"Clutch, by New York Times columnist Paul
Sullivan, is a well- written examination of what makes a person
perform despite stress. It''s not luck, he emphasizes; it''s "the
ability to do what you can do normally under immense pressure." He
points to five key traits of clutch performers: focus, discipline,
adaptability, being truly present and having the fear and desire to
win. Sullivan illustrates these talents by way of portraits of
accomplished, self-assured performers such as trial lawyer
內容簡介:
Is clutch performance innate-or can it be learned?
Sooner or later everyone encounters a situation in
which the stakes are high and the outcome is crucial. And even top
performers can crumble when faced with such extreme pressure.
Consider the CEO who panics in a desperate attempt to shore up his
company''s earnings, the veteran politician who grows overconfident
and loses to the upstart candidate, the quarterback who carries his
team to the Super Bowl but falls apart in the final quarter. All of
them choked. But then there are the performers who thrive under
such conditions: the ER doctor racing the clock to save someone''s
life, the lieutenant who leads his platoon to victory after an
ambush, the young attorney who refuses to be intimidated in court
and wins the crucial case.
These people are clutch, and their ability to overcome extreme
pressure consistently and beat the toughest odds fascinates us. How
do they do it? According to Paul Sullivan, clutch performance does
not stem from an innate ability. It''s a learned skill: the art of
operating in high-stress situations as if they were everyday
conditions. Even some of the most experienced and talented
performers lack this skill-but Sullivan shows that anyone can
develop it. Drawing on new research and interviews with stars
across a range of fields, Sullivan uncovers the shared traits that
define clutch performers and explains how anyone can apply their
strategies. He builds his case through many inspiring true stories,
including those of
* a skinny sergeant who saved his battalion in Iraq;
* a rookie baseball player who pitched his team into its first
World Series;
* an eccentric psychiatrist who trained a group of financial
traders to become the best in the world;
* a lawyer who struggled in school but became one of the top
litigators in America.
Full of powerful advice and real-world examples, Clutch will
show you how to overcome extreme pressure to achieve greatness.
關於作者:
Paul Sullivan writes the Wealth Matters column for The New York
Times.
His articles have appeared in Conde Nast Portfolio, The
International Herald Tribune, Barron''s, The Boston Globe, and Food
Wine. From 2000 to 2006, he was a reporter, editor and
columnist at the Financial Times.His first big story for the
FT was a profile of the author Kurt Vonnegut based on a train ride
they took from Springfield, Massachusetts to New York City. His
last piece for the FT was Vonnegut''s obituary.
He received degrees in history from Trinity College and the
University of Chicago.