By
Simon Hazeldine
I wish to make it clear right at the start of this article that I have never served in the military (I have a rather immature aversion to being told what to do!) and I do not possess the incredible mental and physical resilience required for the special forces.
However, I have learned some powerful lessons from interacting with people who have served in the special forces that I want to share as I think they can make a powerful contribution to team success.
A few years ago, I was told about an endurance event known as “The Fan Dance”. This gruelling 24km event consists of “tabbing” (TAB is a military acronym for ‘Tactical Advance to Battle’ which typically involves a forced march often at speed carrying a heavy backpack or bergen over a long distance) up and down Pen Y Fan mountain (Pen y Fan is the highest peak in south Wales, situated in the Brecon Beacons National Park) twice while carrying a 35lb Bergen. “The Fan Dance” forms an early part of the arduous United Kingdom Special Forces selection process.
A few years ago, former members of the UK special forces began to organise an open “Fan Dance” endurance event (the organisers and event directing staff are all special forces veterans) that was open to anyone who wanted to experience the challenge. The event follows the identical route used on official special forces selection and provides an insight into the challenges of special forces selection.
The event starts at an old red phone box that is an iconic landmark to UK Special Forces soldiers and the 24km route starts with a very steep climb up to the summit of Pen Y Fan were the first checkpoint is located. There is then a steep descent known as “Jacob’s Ladder” down the south slope and the route continues along a rough dirt and stone track that ends at the edge of Taf Fechan forest. After reaching the halfway checkpoint the route returns the way it came including the brutally steep climb back up the infamous “Jacob’s Ladder” to the summit, and is by far the most gruelling part of the march. After reporting into the summit checkpoint point for a second time, the route descends back to the start point and the welcome site of the old red phone box and a handshake and receipt of a finisher’s patch from a special forces veteran.
As well as civilians seeking an endurance challenge, the “Fan Dance” event also attracts current and former military personnel who want to participate in, or in some cases re-experience, the challenge. Many special forces veterans participate, perhaps to re-visit some “fond” memories of special forces selection process!
As a result of participating in the “Fan Dance”, I met and got to know several former special services operatives and it gave me an opportunity to get a further insight into their mind-set. I had conducted some research into the special forces as part of my research for my book “The Inner Winner: Performance Psychology Tactics That Give You An Unfair Advantage” but participating myself in a number of “Fan Dance” events gave me an additional opportunity to study the special forces mind-set up close.
Inspired by participating in the “Fan Dance” I conducted some further research into the special forces which included studying the history of the Special Air Service regiment and its founder David Stirling.
David Stirling outlined four principles or values for the regiment which I believe are worthy of consideration for your team.
- Engage in the unrelenting pursuit of excellence
This principle forms an integral part of the special forces mindset. The special forces motto that encapsulates it is “Always a Little Further”. This motto appears on the t-shirts that are provided as souvenirs for “Fan Dance” participants and so deeply held is this principle that I observed that several people had the phrase tattooed onto their bodies!
I believe that for any of us to perform to a high standard on an on-going basis we need to adopt this principle. No matter how good we think we are, there will always be room for improvement. For example, the concept of marginal gains is all about continually making small incremental improvements that add up to significant improvements when they are combined.
I would suggest that developing an attitude and indeed a culture of the unrelenting pursuit of excellence should be a key area of focus for all leaders. - Maintain the highest standards if discipline in all aspects of daily life
Stirling believed that having a high standard of self-discipline in each solder was the only effective foundation for Regimental discipline. He commented that, “Commitment to the SAS pursuit of excellence becomes a sham if any single one of the disciplinary standards is allowed to slip.”
This principle can be observed in the meticulous planning and execution that “Fan Dance organiser “Avalanche Events” put into the running of the event. Participants are given very specific instruction about what to plan and prepare for the event and a strong focus on personal discipline e.g. what equipment to carry in your bergen, and clear instructions on carrying very specific quantities of water and maintaining good standards of hydration during the event.
As Stirling described, this principle underpins the unrelenting pursuit of excellence and leaders should define and maintain clear expectations of the discipline expected from their team.
This focus on discipline clearly has a lasting effect on member of the SAS as I fondly remember completing my first “Fan Dance” event in four hours and forty minutes and then discovering that an SAS veteran in his mid-seventies had completed the event fifteen minutes faster than I had! - Meritocracy
Sterling said, “We believe, as did the ancient Greeks who originated the word aristocracy, that every man with the right attitudes and talents, regardless of birth and riches, has the capacity in his own lifetime of reaching that status in its true sense.”
A team with a true culture of meritocracy will provide the best environment for the people with the best mind-set and skill-set to fulfil their potential. When promotion, for example, is based on performance it provides the best chance for all to excel. - Display humility and humour
Stirling was aware that as the SAS was an elite regiment this could potentially cause resentment in other units as well as “unbecoming conceit and big-headedness in our own soldiers” and therefore emphasised this principle.
I think that as well as ensuring that your team can collaborate effectively with other teams in your organisation, humility under-pins the “always a little further” mind-set.
And without a shadow of a doubt any high performing team that I have ever had the privilege to be part of, has always displayed a great sense of humour amongst the member and indeed a sense of fun. This sense of fun, a sense of enjoying working together, always seems to be present in high performance teams.
I have learned a great deal from my participation in the “Fan Dance”, from my interactions with special forces veterans, and from my research into the special forces mind-set and I think David’s Stirling’s four principles are worthy of consideration by any leader who is looking to lead a high-performance team.
Always a little further!
Here is some video footage that will give you an insight into what participating in “The Fan Dance” is like!
If you would like to learn more about “The Fan Dance” or would like to sign up to participate yourself then you can do so here.
You can find more out about the history of the Special Air Service here.
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About the author
Simon Hazeldine works internationally as a revenue growth and sales performance speaker, consultant, and coach. He empowers his clients to get more sales, more often with more margin.
He has spoken in over thirty countries and his client list includes some of the world’s largest and most successful companies.
Simon has a master’s degree in psychology, is the bestselling author of ten books that have been endorsed by a host of business leaders including multi-billionaire business legend Michael Dell and is co-founder of leading sales podcast “The Sales Chat Show”.
He is the creator of the neuroscience based “Brain Friendly Selling”® methodology.
Simon Hazeldine’s books:
- Neuro-Sell: How Neuroscience Can Power Your Sales Success
- Bare Knuckle Selling
- Bare Knuckle Negotiating
- Bare Knuckle Customer Service
- The Inner Winner
- How To Lead Your Sales Team – Virtually and in Person
- Virtual Selling Success
- How To Manage Your People’s Performance
- How To Create Effective Employee Development Plans
- Virtual Negotiation Success
