Leadership
Give Your Business a Sporting Chance Using Athletes' Strategies
Written by Jay Shapiro for Gaebler Ventures
Establish a coach/athlete relationship in the world of business management and watch your team go for gold.
By using theories and practices from the athletics arena in the world of business management you can give your company a sporting chance of running to the winning post.
Athletes train in preparation for events, and business managers can use this practice too. Organizations can gear up team members to be in top condition by trying to foresee what certain events will entail, the conditions that might be faced and any opportunities that might arise.
Top athletic coaches and good business managers share particular traits:
- They are both able to visualize what they want to achieve. They don't have a vague notion of their goals; they see exactly what they aspire to in very solid terms.
- High performers in all walks of life train themselves to mentally play out scenarios in order to sharpen their performance in cutthroat or challenging situations.
- Another important aspect is skill building. High performers are continually improving the skills they possess to ensure they give peak performance.
- Winning personalities have an amazing capability to center their energies.
- Top athletic coaches and good business managers teach themselves to perform well even in the face of distractions. They have always got one eye on the main aim, ideally, both eyes.
Dreaming it leads to being it -
For an organization to be a winning one every member of the group must share an idea of what the eventual goal is. But, perhaps more importantly, they really need to be able to envision that goal - and see it in their minds' eyes as if it were actually happening, or even playing out like a reel of movie film. The more visual the better. Visualisation is powerful stuff, and the technique of envisioning is used by athletes and their trainers to encourage high performance with an end in sight. In order for this to work in business management it's important that all team members make the connection between their personal desire to succeed and the organisation's aspirations.
A role and company mission statement can of course aid clarity of purpose, but often the concept is too theoretical to stimulate the enthusiasm required for the group to embrace a given project and really shine. That's why it helps to use envisioning as a key part of the process. Create a narrative that expresses the aim - even story boarding can give a visual element.
Pre-Event Training
Athletes train in preparation for events, and business managers can use this practice too. Organizations can gear up team members to be in top condition by trying to foresee what certain events will entail, the conditions that might be faced and any opportunities that might arise.
Top performing teams react speedily and accurately to varying situations- using hypothetical 'what if' situations helps them to get in the right frame of mind to deal with what's thrown at them.
When managing a team and steering them towards success eliminating surprise and being able to resort to plan B, or even plan C is the key.
Jay Shapiro is a freelance writer based in the UK. Jay has a particular interest in the emotive aspects of the entrepreneur's character. "Alongside the nuts and bolts of business, the character of the person is often the ingredient responsible for success."
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