Zebras and Cheetahs: Look Different and Stay Agile to Survive the Business Jungle

Chapter 6

Battle-Testing Your Tribe

What does it really mean to be battle-tested?

Ask a dozen people, and you may get a dozen different answers.

Many people may say, “It’s about coming in early and staying late.”

Yes, higher levels of success will require extraordinary investments of long periods of labor, but sacrificed time is only one aspect of battle-testing.

Other people may say, “It requires your very best effort.” Without question, greatness will never come about without efforts of tremendous quality and scope. However, effort is still also only one aspect of battle-testing.

So what is the secret to becoming battle-tested?

Has the Leader Been Battle-Tested First?

We believe that the real secret lies at the nexus of a struggle and a unique perspective. This applies to both the Z&C Leader and the tribe; but it must first and foremost be applicable to the Z&C Leader before it can translate to the tribe.

In other words, you cannot battle-test others as a Z&C Leader until you have been battle-tested yourself.

You’re Not Ready Until You’re Ready

One would think that if someone started coaching sports at 15 years old and did that for the next 15 years, the thought of walking away from it would keep that person up at night. It did for me, but not for the reasons you might assume.

I didn’t stay up at night because I was afraid of leaving the game of basketball after a very successful run as a high school girls’ basketball coach. I stayed up because I felt I had a bigger future ...