10x Your Performance - The Gap Miners Pvt Ltd Story

In a session three weeks ago Siddharth asked me if I could tell the team at Gap Miners something motivating. He was unhappy with the slow sales. I could sense his dejection. I also felt at the same time as I always do - that real motivation comes from providing some clarity, a feeling that one can do it. So we decided to dive headlong into the problem. Maybe it was time for a 10x solution.

The 10x Way
It primarily works like this. Reorganise existing resources and aim at 10x of a key performance indicator. Without additional resources, we should be able to 10x our performances

Process

• Decide - to achieve the 10x goal. Take it personally. Set your own goal 10x or more. Take full ownership.
• ·         Have clear goal - (number, position, status etc) and fix it. Keep a time frame in mind.
• ·         Don't accept any other outcome – achieve your goal exactly as you decided, nothing less.
• ·         Use only available resources 
•       To find a 10x solution, bring 100% focus of your thoughts. The goal should be all consuming and the number 1 priority. 
• Planning –  Assume the goal is achieved. Then walking backwards from the goal, check out every possibility that can obstruct the goal and make the process error-free. Plan until all possibilities have been covered (including contingencies for things beyond your control).
•         There are no excuses, blame. You are 100% responsible.
•         Implement – Follow your plan with great concentration and meticulous judgment, hold on to your plan through the tough phases. Execute diligently. Brick by brick
•       Believe – Hold on to the belief that you will make it through the difficulty and trouble, and keep progressing.
• ·         Achieve. Feel good within.
• Reset goal and aim for next 10x. 

First Session

In that first session we looked at the problem. The team was not getting enough offers (their site www.upto75.com is a deal site offering the best deals across 10 cities in India). The target was a hefty 160 offers a month. The actuals were 30 offers a month.
Red flag; When people see a big difference between the actuals and the targets it is bad for their self confidence. So we decided to set a target that they could achieve. The idea was to get everyone to commit a number and achieve it to improve confidence.
We asked everyone to commit their numbers for the week. Any number that they can confidently achieve. The total came to 15 offers for the week. We wrote down each one's commitment on the board.

The only condition was that the numbers were non-negotiable. All back up plans must be in place. The team had to deliver 15.

Week 1 - 10/15
To achieve target the team decided  to meet twice - once every morning before work and once after work. A 10 minute meeting to discuss status, plans and progress. A whats app group was created to update the rest of us about the progress. I sat through one meeting asking relevant questions (which offer, what backup etc). Every day after the meeting the convenor was to send a message - Meeting done. Status 5/15 or Committed 5 and Achieved 4 or something like that.

The team was asked to share inputs, ask tough questions and also encourage one another. The week ended at 10/15 which was an improvement over the past week at 8. We celebrated the effort and made a new commitment for next week.
The group energy was much higher. They liked the daily interactions and increased focus. They seemed more positive.
The next week's target was set by them at 25.

Week 2 - 21/25
This week we added a couple of improvisations. We first introduced a 'Star of the Week' concept. We also decided to celebrate each weekend. We looked at improving process - we asked the team to analyse the number of calls made by each one during the week. Calls were split into A (MoU awaited, B (proposal sent) and C (new calls). Clearly the more "A"s someone has, the more likelihood of converting them into offers. More Cs indicates low probability. They were asked to keep their list of 120 calls per week ready by Monday morning and the 20 calls a day ready every morning meet. The "A"s were highlighted. They were asked to commit a daily achievement and report status, end of day.

The whatsapp group started buzzing. It was good to see people reporting new offers.

This week ended on a high. Against the committed 25 we managed to do 21.

More importantly the graph showed a healthy trend, in one week we achieved 75% of what we had achieved last month, a 100% improvement over last week and most achieved their targets.

The team was charged enough to stay back on Saturday evening. we reviewed the numbers and clapped for the achievers - Sravani and Pavan. Venkat gave them a bonus of one leave for their performance. They were very happy.

Week 3 - 23/21
Week 3 was a challenge because we had only 4 working days with a holiday right in the middle. The team met and decided not to reduce the number they had achieved last week already. So the target was fixed at 21. Commitments were taken from all concerned. This time they were clearer and surer because they had a list of 80 calls to be made that week, the list of A.B,C and the names of possible offers.
Day 1 ended with 5/21, day 2 with 13/21, then the holiday came. The team was  confident that they would achieve 100% this time. The whatsapp group was buzzing. We now had an Enthusiasm Team in place - Akshay and Pavan. We decided to celebrate each offer.
Day 4 ended with 18/21. Day 5, the last day was a nail biting finish as we first achieved 21, then 23. We overshot our commitment, everyone had achieved their numbers, with less number of days we achieved what we did last week in 6. The group was ecstatic.

