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Bosses looking for an edge in the post-COVID remote work era have turned to a militaristic approach to team building — with some paying upwards of $100,000 for “Top Gun”-style simulations to rally their troops, according to a report.

The C-suite executives — from companies as varied as Nike, Pepsi and Bank of America — who “feel the need for speed” can adopt their own Maverick or Ice Man call sign and engage in missions “to rescue your teammate and bring them home, The New York Times reported.

If you lose sight of the airplane youre fighting against, you lose the fight, said Christian Boucousis, the CEO of Atlanta-based Afterburner. We use that as a metaphor if you lose sight of your business objectives, youre not going to achieve them.

Boucousis’ firm employs a team of former pilots, Navy SEALs and military commandos to train corporate executives to “execute with the same precision and accuracy as elite military aviators and special operations teams,” according to the company website.

Its Top Gun Experience training starts at $10,000 for a small team and can climb to $100,000 for a larger one, according to The Times.

“Bring out your team’s inner jet fighter pilot,” one of the company’s promotional videos states.

Afterburner offers companies “experiential team building” exercises that include “fighter pilot simulation” designed to “help your team strengthen relationships, build trust, and improve communication.”

Team members “adopt a real-life, fighter pilot call sign” while taking on roles such as “squadron commander” who are thrust into challenging scenarios that sharpen their decision-making acumen.

Afterburner is part of a trend of experiential trainings that lean on military precision as companies adapt to the work-from-home phenomenon sparked by the pandemic, experts say.

Another management training company based in the Financial District, The Squadron, uses advanced F-35 flight simulators — usually reserved for to train Israeli air force pilots — to teach corporate executives about business and life lessons.

The trainees have come from companies that include Coca-Cola, Microsoft, and Google, as The Post previously reported.

Leaders are trying to regain a sense of control they feel theyve lost over the last few years, Cali Williams Yost, a workplace strategist, told The Times. Theyre searching to reassert control and power in a way that feels familiar.

The lessons aren’t limited to metaphors dealing with flying at Mach-1 speed.

Over the Wall, a company founded by former NASCAR pit crew coach Andy Papathanassiou, charges at least $10,000 to train corporate teams to replace tires on a race car as if they were manning an actual pit stop at a NASCAR event.

Papathanassiou said the aim is to inculcate an “over the wall mentality” that aims to develop “the cognitive building blocks of what athletes are.”

Testimonials posted on the company website by CEOs who have had their teams participate in the drills report that it helped improve “communication, collaboration, teamwork, and strategic thinking.”

Kris Kovacs, the CEO of fintech firm Constellation Digital Partners, told the Times that his 30 employees were made to simulate a NASCAR pit stop in the company parking lot.

It sounds silly for me to say, but the hardest part is actually getting the tire on, Kovacs told the Times.

What that teaches you is youve got to preplan. Hard things, if you practice at them and preplan, become easier and easier.

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The evolution of crypto payments and what lies ahead

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The evolution of crypto payments and what lies ahead

From Bitcoin to stablecoins, what’s next for digital currency? Stablecoins will continue to play a fundamental role in crypto payments, and their important role will only grow.

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Technology

Trump delays cancellation of de minimis trade exemption targeting China imports

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Trump delays cancellation of de minimis trade exemption targeting China imports

Employees package and sort express parcels at an e-commerce company on Nov. 1, 2024, around the Double 11 Shopping Festival in Lianyungang, Jiangsu Province of China.

Vcg | Visual China Group | Getty Images

President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Friday that puts a pause on his closing of the de minimis trade exemption, a provision commonly used by Chinese e-commerce companies Temu and Shein.

The order states that de minimis will be restored for small packages shipped from China, “but shall cease to be available for such articles upon notification by the Secretary of Commerce to the President that adequate systems are in place to fully and expediently process and collect tariff revenue” on those items.

Trump on Saturday suspended the exemption as part of new tariffs that include an additional 10% tax on Chinese goods. The nearly century-old exception, known as de minimis, has been used by many e-commerce companies to send goods worth less than $800 into the U.S. duty-free, creating a competitive advantage.

It was predicted that its removal could overwhelm U.S. Customs and Border Protection employees, as the mountain of low-value shipments already making their way into the U.S. would suddenly require formal processing.

De minimis has helped fuel an explosion in cheap goods being shipped from China into the U.S. CBP has said it processed more than 1.3 billion de minimis shipments in 2024. A 2023 report from the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party found that Temu and Shein are “likely responsible” for more than 30% of de minimis shipments into the U.S., and “likely nearly half” of all de minimis shipments originate from China.

Critics of the de minimis provision say it’s provided an unfair advantage to Chinese e-commerce companies, and created an influx of packages that are “subject to minimal documentation and inspection,” raising concerns around counterfeit and unsafe goods.

The Biden administration proposed a new rule last September to curb the “overuse and abuse” of de minimis. The rule proposes to strengthen the CBP’s information collection requirements for de minimis shipments.

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Environment

Tesla increases Model X price, brings back incentive Elon Musk said was ‘not coming back’

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Tesla increases Model X price, brings back incentive Elon Musk said was 'not coming back'

Tesla has increased Model X prices and brought back an incentive that CEO Elon Musk said was unsustainable and “not coming back to any vehicles.”

Today, Tesla updated its Model X configurator in the US to raise the prices of the electric SUV by $5,000.

The new prices are $84,990 for the Long Range version and $99,990 for the Plaid version:

The price increase means the Model X ino longer qualifies for the $7,500 Federal EV tax credit as it now exceeds the $80,000 price cap for electric SUVs.

But with the price increase, Tesla is ramping up the incentives.

Tesla brings the price down by $1,000 with a referral code, it gives one option for free if you buy the Full Self-Driving package, and it is bringing pack “free Supercharing for life.”

The latter, Tesla stopped offering because CEO Elon Musk said it was unsustainable.

Back in 2020, the CEO said that it will “not come back to any [Tesla] vehicles”:

“Just us being fools, but free Supercharging forever is not coming back to any vehicles. It’s not a good incentive structure.”

However, it did bring it back last year as an “end-of-the-year incentive.”

But now, Tesla is bringing it back for Model S and Model X, and it applies to orders from the US, Canada, Puerto Rico, Europe and Middle East.

Tesla has made some changes to the program. Instead of being linked to the vehicle, meaning free Supercharging would remain if you sell it, it is now attached to your Tesla account.

The automaker also says that it doesn’t apply to vehicles used for commercial purposes:

“Customers who purchase or lease a new Model X are eligible for free Supercharging during your ownership of the vehicle. Offer is tied to your Tesla Account and cannot be transferred to another vehicle, person or order, even in the case of ownership transfer. Used vehicles, business orders and vehicles used for commercial purposes (like taxi, rideshare and delivery services) are excluded from this promotion.”

However, Tesla also said that the last time, but it is hard to enforce.

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