The Olympics, the World Cup, or a record-breaking financial quarter – these are benchmarks that, at first glance, can appear insurmountable. Yet, history is filled with instances where athletes and businesses have defied the odds. The common thread is the relentless pursuit of what others deem impossible. This requires a deep-seated belief in one’s capabilities and a structured approach to breaking down colossal challenges into manageable steps.
This year’s Olympics, with its impressive audience of over 1.8 billion, is more than just a sporting event, it’s a showcase of human potential. Former Olympian and now specialist leadership performance expert and executive coach at Maximus, James Chapman OLY shares his experience as an elite sportsman, and the resounding parallels between high-performing athletes and transformational leaders. By examining the mindset and skillset of professional athletes, we can identify those key principles transferable to business which drive a sustainable stretch in performance.
Archilochus, ancient Greek author, saved us from lofty, unattainable goals when he wrote down the wisdom, “We don’t rise to the level of our expectations, we fall to the level of our training”, and New York Times best seller James Clear, has sharpened this further in his best seller Atomic Habits with, “You don’t rise to the level of your goals, you fall to the level of your systems”.
Highly complex and challenging environments require high-definition strategies and the teams’ commitment to them.
When you establish a thorough system to overcome these challenges, systems thinking require us to think more holistically across all the resources available to us, both internal and external, to perform.
In high performing environments the convergence of energy expenditure + energy renewal helps to sustain performance when inevitable distractions creep in. This extends to failure which is an inevitable part of any journey. How individuals and teams respond to setbacks can be a defining moment and like athletes, business leaders must view challenges as opportunities for growth. Pushing boundaries, whether it’s breaking a world record or disrupting a market, requires a willingness to experiment and learn from mistakes.
Quality goal setting also ensures that teams establish goal hierarchies. Big, visionary goals inspired by leaders, and local sub-goals individuals can see and believe, all must ladder up in a complimentary nature. A hierarchy of goals means you and your teams will thrive in the tension, motivation, and challenge to close the gap towards sub-goals and build greater momentum and belief towards the vision.
This allows you to manage the peaks and troughs of the year and identify the times for acceleration and the (just as critical) times for rejuvenation.
This ecosystem must extend to physical, mental, and emotional wellbeing, where an integrated approach to performance is applied. Organisations who practice this 360-degree discipline consistently show sustained levels of high performance and productivity across their people and culture.
When headwinds blow stronger, and doubt creeps in, it is the leader’s role to remind themselves first, and then their teams, that performance and pressure is a privilege. This requires having a focused mindset coupled with unwavering belief in one’s abilities and the team’s potential. This becomes a galvanising and impenetrable force when faced with persistent change and adversity.
Professional athletes all have a clear purpose and vision of what success looks like. This helps to unlock their belief and courage that anything is possible. In business this is no different. When you have talented people showing unwavering conviction in their goals, they can achieve the remarkable and inspire others follow.
In sport we know that no champion stands alone. A strong support structure, comprising coaches, mentors, and teammates is essential in developing a winning mindset and harnessing one’s talent towards achieving the extraordinary. In business we rely on an ecosystem of subject matter experts to drive progress, and one must not underestimate the power of fostering trust and collaboration to enable collective success.
The comparison between competitive sport and business is undeniable. Most people will never have the opportunity to experience being a professional athlete, yet many reading this will be in environments of pressure and and expectation. So, remind yourself that the opportunity to do something meaningful comes with the privilege of being in a high-performance environment.
We are all born entitled to nothing, but it’s what you do with your effort, direction and perseverance that enables you to make an impact on the communities you serve, and your own life.
Generations to come will thank you for it.
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