We met in the evening, Akshay was still at work finishing his quota. A round of burgers and soft drinks and we clapped for the performers. Siddharth and Sharmila starred for the week (with 4 apiece), Siddharth - star of the month (13) and Siddharth - star of the quarter (29).

A quick look at the quarter (109) - January (45), February (30) and March (64). In the past three weeks we had clocked 54 offers. There were smiles all around, a renewed confidence showed in their talk, their smiles. More importantly they were more assured and not insecure. Now they had all achieved their targets and we clapped for everyone of them.

For the coming week we decided to analyse the number of calls. We decided to identify 10 As (most had only 2-3) by Monday and develop the pipeline. The more As the better the conversion rate. By next week the team was to identify 5 As and the week after, 10As in every list. By third wek hopefully 15 "A"s.

Highlights

• Growth over last month was 113%. We have more than doubled this month.
• The 3 week performance was highest - even higher than a whole month (January) - 54 (3 weeks)/45 (Jan), 30 (Feb)
• We had more control over the process
• Team bonding, confidence and communication has improved which automatically improved their commitment
• Reward and recognition system was falling into place, we were recognising every achievement and progress

The next week is the beginning of a new month. The team has set a target of 25. We promised to get the 120 calls list ready, identify "A"s to be cultivated during the week (10 with a minimum of 5 for the next week). We will also complete calls analysis and get a better hang of it.

All salespeople were asked to think like CEOs of their space. We promised ourselves that if we touch 160 in 3 months, we will gift ourselves an outbound program.

Now to add further developments as the process unfolds. But the exercise till now has been quite encouraging and showing good results. Wait by for updates.

Week 4 ended April 8 (15/25)
As expected the team kind of took the foot off the pedal this week and I was wary of that. It happens sometimes in the confusion of achieving goals. You don't know how to deal with success. So the prescribed meetings did not take place, the tasks of identifying As did not happen and people were on leave or on work-from-home mode. As a result, the Tuesday meeting had to be cancelled due to low attendance and even the Wednesday meeting that was supposed to start at 930 started at 1030 with half the attendance. Talk of resisting your own good!

We had a meeting and I shared the 6 monthly analysis of calls and offers made by the team. Venkat and I had done this analysis on Tuesday evening. In six months it appeared that 18000 calls were made and 215 offers received - a conversion ratio of 1.18. We analysed everyone's offer/call conversion ratio and found that it varied from 0.64 to 3.38. In the last three weeks since we began the activity it was up to 1.78 as a group and individuals had doubled and tripled their averages. Clearly something was working.

This week we added this insight - by increasing the number of As in the pipeline (currently about 15 As/960 prospects to 90/960) we could increase the number of offers from the current 3-4 a week to 10-20 a week per individual.

• To identify 10 As for the week
• To have 5 As on their list by Saturday, 10 by next Saturday and 15 by the third week
• By this weekend we would have close to 40-45 As across all sales people which is up from 10 As (a healthy pipeline of clients who are interested in offers and have received our MoUs so we can upload the offers on the site) 

The team was cautioned about the dangers of complacency, about the dream of winning and what was required. Firstly to follow set routines, come with 10x ideas and implement fast. We decided to achieve the target come what may. As on date, with two more days to go the team has committed 13 by end of day of the target of 25 and to do 10 As out of 45.

The actuals for the week looked like this - 15 offers, from 413 (out of a possible total of 840 calls), 13 As (at MoU level), 123 Bs (at offer level) and 704 Cs (new calls).

Highlights:

• To recap - bring enthusiasm., enjoy work and achieve
• Commit numbers, have frequent meetings and update all details every morning and evening so everyone knows what they committed 
• Make lists of weekly 120 calls, identify potential A, B and C
• Get 15 As, 45 Bs and 60 Cs in final distribution

Next week's target is to achieve 25 offers, get 5As by Wednesday and 10 As by Saturday. We will start analysing calls to offers, offers conversion ratios, As to conversion ratios and other key parameters.

Insight" Even in a bad week with three top performers clocking zero sales, the team achieved 15 offers. Pavan is constantly achieving and over-achieving his numbers.

