Throughout the long summer of 2012 those of us who live in the UK have been treated to an unprecedented cornucopia of sporting excellence and delight. Bradley Wiggins wins the Tour de France, Team GB excel at the Olympics and the Paralympics, Andy Murray wins the US Open and now to round it all out beautifully the European team mount one of the greatest come backs of all time to regain the Ryder Cup. Wow!
I've loved it all and have revelled in the shared sporting euphoria that the country has dined out on during some very difficult economic times. Of course, as a student of "performance" I have also been inspired to get my head around the factors that have created this athletic prowess. What is clear, is that the factors that deliver success are many - current physical fitness, coaching support and training regime, physical capability, access to facilities and personal desire - and then there is the strange, powerful, unpredictable "winning spirit" that can galvanise a team or an individual to perform at new levels of intensity and flow. But what releases this longed for, willow the wisp spirit and transforms a good performance into a truly outstanding one?
At times the spirit can be catalysed by the passionate support of a partisan crowd (witness the performances of the GB athletes in London 2012 and the performance of the USA golfers on the first two days of the Ryder Cup). At others it can be catalysed by the desire to "do it" for a departed parent or friend (witness the European golfers inspired to perform by the memory of Seve Ballesteros and Gemma Gibbons the GB judo player who did it for her Mum) and on occasion it is catalysed by the desire to "deliver for the team" (witness Ian Poulter the heroic Ryder Cup golfer and Derek Redmond the team GB 400m runner who often seemed so much better in the relay than in the individual event). Interestingly, on closer inspection, the nature of these diverse catalysts share similar properties - they have an external focus, are rich with meaning, emotional and supersede the sport - these are what seem to be the crucial elements for unleashing the winning spirit.
Of course the challenge to me as a business leader pondering this is clear. How do I uncover the catalyst for unleashing the winning spirit in my business? I want to see the Olympian spirit released in my teams and my business - to do it I need to identify the external, meaningful and emotional themes that the people of my business can recognise and respond to. I need to find my organisations very own Seve to guide and inspire us and unleash more of our winning spirit. Of course, the joy and frustration of it all is there is no formula I can follow and the catalysts will need to be constantly changed or reinvented if the spirit is to be regularly released. It is a beautiful paradox that makes the living of life an excitement and a joy. It is, however, far more than just an esoteric musing – it is the Number 1 job of the leader - a business imperative that far too few of us fail to see and rise to. To fail on uncovering these themes is to fail on bringing motivation and meaning to our businesses and teams. For me life is too short to waste it on mediocrity and barren professionalism - I love being part of something inspirational.
I'm going to enjoy looking for our own Seve...
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