It is August. Summer holidays are in full swing and so are the Olympics. I am besotted by all these amazing sports people and so hats off to you for reading this Thought when there are spectacular performances you could be watching instead.
What am I thinking about?
Coaching inevitably. I cannot get away from it. Coaching, coaching methods and what is acceptable behaviour is all around us at the moment. Some of it is leaving a nasty taste in my mouth.
Coaching is all about helping someone release all the talent and ability they have to do something they love as well as they can. The methods depend on what “it” is and the person concerned. In sport it is often the coaches who spot latent talent and help the person see where that talent might lead with lots of commitment and hard work. In my work people have decided on the course they want to follow and mostly have started on that path. Coaches have to be perceptive about how to fan the flame of passion which leads to commitment, which leads to performance, which leads to success. In my work I am fortunate because there are a huge range of ways to support people and I tailor-make those to fit the person and their situation. I do not always get it right and sometimes there are sleepless nights wondering if I should have done things differently. It is all about finding the right way to motivate people, to help them find the right self-talk so that their subconscious is supporting what they have decided to do and then giving them an opportunity to commit to a course of action. In my world the course of action – where you want your business to go and what needs doing to get there – is a personal choice.
However we are surrounded at the moment by some very different approaches. You know them as well as I do:
Gareth Southgate may not have won the ultimate silverware but his coaching skills have been hugely celebrated. I loved the way he went to every single player after a match, gave them a hug and said something appropriate. I hope he continues to contribute his insights to football or on a wider stage.
Then there is Strictly Come Dancing which is beset by professional dancers alleged to have been abusive and even violent to their celebrities. None of us know the ins and outs of this; quite rightly it is being investigated by the BBC. There may well be unacceptable behaviour and abuse. However there is without doubt a mismatch of experience. If you have been trained in a certain way since you were eight you may think some practices are normal. However if you are an actor, a commentator or a sportsperson you have experienced something different and may therefore feel differently. If you are hungry for success you may decide to suck it up and do it the way you are told. However when does the discipline of training become abuse? It is at the point where the prize does not justify the price.
Charlotte Dujardin is different again. Some of us have seen the video and it is not a pretty sight. Those of us who have ridden know what horses love to do. When we are partnering with them it is just that, a partnership in which we each play our part. We are protecting each other. It is done by consent and the horse has every right to toss the rider off if they do not like it. However whipping from a standing position is something else. I believe it is abuse of power but those who understand dressage will make decisions about it.
The rights and wrongs of all these matters are being investigated and actions will be taken.
In the Olympics we are hearing and will hear more stories of thanks from participants to coaches. Linford Christie said in a recent documentary “your coach believes in you more than you believe in yourself”. Thanks to those who do; who see the talent; and thanks for the psychological support and technical coaching they bring to help athletes to the world class stage. Not everyone can win a gold medal (hats off to those who do) but to reach Olympic competition, to be amongst the elite, the best in the world, is a stunning achievement.
In some sports there have been nasty phases. Some of us remember the Soviet bloc athletes who were routinely doped to achieve medals for their country. Some of us remember the doping scandals in the 100 metres back in 1988 when Ben Johnson was stripped of the gold medal. Some of us remember the scandals in certain sports like gymnastics when cruelty and sadism seem to have become the norm. None of this is acceptable.
Participants have to want to succeed and that is rarely easy however much talent you have. Talent has to be channeled into how the activity works and then we need to do our 10,000 hours of practice to gain mastery. No one can know what goes on behind the scenes and the amazing relationships of athlete and coach. It is about the cold, wet, dark mornings; the repetitions; the analysis and discarding of ineffective technique and rebuilding to something better. It is slog day in and day out.
In my world where people have identified what they want to do there are two parts to my role I need to check they have protocols for the technicalities of their business. They need to operate in a disciplined, consistent and professional way often within a legal framework. Then it is all down to understanding what success looks like for them and how I fan that hunger. Obviously this depends on the person and that mixture of genes and experience that has made them what they are. This changes and so self-talk changes. This is what we have to get right. In business it is rarely about the motivation to go out and train on Christmas Day but it can be about finding the motivation to be persistent in knocking on doors or looking for the right people to join the business or working through tough economic times. It too, is often hard slog day in day out.
As I say, I do not always get it right: sometimes I move too fast or not fast enough; sometimes I push when it is counterproductive. My clients call me “insightful” because I do understand them and the majority of the time I make the appropriate choice. I choose a course of action depending on what a specific client wants from me and I always do it because I believe in the person. I am a massive cheerleader. If you believe in Faster, higher, stronger – together in business then please talk to me. We can talk about your business and what you want from it and your life. I love speaking with people, off the meter, to help them explore possibilities and whether/how to take them forward. I hope you will be one of them.
In the meantime, enjoy the amazing stories coming out of Paris. Remember Adam Peaty’s son’s question “Are you the fastest boy, Daddy?”
Do you want to be the fastest?