Week 5 ended April 15 (15/25)
The magic number of 25 was aspired for but we fell short by 10. However as a week one week performance indicator we are still way ahead from the 9.6 offers per week performance for January and February and up at 15.

Highlights

• Calls came down drastically which indicates improved efficiency (calls:offer ratio). As against a call average of 676 calls a week over a five month period which was generating 8-10 offers per week (9.6 offers a week), we managed to reach 15 offers a week with only 378 calls last week. Conversion ratio 3.97% (up from 1.42% for six month average) 
• Conversion rate (offers per call) per week went up from 0.98% over the last 20 weeks (5 months) to 3.62% in the past 5 weeks - an increase of 267%)) 
• The number of As (offers at MoU stage) have increased from 13 to 23 (increase of 76%)
• However the two week target of everyone getting 5 As by last weekend and 10 As by this weekend was not achieved. We are at 3 As per head. The team said that it was not a skill issue but a will issue. They promised to increase their effort and achieve 10 As by next week.
• The 5 week period (week ending March 18 to week ending April 15) generated 88 offers (averaging 17.6, 88/5) as against the 5 month period which has generated 172 offers over 23 weeks (averaging 7.47 offers a week, 162/23) indicating an increase of more than double (235%)

Next week targets

• Our monthly target of 90 for April is under threat with only 30 so far. The team however felt that they will share the burden and try and do 10 offers a piece in the next two weeks.
• The team also decided to look at their list of expired offers and renew the good ones and close out the useless ones. This would add to the offers tally. This would also be in addition to the new offers.
• The idea of improving As to 10 per head, or at least 5 per head was still being pursued. It is hypothesised that with about 50-70 As, our number of offers would increase drastically.

Team is gung ho though a bit nervous. Now to see what happens this coming week.  My suspicion is that if we get 50-60 As in the pipeline, then focus on renewing expired offers and not letting existing offers expire, our performance should improve.

Some Asides - Top Management's Alignment
The importance of the top management and its alignment to the cause is paramount.Too often top management is unhappy, resentful and even sees the team as an enemy. It is time to let go of those feelings and start working at it - together. It may require letting go of the past, of some ego.

One of the major keys is to keep the team excited. The best way to keep them excited is for them to see success and to recognise it. We gave them targets (set by themselves), got them to devise a system where their performances were under the scanner in a gentle, non-accusing manner and where each one pushed each one along. The results doubled.

The idea is to appreciate progress until they feel confident enough and are motivated enough by their own good work that they take more ownership and pride in their work. But its critical to nurture them until they feel confident and take pride.

One danger is if the top management gets impatient or feels that the team has not performed till now and is now taking ownership. "It's their job", "they were told and never did it till now" - could become ego issues. It's important to have everyone, especially the managers to be gentle with the process, to lead the effort towards achieving what they want the team to achieve. This would mean finding out their issues, guiding them when they are stuck, taking responsibility for their performance ("they were told but they did not do the work" - reflects on the manager) and gently nudging them to perform. Managers must find a way to make them perform.

Managers at the top must have a clear analysis of what is going on, know what they want, nudge the team in that direction, show them success and recognise it. Their job is to make the team perform - not find excuses as to why the team is not performing. Many times top managers blame one another, the team and behave as if the entire team is against them and of bad quality. We can never move forward with beliefs like that. Every person, handled in the right way will surprise us. The key is to know how.

As an aside we are having a meeting to align the top management on these principles.
1) Our job is to make the team perform
2) The team will perform well if they are high on energy and in good space.
3) We must believe that they are capable of great work and enable that.
4) People will do work when they suggest the way forward themselves - give them credit and let them take it forward
5) Appreciate progress, and do not compare current performance with your gold standard of performance (for eg. if their average is 10 and your standard is 50, and if they have done 12, please appreciate progress and don't look at the 38 that is lacking. From 12 they will be motivated to go to 14, then 16, 20, 30 etc if they are appreciated.)
6) Be easy on process (let them find a way), strict on effort and integrity
7) Facilitate performance, make it easy to perform, don't come in the way, find metrics, ways, processes, to keep them happy and excited.

Week 6 - ending April 22, 2016 (19/25)
We finished the week at 19/25 which was an improvement over the past two weeks though it fell short of the planned target. There is some irregular attendance due to leaves which is hampering the effort, and also the key people being busy with things like marriage (their own!). But over all we ended with 19 making it 49 for the month, with 20 As (as opposed to the target of 40 which is still  a far cry). This A business is mysterious and needs to be pursued with more rigor this week.

