The Wave June 2012

The Lane4 journal – insights on peak performance

Issue 3 – June 2012 Special Edition:

Celebrating a Summer of Sport Inside this journal 16 What’s luck got to do with it?

23 It takes two: Reflections on a coaching relationship 26 High performance leadership 30 99 medals and counting 36 Turning a positive into a negative 42 Seb Coe: Winning communication

Are you ready?

D ominic Mahony talks about preparing to perform page 06

About Lane4

The Wave. Issue 3 June 2012 Published by: Lane4 Management Group Ltd St Marks House Station Road Bourne End Buckinghamshire SL8 5QF United Kingdom t +44 (0)1628 533 733 f +44 (0)1628 533 766 www.lane4performance.com twitter @Lane4Group Follow us on LinkedIn

With competition getting tougher all the time, the margins that separate winning businesses from their less successful rivals can often be very small. At Lane4, we’re here to ensure you have the edge.

As leading experts in human performance, we’ll work with you and your people to help individuals and teams reach their fullest potential, and to build sustainable competitive advantage across your organisation.

What gives us the edge over others in our field? A unique combination of skills and experience, brought together by an inspirational group of people with an outstanding track record of achievement in the three interlocking areas of business, psychology, and high level sport.

Editorial team

Winning performance doesn’t happen by chance. If you’d like to find out how Lane4 can help you raise your game, we’d love to hear from you.

Editor Dr. Austin Swain

Further information

Assistant Editor Kelly Walsh

For further information about how Lane4 can help your organisation, please email

Editorial Assistants Emma Weeks Catherine Jenkins No part of this work may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means including copying and recording, without written permission from the copyright owner, application for which should be addressed to Lane4. Opinions expressed in The Wave journal are not necessarily those of Lane4. Whilst every effort has been made to verify statements of fact by contributors, no responsibility is accepted for errors or omissions by them. © 2012 Lane4 Important notice: This publication and its content is not intended to imply any association between Lane4 and the IOC, BOA, BPA, LOCOG, or the London Games 2012

Design and Art Direction by Neon Design & Brand Consultancy www.neon-creative.com

fran.nash@lane4.co.uk General For website, speaking opportunities and media enquiries, please email emma.weeks@lane4.co.uk For research enquiries, please email kelly.walsh@lane4.co.uk Lane4: the story behind our name On 19 September 1988, Britain’s Adrian Moorhouse lined up for the final of the 100 metres breaststroke at the Seoul Olympic Games. Having qualified in the fastest time, he was in lane 4, giving him a small but potentially crucial advantage over his competitors.

He came home with the Gold medal.

And also - though he didn’t realise it at the time - with the perfect name for the business he would co-found just a few years later, with leading performance psychologist Professor Graham Jones and business executive Adrian Hutchinson…

The Wave, Lane4 Issue 3 – June 2012

CONTENTS REGULARS

02 News

01

Welcome to The Wave

M

36 Turning a positive into a negative

any of the articles that I come across at the moment begin with ‘in the current climate’ or ‘during these turbulent times’ and so it’s with great pleasure that I introduce this issue of The Wave, not from the shadow of recession, but in the limelight of the ‘greatest show on earth’. Notwithstanding the difficult operating conditions that many of us face, we hope that the great role models, performance lessons, stories of the seemingly impossible and waves of positivity from the Games will provide a boost for employees and businesses alike.

In this special issue we unashamedly focus on our sporting heritage. We are extremely proud of the way our history is inextricably bound to that of high level sport and have spent the last 17 years using this knowledge and experience to make a tangible difference to the performance of our clients. Mark Richardson epitomises this approach in his article on page 36, providing a great example of the type of mindset and discipline that it takes to be a true high performer.

Sport and business have their differences but I firmly believe that the Games provide great metaphors and lessons for performance as excellently reflected by Katie Hooper and Louise Oliver’s article on page 8. In sport and business we share the same trials and opportunities: Can you handle the pressure? Do you have the discipline required?

Can you make the best of your teams? Do you have the intrinsic motivation to power through in the tough times?

Or as Dominic Mahony asks in his article on page 6, have you put in all you can in order to deliver when it counts? We invite you to enjoy this issue and keep one question in mind. When it comes to your performance – are you ready?

42 Seb Coe: Winning communication

Austin Swain

19 Interview: Adrian Moorhouse 34 Performance matters 38 Practitioner perspective 39 In transition 48 Hot topics 50 Our contributers 52 4u: recommendations FEATURES & ARTICLES

04 L ife in the fast line 06 Are you ready?

08 Are you sitting comfortably?

14 Building an empowered team 16 What’s luck got to do with it?

20 Using group goal-setting to build team engagement 23 It takes two 26 High performance leadership 30 99 medals and counting

46 Are you being served?

Research and Product Director, Lane4

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The Wave, Lane4 Issue 3 – June 2012

British Gas Premier Energy shortlisted in Welsh Contact Centre Awards

B On the following pages we’ve rounded up the best of Lane4’s news and events from the past six months, as featured in our monthly e-newsletter, ‘Engage’.

