Reliance. Why high performers rely on their coaches
Posted on September 11, 2012
Growth Accelerator website 06.09.12 Steve Backley Olympian and javelin medalist Steve Backley investigates the worlds of high performance sport and business to discover the vital role coaches play in winning In the first of my London 2012 Olympic trackside views, I?ve been talking to our Team GB medal winning Olympians coaches, to understand the vital and often unsung role they play in winning medals. The first aspect of performance I?ve focussed on in looking back at the successes of Team GB, is reliance. How much do sporting performers rely on their coaches and how does this compare to business? In the highly pressured world of Olympic sport, athletes have a close and open relationship with their coach. We saw Toni Minichello every time Jessica Ennis went clear at a high jump bar, animated and living every step with her. We also saw Ennis look up to him for reassurance, guidance and feedback during the competition. The question is, could this work in business? Or does sport, force a need for this coach-athlete relationship that the world of business is not prepared to embrace just yet? Is an Olympian?s coach important because of the urgency and the high consequence that drives the sporting world? Or is sport simply more prepared to seek constant feedback and does business need a different form of coaching to sustain momentum or peak at the right moment? If this level of coaching is such an integral part to driving a higher performance and ultimately growth, then perhaps the business world will catch on; maybe business will recognise that to raise the performance of its teams and individuals that it too needs to drive a culture of front line coaching more readily. One consistent finding in our elite coach interviews is that the athletes, as the performers in the spotlight, are the ones asking the awkward questions. They are the ones challenging upwards, and as I heard from Tim Newenham, the director of British Shooting, it is a culture he has encouraged. This seems to be a consistent message back from high performance coaches and athletes alike: ?Bottom-upward coaching is as important as top-down.? So it feels like the athlete-coach relationship is not about reliance but simply just an openness and desire for improvement that drives the individual to achieve at the highest level. The relationship between a coach and leader is embraced by many businesses and is spreading fast into the fabric of business, to drive growth and raise future performances. Allowing a coach to come in and offer a different perspective from a wider perspective is often hard to do. If there is one thing that we have learned from the athletes in the Team GB class of 2012 they would not have got there without their coaches.-
About Steve Backley