With summer well and truly upon us and international sports events taking place every other day it seems, there are some vital takeaways the business world could learn from the world of sport…
…the importance of coaching.
Take any sporting event… Wimbledon for example… Each player has reached the top at a young age and they are still hungry to achieve more. And what’s more? Every single player still has a coach.
In fact, look through the lists of any sport, anywhere, and try to find a Champion who has celebrated success by deciding they are so good they no longer need or want a coach.
This is the secret of sporting champions.
This is the formula for sports people everywhere.
Every one of the thousands of athletes who take part in the Olympics has a coach and every single participant takes the first opportunity they can to thank their Coach.
They understand that whether or not they are one of the elite few who win a medal, they will never ever do what they are capable of doing on their own.
Think of the simplest of them all.
Athletics. Running. What is there to learn? We have all done it since we were about 2 years old. Put one foot in front of the other, now do it as fast as you can. That’s it, you are running. Who needs a coach to do that?
The question is not of course “What can you do?” it is “What are you capable of?”
The answer is; the reaching of your potential.
That’s why in sport the two most important letters are ‘P’ and ‘B’.
If you can do better than you have ever done before, you are moving towards your potential. The holy grail of sport is not the gold medal – it is the Personal Best. By definition you can never reach your potential, it is always out there before you, challenging you to strive further and it is striving for your potential that fuels your motivation.
It is the essence of living. Reread that last paragraph; the keywords are “you are moving”. How many people do you know who are “in a rut”, locked in a routine that is stifling the potential of their team?
Now, it’s probably impractical to have everyone mill around the office with their own personal coach providing assurance and advice in the workplace 24/7. So how can you leverage these lessons from the sporting world and implement the same drive towards potential within your team and organisation?
Operational CoachingTM
If managers adopt Operational CoachingTM as part of their everyday management practice, the team is consistently being challenged to develop.
Rather than constantly telling; ask your team powerful questions that force them to engage with the learning and become independent and active thinkers. What’s more, Operational CoachingTM empowers your team to step up, taking the load off you as a manager and giving you time back to complete more challenging tasks. Best of all? Cultivating an Operational CoachingTM culture allows teams to pick up on these skills and in essence, coach each other, all by asking powerful questions that support new ways of thinking.
The evidence is there in the sports pages as well as the business and financial pages.
Just think what a Personal Best in your performance this week / month / quarter will do for you personally and for your organisation.
Your potential awaits.
To learn more about how you can adopt Operational CoachingTM immediately and help your team to outdo their personal bests, claim your FREE DEMO and discover proven results that will transform you, your team and your organisation.