To be kept up to date every month, sign up to Engage via our website. www.lane4performance.com

Lane4 ranked 16th in Sunday Times 100 Best Small Companies 2012

L

ane4 has ranked 16th in this year’s Sunday Times Best Small Companies to Work For list, the sixth consecutive year of making the top 100. This year’s competition saw 542 small companies register to take part and captured the views of more than 26,500 employees.

This makes it by far the most comprehensive survey of its kind in the country. The survey showed that at Lane4 employees care about each other (96% positive response, a top 5 score), have fun (92%), love work (90%, a top 10 score) and are proud to be on this team (94%, a top 10 score). More than half of our staff have worked here over five years and we find our Managing Director Adrian Moorhouse inspiring (95% - scoring us 4th place for this!)

ritish Gas Premier Energy were short-listed for a Welsh Contact Centre award in the ‘People Development’ category for their Podium Programme, designed in partnership with Lane4. The Podium Programme supported the creation of a World Class ‘Gold Standard’ performance culture through enhancing the leadership and coaching behaviours of Premier’s leaders.

Lessons from the Games

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hatever happens at the Games themselves, there will be lessons learnt that are transferable to business.

Lane4 people will be at the heart of the action – whether performing, leading and coaching teams, volunteering or commentating from the sidelines. Our goal is to share our insights and support people to apply the lessons from London.

Contact us to find out how we can help you bring the Games inside your organisation.

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Lane4’s Greg Searle and Dominic Mahony get blogging

G

reg Searle (Lane4 Practice Director, Olympic Gold medallist and athlete training for London 2012) and Dominic Mahony (Lane4 Client Services Director and Team Manager for the GB Modern Pentathlon Team) are keeping regular blogs about their journeys to London 2012. Keep up to date with their latest thoughts and actions by following the link to Greg famously won a Gold Medal in the Coxed Pair alongside his their blogs from the Lane4 website. older brother, Jonny, at the 1992 Barcelona Olympic Games. He was also a Bronze Medallist in the Coxless Four at the 1996 Atlanta Olympic Follow Greg: Games and an Olympic Finalist in the Coxless Pair in Sydney 2000. www.lane4performance.com/ Inspired by the 20 year anniversary of his Gold Medal, Greg launched Greg-Searles-blog-Journey-tohis come back quest – aiming to compete and win a medal in the 2012 London.html Olympics on home soil, aged 40. Follow Greg’s journey to London!

Follow Dominic: www.lane4performance.com/ Dominic-Mahonys-blog-LeadingPerformance-GB-ModernPentathlon.html

Follow Lane4 on LinkedIn and Twitter.

Keep up to date with Lane4’s latest news, events, research and thoughts by following us on LinkedIn and Twitter!

LinkedIn – Lane4 Twitter - @Lane4Group Let us know what you think, what you want to hear more of, and what works well for you.

Lane4 Client Services Director Dominic Mahony is the Olympic Team Leader for Modern Pentathlon preparing to take the team to his fourth Games in this role. His regular blog provides a behind the scenes look at qualifying and preparing athletes to compete at the London Olympic Games.

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Life in the fast lane The timeline below documents our journey from where we first dived in to the world of performance development, charting our progression to becoming a leader in the field...

Lane 0

Lane 1

Lane 2

Lane 3

Lane 4

Adrian Moorhouse wins 100m Breaststroke Final, winning Gold after a turbulent time at the previous Olympics.

Dominic Mahony wins a Bronze Medal with the men’s group Modern Pentathlon team.

Lane 6

Lane 7

Lane 8

Lane 9

Dominic competes in his third Olympics in the men’s individual and men’s group Modern Pentathlon.

Greg competes in his second Olympic Medal in the Coxless 4.

Mark Richardson wins a Silver Medal with the 4 x 400m relay.

Janine Belton competes in the 4x200m Freestyle relay.

Dominic becomes the Modern Pentathlon Team Manager, seeing Steph Cook win Gold.

Clare Strange competes in her first Paralympic Games in Wheelchair Basketball.

Greg becomes an Olympic Finalist in the Coxless Pair.

Adrian moves from radio to TV commentary which continues to this day.

Greg Searle wins a Gold Medal in the coxed pair alongside his brother Jonny.

Adrian starts commentating for BBC Radio and is Assistant Director for the Holding Camp.

1988

1992

1996

2000

What happened next?

What happened next?

What happened next?

What happened next?

Adrian is world number 1 in this event for 6 consecutive years.

Now Managing Director of Lane4 and co-founder.

Greg joined Lane4 in 2003 and is now a Practice Director alongside his rowing career.

