What Leaders in Business Should Learn from Top Athletes
Sport is one of the biggest adrenaline rushes in existence. Regardless of the genre, there are always a few teams or individuals that excel consistently. More likely than not, these teams get their success under the leadership of a great coach.
Champions such as Andy Murray and Lewis Hamilton are primary examples of those who consistently bring their ‘A’ game to the table. Andy Murray sets the pace by becoming the first three-time winner of the BBC Sports Personality of the Year award, in addition to closing out 2016 as the ATP world number one. Lewis Hamilton has grown to become recognized as Britain’s most successful Formula One driver of all time.
He is also a triple world champion and the first Briton to achieve back-to-back championship titles. These celebrated competitors did not achieve these great accolades by simply taking the normal routes. From a young age, they were both identified as talents, then their parents were selective in choosing their mentors.
Identify your mentors and develop a strategy to learn from them. This is the initial phase of developing not only a better you, but the best you. Few ideas are truly unique, but the way we put the pieces together and present them separates them from the ideas of others.
The authenticity of an idea is only as genuine as the person presenting it.
Don’t become overly consumed with how it will be perceived by others, but focus more on how you will present it to others. Your presentation or pitch is what magnifies the growth of any idea. Build the best you and your team or business will follow suit.
MAGNIFY YOUR MINDSET
The fact that there are is team of individuals relying on your coaching skills and techniques to elevate them above the competition should be a motivating factor in you becoming a boardroom champion.
Do you have the mindset to lead with a willingness and determination to win? There is no room for anything other than the best and a meticulous strategy is your primary tool. Enlarge your territory by expanding the way you think. Clear some space in your trophy case because with a motivated mindset, you and your team are destined to win and win big.
If a magnified mindset isn’t something you naturally possess, transitioning into one must be an initial part of your journey. Your thought process or way of thinking is the foundation for everything great that lies ahead. Winning coaches prepare for greatness. Very few teams experience a winning streak on the wings of mere luck. Winning coaches aren’t lucky, they are great.
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This greatness comes because they have a mindset to lead the team they coach and expect victories. Every great play began with a great thought, and it was derived from a coach with a magnified mindset. Magnified thinkers are amazing leaders. They are skilled in problem solving, they understand how to create possibilities, and most importantly, they will always strive to accomplish the impossible.
Include these steps in the journey to magnify your mindset and become a magnet for every person who seeks the leader in you:
- CHALLENGE YOUR OWN THOUGHTS.Boardroom champions are aware of their capabilities but they never take them for granted. They are constantly working to improve areas in which they are already excelling and expanding their knowledge about things they have already mastered. This process of examining what they already know delivers an increased level of knowledge. A leader that is consistently evolving will always have an impact on the team, because through learning comes ideas for what needs to happen next.
- ZONE IN ON FOCUS.The most effective method for eliminating disturbances and interference is to focus. This provides the platform for clear and concise thinking, which permits you to face challenges or make difficult decisions with clarity.
- RECOGNIZE THE BIG PICTURE.Coaches that think with the big picture in mind are constantly visualizing outcomes that others simply couldn’t imagine. The coach that recognizes the big picture seizes the opportunity to analyze the variables. Once the pieces to the puzzle are in place, he presents himself ready to capitalize on the opportunity.
- DEVELOP STRATEGIC THINKING.Coaches that are strategic in their thought process, can simplify challenging situations. They consistently prepare to actively respond, not react, to uncertainties, to decrease the circumference of error. Strategic thinking is one of the greatest assets of a phenomenal planner, which is how coaches can navigate from some rocky starts to dynamic results.
- INCORPORATE A CUTTING EDGE MENTALITY.Record breaking coaches have big thoughts and their dreams exceed the imagination of most. The drive and determination to think beyond the belief is a standard for winning coaches. They dare to be different and are not afraid of the road less travelled. They seek calculated risks and take them at every possible chance. This is one of the most admired characteristics of risk takers. Their team views them as the leader that isn’t afraid to try something new and because they try it, it increases the possibility of winning.
- NAVIGATE TOWARDS COLLABORATIVE THINKING.Leaders that choose to collaborate with others gain positive insight on what others are thinking. They utilize these thoughts to expand the ideas and plans that they have generated on their own. This pays homage to the saying that no one knows it all, which is especially true regarding boardroom champions.
- DEMONSTRATE A REFLECTIVE THOUGHT PROCESS.Before you react, remember to reflect. Never listen to respond, but instead listen to understand what is being said, and connect with your inner instincts prior to responding. This approach gives you an opportunity to gain perspective. The coach needs to see what is really taking place, without reacting or responding emotionally. However, the odd powerful from the heart emotional response is sometimes a gamechanger, especially under pressure when there is no time for reflection.
