Monthly Archives: August 2012
Olympian advice for business leaders
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/4a1b82a6-e251-11e1-be25-00144feab49a.html#ixzz23U00c2cb
By Anthony Goodman
On Sunday it will all be over. The Olympians will start to leave London and, after taking a well-earned break, begin to prepare for the next challenge.
For some, it will be a second chance in Rio at the 2016 Games. For others, such as swimmer Michael Phelps, it will be retirement from active competition. And for a few, a new career beckons advising business leaders on what it takes to succeed.
For those who choose this latter option, they are following a well-worn track. Roger Black, the British athlete who won a silver medal in the 400 metres at the Atlanta Olympics in 1996, runs a training and development business. He says: “Everything we do in our business is about transferring the experience that we have as high-level performers in sport into business.”
Some observers, however, are sceptical that much can be transferred. Octavius Black, co-founder of performance consultancy Mind Gym, recently wrote in the Telegraph that “athletic sport is primarily about completing a single task to an exceptionally high standard. Business is invariably a multi-task, multi-layered affair . . . Yes, to be successful in business or sport you need determination, the trust of your colleagues and a good coach, but you need these just as much in ballet.”
Nonetheless, there is appetite among business leaders to learn from the Olympians. Even the late Stephen Covey’s last column, which was written last month and published posthumously, was called “How to succeed like an Olympian”.
Nadia Comaneci and her husband Bart Conner, both Olympic gold medal winners in gymnastics, discussed the overlap between business and sport in the book Awaken the Olympian Within , a collection of stories about Olympians. “Most people are familiar with the championship qualities that help an athlete become a winner,” they say. “These, of course, are the same attributes that help business people enjoy success. We all have the ability to make a commitment, the courage to set long- and short-range goals, the strength to lead, the guts to handle adversity, the selflessness to be a team player.”
I have identified three lessons business leaders can learn from Olympians. While these could well be learned from other sources too, these athletes tend to embody and inspire these behaviours in greater measure than many other types of competitors.
First, you need a clear vision and goals for what you want to achieve.
Writing in the Financial Times, Ross Tieman recently quoted Matthieu Péché and Gauthier Klauss, the French two-man canoe team, saying: “An Olympic campaign is about fixing objectives and ensuring you reach them. That applies in business too.”
Jim Craig the goaltender of the 1980 “Miracle on Ice” US men’s hockey team wrote in Gold Medal Strategies : “We could not have achieved greatness if we were selfish individuals and if we didn’t keep an eye on the bigger prize. We could not have won the game that couldn’t be won, or beat the team that couldn’t be beat, unless we bought into a common objective and prepared and competed in unison to achieve that objective.”
Second, just as for team sports, it is all about getting the right people in the team and then making sure they work together effectively.
Christie Rampone, captain of the US women’s Olympic football team, told Inc. magazine that communication and collaboration are the keys to success. “Whether in the world of soccer or business, leadership is simple,” she said. “It’s about communication, honesty, and building confidence. That’s it. You get that, and your team competes at its best. Period.”
Last year, Ben Hunt-Davis, a member of the gold medal winning UK men’s eight rowing team in Sydney in 2000, co-authored a book called Will it make the boat go faster? This question became a mantra for keeping his crew focused on preparing for the Olympics.
Mr Hunt-Davis and Harriet Beveridge, his co-author, advocate discussions with the team to develop winning behaviours. “The team behaviours stuck because the team talked them through . . . The crew spent so much time talking that eyebrows were raised in a sporting culture where ‘doing time’ (the physical training) was valued most highly.”
The third lesson is to avoid the doubters and naysayers and remain resolutely positive. There will always be people who will tell you that you cannot succeed.
Argentina’s Ruben Gonzalez, a four-time Olympic luger turned motivational speaker, tells his audiences: “Not quitting on the way to the goal transforms us. It’s about who we become by taking the journey. The Olympics are about all that is right about the human spirit. The Olympics showcase a group of people who were willing to go for it. People who refused to quit when the going got tough. I only made it because I refused to quit.”
Of course, there are many other requirements for an Olympian that may not matter so much for a business leader: good genetics, 10,000 hours of practice, and coaching by former Olympians.
The fact is business and Olympians were made for each other. Athletes want sponsorship, products need endorsements and businesspeople require motivation.
I’m sure Michael Phelps will soon be telling the business world how to make a bigger splash.
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