Mark joined Lane4 in 2008 and is a Principal Consultant.

Alison is now a Principal Consultant having worked for Lane4 since 2006.

Janine is a Lane4 Trainer and has been with Lane4 since 2010.

Clare joined in 2006 and is now a Lane4 Associate after leaving Lane4 to focus on preparation for 2012.

Seoul Games

Lane 5

Adrian competes in the 100m Breaststroke final coming eighth.

He announces his retirement from competitive swimming and begins working in talent development for the English Amateur Swimming Association.

Alison Mowbray competes in the Women’s Single Skull for the GB Rowing Team.

Dominic is now Lane4’s Client Services Director and has been working for Lane4 since 1998.

Barcelona Games

Atlanta Games

In this year...

Adrian meets Lane4 co-founder and Sport Psychologist Graham Jones at the Atlanta preparation camp in 1994.

Lane4 is now one year old and working with Safeway, Bourne Leisure and Manchester Airport.

Janine competes in her second Olympic Games.

Sydney Games

In this year...

Lane4 is now 5 years old and working with British Airways, with 16 full time employees.

The Wave, Lane4 Issue 3 – June 2012

Greg is on track to be rowing in the Men’s Eight, 40 years of age and 20 years after winning his first Gold Medal.

Clare competes in her second Paralympic Games.

Clare competes in her third Paralympic Games.

Wil James is selected as a headquarter psychologist for Team GB prior to the Games.

Adrian and Dominic continue their involvement in Swimming and Modern Pentathlon respectively.

Many Lane4 employees will be involved in the Games. Dominic is Team Manager for the GB Modern Pentathlon Team. Adrian is commentating on the Swimming at the Games, and is an Official Team GB 2012 Ambassador and Torch Bearer. Alison is acting as a London 2012 Ambassador for Rowing.

Clare is co-captaining the Wheelchair Basketball squad at her fourth Paralympics.

2004

2008

2012

What happened next?

In this year...

In this year...

Wil James joins Lane4 in 2005 and is a Principal Consultant

We hold a client event in Beijing to celebrate the Games.

Our clients include Oracle and Microsoft.

In this year...

We now have 71 employees and are working with TUI Travel and Nestlé.

Alison wins a Silver Medal in the women’s Quad Skull.

Athens Games

Lane4 now has 39 members of the team and is working with Sainsbury’s and CocaCola, partnerships which are still going strong.

Lane4 and Coca-Cola Europe win an HR Excellence Award for Best Executive Development Programme.

Beijing Games

We win a ‘Managing Partners’ Forum - Best Professional Services Firm to Work For award.

Lane4 is ranked 2nd in ‘The Sunday Times Best Small Companies to Work For’ list.

We continue to be ranked in this list for the next 6 years.

Jonathan Zneimer (Consultant Director) and Wil James (Principal Consultant ) are providing psychology support to the GB Men’s Hockey team. Lane4 Associate, Katie Warriner is Sport Psychology Coach at GB Canoeing, Katie Hooper (Communications Consultant) will be commentating on the Synchronised Swimming and Tom Smith (Head of Talent Management and Assessment) is joining the essential team of Games Makers.

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Lane 0

Lane 1

Lane 2

Lane 3

Lane 4

London Games

We have a formal partnership with Loughborough University which keeps us at the forefront of Sport Psychology and we are partnering with the British Olympic Association to take lessons from the Games into business through a series of events.

Lane 5

Lane 6

Lane 7

Lane 8

Lane 9 Compiled by: Nicola Adams and Emma Weeks

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The Wave, Lane4 Issue 3 – June 2012

ARTICLE BY Dominic

Mahony

Dominic Mahony is Client Services Director at Lane4 and an Olympic Bronze Medallist in the Modern Pentathlon at Seoul 1988. He has managed the Team GB Modern Pentathlon Team at four successive Olympic Games including London 2012.

Are you READY?

T

here are just a few weeks to go before the start of the summer Games, and yet very few athletes will be thinking too much about the event at all. So intense is the competition to qualify and be selected for Team GB that most are looking only at the next training session, the next performance target and the next qualifying competition.

Some, indeed, are so superstitious they will not engage in any planning, logistics or administration process that assumes they have met this goal until it is a reality.

Now fast forward to the Games and step into the mind of an athlete.

With qualification behind you, what will you do when it really counts? When at least four years of preparation come ruthlessly into focus and you must cross the start line and perform. This is the question that every athlete must be able to answer for themselves if they are to perform on the greatest stage of all; quite simply, “Are you ready?”

It is the question that every management and coaching team ask themselves on a continual basis when assessing talent and shaping an elite squad, and in a sense, one that many of us ask ourselves before we step onto a conference platform, pitch for a piece of new business or make recommendations to a boardroom of sceptical directors.