Two other ideas that we are pursuing need a push. One is the identification of 10 big accounts and their management for increasing revenue. For the first time revenue comes into the picture and will form part of the evaluation process. As a complementary plan to that we are also looking at a city based potential improvement plan which the executives are to come up with.

I am hoping to get this exercise going for another 6 weeks by which time we would have set the new processes into place and would have something substantial to show. Meanwhile we are still at 2.5 X which is not a bad place to be in after 6 weeks. The last three have been rather slow but we hope to pick up.

Targets for the coming week
1) 25 offers (or more, considering the shortfall we have had)
2) Improve As to 40 and beyond
3) Complete all pending renewals by weekend
4) Examine revenue and compare with the city-potential plan with 10 big accounts
5) Examine the feedback analysis from customers to see a pattern

The team has slacked off a bit and the pending jobs are increasing. It will require a pepping up and some close monitoring this week to get on track. In my view this will be a critical week.

Personal Leadership Program Through Cricket - Upto75 Team at ML Jaisimha Academy

I tried this program out for the first time using cricket as a medium to experience 'Personal Leadership'. The core idea is that people perform better when they think like leaders. Leadership gives them more responsibility, an overall picture, concern about others' performance and mostly concern about their own performance with team in focus. Since everyone cannot be leaders, it was always a challenge to pull this program off.

The Upto75 team - Raj, Dayakar, Vijaya, Rama, Raju, Santosh, Kishan, Me, Roopesh, Jawad, Sharath, Tej, Ramaraju, (sitting) Harsha and Sushmita

All leaders have one problem - how do I get everyone to work with the same kind of madness I do. At one end we have armies where these situations are more magnified because it is a question of life and death, of honour and pride. At another extreme are businesses where people come with options for employment i.e. work or no work is an option (it is not life and death for them, only a choice). In sports and games there is an in-between area where it is an option to lose, but the effect is felt immediately. You feel the pinch of losing, your performance is under scrutiny.So what better way than to play a team game like cricket to bring these aspects out?

In serious thought - Think like a Leader

Ramaraju was kind enough to agree and take an afternoon off from work with his team. Everyone turned up dressed smartly in the Upto75 t shirts. Ram, Tej, Jawad, Roopesh, Sharath, Sushmita, Raju, Kishan, Raj, Santosh, Vijaya, Rama, Dayakar and Ram completed the team. Sagar assisted me.

Sharing thoughts on ownership

The three games had three distinct themes;
- our attitudes to work places
- thinking like a leader and taking more ownership for our performance
- thinking like a leader and taking more ownership for the team / others

All down on the grass and discussing personal leadership

The participation was excellent. Though the time was short, they enjoyed themselves, participated fully and took away many learnings. More importantly they gave me an opportunity to learn many things about how to fine tune the program before I take it out in a full day program later.

Some learning they shared.
1) The team leader plays an important role in directing the team. By understanding, supporting and respecting one another we can perform better. Must understand one's role in the team. 

2)The team excels when each member mentally commits to give 100%. Team must  enjoy the process.

3) Team's goal is important. So work as an individual to achieve that by giving your best.

4) Personal leadership helps in team building. Focus on team.

5) Constant support and encouragement from team helps immensely. Taking personal initiative and leadership helps us to perform better as individuals and as a team.

6) A mediocre team if it comes together can start performing. Be part of the team, lead from the front.

7) Analyse own skill and others skills and share to improve as an individual and a team.

8) Encourage lower performing guys and team performance will improve.

9) Build an environment in the team where everyone can perform. Always move forward.


Nice! Thanks everyone.

Goals And How We Go About Them

The first thing I realized, while doing a workshop, was the lack of goals. We have a vague idea of what we want and how we'd like to get it (and mostly we want it to come to us by itself).These vague goals are also not articulated for various reasons - doubt, fear, lack of deservability. Some goals are given up because we think they are too big, or because one feels they are not for people like me or because they involve money or other resources which one does not have at the moment.

The Extra Moment 
But if one truly wants something, one must stay with that thought for a moment more, look at it and hold it and say, hey, maybe I'd like to hold it like this one day. That extra moment can make all the difference to the dream coming true or remaining a dream.

Articulate It
When I ask people to write down their goals, their dreams, they write down all sorts of stuff from travelling around the world, owning houses, swanky cars, money, beautiful lives.

