person. The first person whispers that statement into the next person’s ear, and so on around the circle. By the time that statement returns to the first person, it’s no longer the original statement.

How does this happen, why does it happen so often, sometimes with devastating consequences, and how do we fix it? Effective communication occurs when we:

• Communicate with respect.
• Actively listen and do not interrupt.
• Speak clearly and are easily understood.
• Set aside biases and pre-conceived notions and seek to understand and be understood.
• Check regularly for understanding.

It’s what you say, how you say it, conveyed positively and with the team in mind that makes you effective communicators. We’ll show you how.

Pillar 4: Character

Our lives change dramatically when we take full responsibility for holding ourselves accountable: our daily life improves, relationships flourish, self-respect and others’ respect for us skyrockets, and we become a great example for others to follow.

Why?

• When we hold ourselves accountable, we distinguish ourselves from the masses who don’t.
• We bring into alignment how we see ourselves, how others see us, and how we actually are.
• We hold ourselves accountable for our actions, responsibilities, and goals.
• Others see, know and respect that, no matter what the circumstances.

Your accountability is your character and your success. Hard work, but worth every moment’s effort for you, your team, and your organization.

Foundation for Success

The four pillars of Elemental Edge Training combined with our mind/body/spirit approach delivers the foundations for success to take you and your team to the next level of performance. Find out how we do this on our services page.