Ant Middleton - First Man In

CONTENTS COVER TITLE PAGE COPYRIGHT DEDICATION INTRODUCTION PREFACE LESSON 1 DON’T LET ANYONE DEFINE WHO YOU ARE LESSON 2 MAKE YOUR ENEMY YOUR ENERGY LESSON 3 LEADERS STAND APART FROM CROWDS LESSON 4 MAKE FRIENDS WITH YOUR DEMONS LESSON 5 YOU DON’T NEED TO BE THE LEADER TO LEAD LESSON 6 FAILURE ISN’T MAKING THE MISTAKE, IT’S ALLOWING THE MISTAKE TO WIN LESSON 7 THE WAR IS ALWAYS IN YOUR HEAD LESSON 8 THE POWER OF INTELLIGENT WAITING LESSON 9 HOW TO AVOID A MUTINY LESSON 10 THE ULTIMATE LEADERSHIP LESSON ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ABOUT THE PUBLISHER

HarperCollins Publishers

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London SE1 9GF

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First published by HarperCollins Publishers 2018

FIRST EDITION

© Anthony Middleton 2018

Cover design by Claire Ward © HarperCollins Publishers Ltd 2019

Cover photograph © Andrew Brown

A catalogue record of this book is available from the British Library

Anthony Middleton asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work

All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the nonexclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.

Find out about HarperCollins and the environment at

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Source ISBN: 9780008245719

Ebook Edition © May 2018 ISBN: 9780008245740

Version: 2019-04-30

For Emilie

To the only person who can make me or break me with one sentence. This woman pushes me on a daily basis and will not accept anything less than one hundred per cent from me at all times. When I lose my way, she redirects me. When I put a foot out of place, she stamps on it. And when I fail, she is the only person who can lift me back up and make me feel invincible. My wife is the reason I am here today and she is the lady that has made me the man I am.

COVER

TITLE PAGE CONTENTS COVER TITLE PAGE COPYRIGHT DEDICATION INTRODUCTION PREFACE LESSON 1 DON’T LET ANYONE DEFINE WHO YOU ARE LESSON 2 MAKE YOUR ENEMY YOUR ENERGY LESSON 3 LEADERS STAND APART FROM CROWDS LESSON 4 MAKE FRIENDS WITH YOUR DEMONS LESSON 5 YOU DON’T NEED TO BE THE LEADER TO LEAD LESSON 6 FAILURE ISN’T MAKING THE MISTAKE, IT’S ALLOWING THE MISTAKE TO WIN LESSON 7 THE WAR IS ALWAYS IN YOUR HEAD LESSON 8 THE POWER OF INTELLIGENT WAITING LESSON 9 HOW TO AVOID A MUTINY LESSON 10 THE ULTIMATE LEADERSHIP LESSON ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ABOUT THE PUBLISHER

COPYRIGHT COPYRIGHT CONTENTS COVER TITLE PAGE COPYRIGHT DEDICATION INTRODUCTION PREFACE LESSON 1 DON’T LET ANYONE DEFINE WHO YOU ARE LESSON 2 MAKE YOUR ENEMY YOUR ENERGY LESSON 3 LEADERS STAND APART FROM CROWDS LESSON 4 MAKE FRIENDS WITH YOUR DEMONS LESSON 5 YOU DON’T NEED TO BE THE LEADER TO LEAD LESSON 6 FAILURE ISN’T MAKING THE MISTAKE, IT’S ALLOWING THE MISTAKE TO WIN LESSON 7 THE WAR IS ALWAYS IN YOUR HEAD LESSON 8 THE POWER OF INTELLIGENT WAITING LESSON 9 HOW TO AVOID A MUTINY LESSON 10 THE ULTIMATE LEADERSHIP LESSON ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ABOUT THE PUBLISHER HarperCollins Publishers 1 London Bridge Street London SE1 9GF www.harpercollins.co.uk First published by HarperCollins Publishers 2018 FIRST EDITION © Anthony Middleton 2018 Cover design by Claire Ward © HarperCollins Publishers Ltd 2019 Cover photograph © Andrew Brown A catalogue record of this book is available from the British Library Anthony Middleton asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the nonexclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books. Find out about HarperCollins and the environment at www.harpercollins.co.uk/green Source ISBN: 9780008245719 Ebook Edition © May 2018 ISBN: 9780008245740 Version: 2019-04-30

DEDICATION DEDICATION CONTENTS COVER TITLE PAGE COPYRIGHT DEDICATION INTRODUCTION PREFACE LESSON 1 DON’T LET ANYONE DEFINE WHO YOU ARE LESSON 2 MAKE YOUR ENEMY YOUR ENERGY LESSON 3 LEADERS STAND APART FROM CROWDS LESSON 4 MAKE FRIENDS WITH YOUR DEMONS LESSON 5 YOU DON’T NEED TO BE THE LEADER TO LEAD LESSON 6 FAILURE ISN’T MAKING THE MISTAKE, IT’S ALLOWING THE MISTAKE TO WIN LESSON 7 THE WAR IS ALWAYS IN YOUR HEAD LESSON 8 THE POWER OF INTELLIGENT WAITING LESSON 9 HOW TO AVOID A MUTINY LESSON 10 THE ULTIMATE LEADERSHIP LESSON ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ABOUT THE PUBLISHER For Emilie To the only person who can make me or break me with one sentence. This woman pushes me on a daily basis and will not accept anything less than one hundred per cent from me at all times. When I lose my way, she redirects me. When I put a foot out of place, she stamps on it. And when I fail, she is the only person who can lift me back up and make me feel invincible. My wife is the reason I am here today and she is the lady that has made me the man I am.

INTRODUCTION

PREFACE

LESSON 1

DON’T LET ANYONE DEFINE WHO YOU ARE

LESSON 2

MAKE YOUR ENEMY YOUR ENERGY

LESSON 3

LEADERS STAND APART FROM CROWDS

LESSON 4

MAKE FRIENDS WITH YOUR DEMONS

LESSON 5

YOU DON’T NEED TO BE THE LEADER TO LEAD

LESSON 6

FAILURE ISN’T MAKING THE MISTAKE, IT’S ALLOWING THE MISTAKE TO WIN

LESSON 7

THE WAR IS ALWAYS IN YOUR HEAD

LESSON 8

THE POWER OF INTELLIGENT WAITING

LESSON 9

HOW TO AVOID A MUTINY

LESSON 10

THE ULTIMATE LEADERSHIP LESSON

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

ABOUT THE PUBLISHER

Of all the people that I meet in my day-to-day life, most don’t have the courage to ask The Question. The majority only know me from the television and so are aware that I served two tours of Afghanistan with the Special Forces. Because my first TV appearance was on Channel 4’s SAS: Who Dares Wins , it’s often assumed that I was a member of the Special Air Service. In fact, I was a Special Boat Service operator. In military parlance I was a point man. My job was to lead a small group of men into Taliban compounds, searching out high-status targets on dangerous ‘hard arrest’ missions. Because of the great secrecy that surrounds Special Forces operations, I can’t talk about them. But I am able to give you a very general answer to The Question.