What Do You Really Want
But most often I realise that we are writing down what we have been taught is the cool thing to desire. Most times we do not really want most things on our list. For eg. I want to travel around the world. And if someone says, okay, here's your ticket to Turkey, you say, hey not now, later, then maybe you really do not want to go travel the world.

How Badly Do You Want It
Wanting something normally, if one really wants it, pushes one into frenzied action (or even deliberate action). Ask yourself how many times you have done it for things you really want - yes, you have. If it does not push you to act, maybe you should relook at your goal and examine whether you really want it. And those items against whom have ticked as the ones you are willing to work for, those are the goals and dreams that you can pick as the ones you really want. Right, onwards with this actionable goals for now. The rest can wait.

ACT
Once you look at this list and are comfortable with it, knowing you wish to take responsibility for them, knowing you will act on your dream, all you need to do is act. Even planning or thinking about how to get it becomes an act. Then all effort and thought goes towards achieving this dream. This becomes your preparation period. In this you use your talent, you acquire and hone skills, you raise resources and are obsessed with this dream. And you realise soon enough that however big, however stupid the dream appeared, it starts taking shape and you get your chance to say 'YES, I DID IT'.

Goals Give Purpose To Action
There are many who do not like the concept of goals. There are several theories that debunk the idea of having a goal. The idea of a goal is to give purpose to action. Once you see the goal, let us say of winning the World Cup, you see it, feel it and take pride in saying you want to win it. Take the responsibility, prepare. And then let the image take the back seat. It has served the purpose of spurring you to action, to the limits you can stretch yourself. Now go and stretch yourself and find that limit.

Preparation - To Be Your Best To Achieve The Goal
And now comes the moment. On being the best that the individual or team can be. Preparation must be done until one can confidently say that this preparation will give me the World Cup. No one else can certify this except the individual or the team as a whole. And once this is done, the state has been achieved when the individual or team has prepared enough, they are put to test. To competition. The goal remains in the  background, burning like the Olympic flame and all that separates you and your goal is action, is how you put your preparation into action.

The Moment Of Truth
Then you realise as you stretch every sinew, as you fight every inch of the way in your mind and with your body, as you hold on to all that you trained for in spite of an opponent who has trained equally hard, as you do not let a shadow of doubt creep in, as you hang on even 'if I die' - the gates open slowly. And then you realise that you have opened not just the pathway to the goal but something much bigger. In sport, in business, in war, in love - it is all the same.

You Have Been There
You have seen that you can if you want to. You have felt your potential. And you know nothing is impossible. You will flow way past your goal like a surging ocean wave with a power you have never imagined. Try it with a small goal. give it your best shot, your 200%, without any excuse and tell me what happened. The result is always the same - if your effort has been honest enough, you will get much more than you asked for. And that entire process to me, begins with that one moment when you dare to look at that goal of yours and decide that it is worthy of your effort!

The Champion's Mindset - Knowing Your Goals

The champion is clear about what he wants. This clarity itself differentiates him from the others more than any other quality.
So, to inculcate the Champion's Mindset, we must be clear about what we want too. Even things other than those that the world has planted in you of course. What do you really want?
It seems like a difficult question to answer for most. I had a tough time figuring out what I want. Still do sometimes. If we don't know what we want, then even if we have all the tools to get what we want we will not get it! Like having a car at our disposal and having no where to go!
In my workshops also I find that people do not know what they want. A house, a car, success etc are some of the things that come out with some prodding. But again with no clear idea. It is time to sit down with ourselves and get a clear idea. A house by a lake, a home by the sea, an office at Cuffe Parade, a Merc, a position as a Vice President in an MNC, a cricket commentator, a test cricketer, a star actor, a music composer...the clearer one is, the more the chances of it coming true.

How do I get clarity? What do I want?
One way is to go back to our childhood dreams. For example, I knew somehow, vaguely though, that I wanted to be a writer. And there were dreams of playing cricket as well. I see interviews of people in magazines and they say, 'I always wanted to be an actor, or a singer or a whatever...'. This is something that is quite evident in us.

Write, Verbalise
Anyway, it helps to write down the dreams that really drive you, that you would really feel good about. It could be earning pots of money, establishing a great company, being a great scientist and discovering great inventions, creating a great recipe, owning a bakery (mine), but it should make you feel good! It should charge you enough that you feel like working on it 15 hours a day!