The greatest coaches are phenomenal thinkers by design and in the boardroom, is where all these thoughts evolve into winning strategies.
Bring Your A-Game
Preparation is a dominating factor in the game of winning. Regardless to how prepared a coach may be, he will wonder up until the very end if what he’s doing will work.
This is a pro and a con in some ways. You don’t want to spend the entire training session or game second-guessing your strategy but every man of substance began with doubt. The goal it to overcome those doubts and become successful. Bravery is not the absence of fear but rather the management of the mind to still take positive action when afraid.
You are never truly a boardroom champion until you reach the point where you bring out the best in your team players. Their best efforts will result in their best performances and in turn will manifest into the best victories. Boardroom champions must always bring their A-game.
Genuine leaders are physically present
Genuine leaders are physically present and work to establish a hands-on approach with the team that relies on them for guidance and leadership. Physical presence of the coach holds positive value in the boardroom because it shows that he is invested in the team and its future.
At some point in the game, every boardroom champion will encounter something so great and so power powerful, it literally changes the dynamic of the game – it’ a complete game changer. This is that eye-opening moment when a leader sees something that ordinary leaders won’t recognize.
It’s the reoccurrence of their tunnel vison and it propels their team from players to champions. The best coaches – the great ones are skilled at creating their own magical moments that are dubbed as game changers. With proper guidance and consistent effort, you will be mapping game changing plays for your team in no time.
CHASING SMART CHANGES:
Successful leaders are extremely proactive in chasing the change they want to experience. Mundane existence is never good enough or acceptable for a boardroom champion.
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Top executives and celebrated coaches never just get big breaks or strike it lucky – these leaders remain dedicated to pursuing methods and strategies that change the game.
They dreamed long before they became leader-now they are successful doers. Life as a successful leader requires persistence, commitment and a clear understanding that potential is null and void if it isn’t fully realized. Remember that potential means you have not achieved anything yet!
Authenticity and Selective Stealing:
A successful leader has a vision and a philosophy.
One of the roadblocks to successful leadership is the attempt to recreate and rebrand old strategies and ideas.
These aren’t new ideas but simply reheated left overs. This is the safe pathway for ordinary or average leaders. You cannot standout as a leader if you practice copycat tactics. Great leaders understand which strategies work and why, so are always eager to learn the nuggets of genius that they can incorporate into their own philosophy.
Boardroom champions work to dominate the industry in which they exist. The point- champions don’t duplicate. They know that their authenticity and uniqueness is not necessarily because there is essentially anything new in their philosophy.
Their genius is in knowing what to steal and that the power is in re-organising the information into a clear method that supports their philosophy. They have an ability to think outside the box and pull in diverse ideas from other industries or professions and re-engineer them, to apply to their own industry.
The very purpose of this book is the adaption of excellence from sport into the business world, and for you the reader to selectively steal the ideas that will enhance your approach to leadership and adapt some of the sporting mentality that is a proven success under pressure, to your environment.
Be authentic in all your creations to demonstrate to the team that an authentic strategy is the only one the competition absolutely cannot duplicate.
DESIGN A TRANSLUCENT PURPOSE
Inspiring leaders or game changers are naturally aware of what goes on around them. They are aware of what happens with them and their team, they are aware of and invested in the needs of those that they lead, but most importantly, they are aware of the demands of their industry and make their purpose clear and easy to understand.
The perfect combination of curiosity, knowledge and focus is in the DNA of every successful coach. Game changers have their eyes on the big picture for the greater good of the team. A game changer serves with purpose, helps the team and inspires even those that are watching from afar.
All the above elements make the magnificent moments much easier to capitalize on. A good leader is a mentor, an elite coach who will be spoken about fondly by all those who work with and for him. He will be a star in his industry and beyond just as top coaches in sports are revered for the insights and their ability to make other people shine.
Boardroom champions are essentially great coaches.
This article is written by my good friend David Sammel and originally published on my blog, he is an author and creator of Locker Room Power concept (LRP) David, is an International Tennis Coach and widely respected consultant across the spectrum of professional sport. Named as a world top 50 coach by Nike. David has over 25 years in world tennis, coaching international players to career high rankings, many of whom have represented their countries in the Davis Cup and Olympics.
David is an official ATP Coach member as recognition of his many years on tour. David currently coaches Samantha Murray, Richard Gabb, Marcus Daniel and Liam Broady. In addition, he regularly contributes to interviews by the UK tennis media including BBC Radio 5, The Times, SkySports and a contributing editor for Tennishead Magazine and www.tennisone.com.
You can find his amazing concepts in his best selling book Locker Room Power (amazon).
Let me know what you think about applying top sports principles in business and leadership?