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Friday: Mindfulness by Miles
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FROM THE DESK OF MILES EVERSON:
Hi, everyone!
Each Friday, I am sharing my insights and advice on a topic or event that I find useful in my everyday life. My hope is to use these
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experiences and personal interests to help develop your skills, improve your character, and boost your career.
This week in particular, I’ll be talking about one of the biggest events in the history of the US during World War II.
I’m referring to the Normandy Landings in June 1944, which is also known as D-Day.
Keep reading to know my key takeaways from this historical event. I believe these insights will help you learn the values you need to thrive and succeed as an independent professional.
CEO, MBO Partners
Chairman of the Advisory Board, The I Institute
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Trust, Strength, and Bravery: Lessons you can learn from the largest seaborne invasion in military history…
D-Day was the largest amphibious invasion in military history. With its anniversary on June 6th, I decided to dive into the history of this event.
Personally, what I took away from this event was that D-Day represents what is arguably one of most incredible examples of teamwork ever carried out.
To me, D-Day is a precedent of what a strong team should exhibit: Trust, strength, and bravery. It is my full belief that these values are not only meant for military teams but also for any team in any industry.
Through knowledge of this historical event, I have learned to apply these values, though not at as grand a scale, to my own teams—formerly, at PricewaterhouseCoopers and now, at MBO Partners.
Allow me to explain:
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Trust
During WWII, trust was at an all-time low. If you look back on the events leading up to D-Day, you’ll see thousands of cases of mistrust. People were distrusted for their religion, political alliance, nationality, and even sexual orientation.
This was also a time when countries were shifting alliances right and left.
So, the fact that England, America, and Canada all came to an alliance and trust to carry out D-Day was in many ways a miracle. These three countries also led Australia, Belgium, Czechoslovakia, Denmark, France, Greece, New Zealand, Norway, and Poland to carry out the operation.
Throughout my career, though not fighting an actual war, I have learned to lead a team of various individuals from all walks of life. For me, there is nothing more critical than having these teams trust one another. It is important to get the members of the team to trust one another and each other’s abilities to accomplish a certain goal.
I am a strong believer that a team that thrives is a team that trusts one another.
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Strength
Strength comes in many forms. It’s not always physical, brute strength or strength in numbers.
What strength can look like is the amount of determination and resilience a team has.
When examining the events that unfolded at D-Day, it is beyond a doubt that the Allies were made of determination and resilience. The invasion, officially called "Operation Overlord," was made of over 156,000 US, British, and Canadian troops, more than 6,000 ships and landing vessels, 2,000+ aircraft, and 800+ gliders that delivered airborne troops.
… but never before had the Allies won on land in Europe against the Nazi’s at this point.
The Allies, though they were prepared as far as they could be, were going into a battle knowing they were up against one of the strongest forces the world had ever seen in military history. The Nazis already held the greater part of Europe along with almost all the major ports and trade routes.
Nevertheless, these troops marched forward for 50 miles of Normandy's fiercely defended beaches in northern France and turned the course of the war.
What I learned from this is that even if your team is against an immense force, it’s important to never underestimate yourselves. Just because people failed before, that doesn’t mean you’ll fail again.
Push through! Align your team and use the preparation you have at hand to accomplish the goal.
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Bravery
As a leader, it’s important to show courage because it will inspire your team to limit any fear rising in their bones. Besides, a team that believes in the end goal that is to be accomplished will fight even harder if they have the courage to do so.
For me, bravery is one of the largest lessons one can learn from the events of D-Day. As I stated in point number 2, these men were facing off one of the largest, and strongest military forces in history.
The Nazi’s had already been able to harness most of Europe’s greatest powers. With only months beforehand, people doubted and underestimated the strength of Hitler and his party.
Now, these men gathered together and found a common purpose to fight for. Together, these troops harnessed courage and stormed the French beaches even though they had already seen troops all over Europe destroyed and killed by this monstrous opposing force.
I believe it is of grave importance to encourage your team and unite them together to get the task at hand done. If you and your team are thriving on courage, you will always go the extra mile to accomplish a certain goal.
Overall, D-Day is a day to keep in our hearts. Not only was it a major turning point in WWII, but also an exemplary event that teaches us how teams should work together.
Through trust, strength, and bravery, a team can become an unstoppable force. These values can be planted in any walk of life, even in business.
With all these things considered, I hope that you have taken away some insight from what history teaches us about how to successfully run a team.
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