Being In That Space
A home by the sea, a ride around India, ideas that make a difference to the world, great health, great relationships, wealth...give it a shape, a number, a color, a smell and visualize the dream. Many champions see themselves breasting the tape, lifting the cup, racing away to glory before they actually do it. It is that clarity, the being-in-that-place that propels them to their dream.

Make That List
So list what you want - the big ones, the small ones, the material ones and the spiritual ones. Make the list of what you really want for yourself. More importantly, get comfortable with the thought and feeling of enjoying that which you have achieved. If your dream is to earn 10 lakhs, get comfortable with handling a cheque for 10 lakhs responsibly instead of shutting the dream off at the starting point. So what would you do with 10 lakhs, what would you buy, where would you invest etc.
The Champion's Mindset is about being clear about the goal. And desiring it badly. And enjoying it when it is achieved!

The Champion's Mindset - Knowing One's Strengths

The first step to developing the champion's mindset is to take an honest appraisal of oneself and one's strengths. Someone mentioned it to me yesterday (and I do believe it myself) that the hardest thing is to know one's strength. One may not recognize one's strengths by introspection, so it may help to get the perspective of your friends and family, of people who know you well. I normally ask participants to find out 5 strengths from 5 known people, including one's parents to get a bunch of strengths. From these strengths, we must identify the stuff that makes us the champion. One can ask for that one quality as well, that is champion material to get an idea of what it is that makes you a champion.

Introspect On Strengths
This is an exercise that needs to be introspected upon. One needs to get comfortable with one's strengths as in being able to say 'I am a balanced individual, who is a good writer, a good communicator, a resilient person, a people-friendly person, a thinker, a cricketer, a dream chaser, a tryer....'. That is what comes to me as I write now about myself. But I am sure I will find someone saying something that will surprise me.

Verbalise It - Get Comfortable Saying It
I also realize that the more I verbalise this statement - I use this method of introducing myself elaborately every time I speak in a lecture or in a workshop - and now I do feel quite comfortable with myself as a person who can speak management, life skills and cricket. Somewhere in the set of strengths lies the strength or the combination of strengths that will bring out the champion in you.

Which One Is It?
It is normally pretty obvious. It is what everyone tells you that you are obsessed with. It is what you are obsessed with. It could be playing cricket (so you think you will be a Tendulkar huh, stop wasting your time), electronics (that guy's crazy, it's like he will win the Nobel Prize or something), dressing up dolls, cooking, acting. miming, singing, dancing, painting, making money...it could be just about anything. People make a career out of anything, it is just that they need to feel that yes, this is what makes me tick, this is what I will do even if the whole world laughs at me, this is what I will do for hours and hours...
I could play cricket for hours one end. When I found someone I played with them, when I did not find someone I'd play with the wall. I'd play imaginary test cricket with my brother and kept detailed records of all the players I played and calculated their averages.
Similarly I could write letters to everyone I loved (it was easy to love everyone sometime ago), long, funny letters to my friends who I'd think needed a laugh. Sometimes I'd write letters to my friends abroad on borrowed money. But I loved writing letters, then articles, then stories and then longer stories.
You know your strengths somehow, you know what you're made for. Ask yourself if the cause is worthy, pick up the relevant strengths, and go for it!

The Champion's Mindset

One of the things about champions is the quiet resilience they show in the face of adversity. The champion always looks at converting the slightest opportunity to his advantage. Maybe the entire game has not gone in his favour, maybe they got off to a bad start, but the champion stays his ground till the end instead of throwing in the towel or getting angry at his teammates. Somehow, in his mind he seems to have the thought that says, okay, we haven't done well so far but give me that one opportunity and we'll come back.
In a team game, the captain needs to understand that he cannot get into a mindset where he thinks that the others are not putting in their best. It has to be always with the thought that everyone is trying their best, everyone is looking for that opportunity and everyone will convert that opportunity. one look at an MS Dhoni or a Shane Warne on the cricket field, gives you an ample example of how champion leaders behave in times of duress.
Given that space, even on a bad day, the players who are not having a good day can pull themselves back which is so important. But if the captain does not have this mindset and gives up on his players with a - I have to do everything, or a they are not trying hard enough - it somehow gets transferred as a vibration and that is when you see that drooping shoulder syndrome (and you can sense it in your bones that the team is going to lose).
It is a thought. But the champion holds on to the thought till the end. Like a weed to a drowning man, it can make all the difference. It is a good quality to practice and add to your repertoire.
The champion never gives up - in his mind, whatever the stakes, whatever the score, he is looking for one opportunity to turn things around!