The Truth about Talent The formula for success in each of the 26 Olympic sports depends on many specific factors, but some truths about talent development are universal. First, the athlete has to have fundamental abilities so often referred to as ‘natural talent’. But talent alone is not enough. Athletes must have the opportunity to realise that talent, and in Great Britain that

To find out more about Dominic’s experiences as Team Leader read his blog at http://www.lane4performance.com/Dominic-Mahonys-blog-Leading-Performance-GB-Modern-Pentathlon.html

The Wave, Lane4 Issue 3 – June 2012 opportunity has been underwritten

by National Lottery funding which has driven the professionalisation of Olympic sport over the past 15 years. This opportunity now includes dedicated training facilities, full sports science/medicine support programmes, modern equipment, access to overseas training camps and a full international competition programme.

So talent and the opportunity to express it are important, but that is still not enough. The next requirement comes fundamentally from within. Whilst parental and family support have been found to be important to high performance in sport1, the internal drive, commitment and motivation to be the best you can possibly be in your chosen field is critical. We know from research done with the very top performers2 that what distinguishes gold medallists from others are their emotional and cognitive capabilities: quality of decision-making under extreme pressure, ability to maintain and re-gain focus, enjoyment of pressure situations that would make others wilt and a deep down belief in themselves. Many bright stars have failed to achieve their potential because they lacked this crucial element. My selection to the Olympic team in 1988 was greatly enhanced in my own mind at an overseas training camp when one of the most talented squad members commented that he wasn’t training flat out “…because the team is already selected”. I knew then that I was prepared to commit more than he was, and that made me stronger.

Finally, the athletes that go on to fulfil their potential also demonstrate an enthusiasm and hunger for learning – they want feedback and continually search for ways to hone performance. Together these qualities

make up the performance athlete and provide plenty of pointers for those managing talent programmes in every other walk of life. I witnessed the coming together of these factors whilst working with Olympic Modern Pentathlon champion Steph Cook in the build up to Sydney 2000. As she proved herself capable of getting on the podium at World Cups and European championships, so her belief in herself grew. The final piece of the jigsaw fell into place in only the last six months when she seemed to fully trust the input of the coaches and specialists around her, allowing her to make the most of her support network. In Steph’s case, it was about doing just a little bit less and accepting support, so that the quality of what she did came through.

Not an easy lesson for someone used to pushing so hard.

Rising to the Challenge Talent programmes are looking to funnel young athletes through various steps and hurdles, to support and challenge them along the way so that the very best keep progressing and make it through to the Olympic team. Often the tests are subtle and subjective – how does the athlete respond to praise versus criticism?

When they land flat on their back trying something new, do they need their confidence re-building or are they straight back up to have another go? In Modern Pentathlon where athletes are required to complete five unrelated disciplines on a single day, the ability to leave behind the previous performance – good or bad – is a key determinant of success.

Georgina Harland, Olympic Bronze Medallist in Athens 2004 went from last place after the first event of shooting to the podium after the final cross country run by demonstrating this level of resilience.

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Extraordinary ‘bounce-back ability’ will be on display this summer. But how do athletes and coaches prepare to perform within the pressure-cooker of Olympic competition? Early exposure to the Olympic environment can be important.

In Beijing each sport was invited to identify talent for London 2012 that would benefit from experiencing this unique situation.

Statistics show that 50% of Medallists and 70% of Gold Medallists have performed at a previous Games, so this was about giving a head start to the next generation of talent, many of whom will be the stars of London 2012.

So what is it about the 30%, like Steph Cook, who win Gold at the first time of asking?

Tim Gallwey3, talks about three points of a talent triangle being performance, enjoyment and learning. With all three fully expressed the extraordinary can happen, and did so for Steph in Sydney. Above all she observed the mantra that all the hard work had been completed, and she could now go out and have the best day of her sporting life. This is the message I emphasise to the team as they come into the Olympic Village 72 hours before competition; by all means use the environment to inspire and motivate you, but remember above all that the field of play is a very familiar place – cut away the hype and quickly you can see that the format is familiar, team mates and opponents are familiar, the rules and regulations are familiar, even many of the international officials and judges are familiar. It is this sense of familiarity that you must be able to use if you are to perform with the whole world as your witness.

Now, bring it on!

1 – Hemery, D. (1986). Sporting Excellence: A study of sport’s highest achievers. London: Willow.

2 – Jones, G., & Moorhouse, A. (2007). Developing Mental Toughness: Gold medal strategies for transforming your business performance. Oxford: Springhill.

3 – Gallwey, T. W. (1974). The Inner Game of Tennis. London: Pan Books

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The Wave, Lane4 Issue 3 – June 2012

Are you sitting comfortably?

Then I’ll begin…

ARTICLE BY Katie

Hooper & Louise Oliver

From a young age, Adrian’s dream was to be the very best swimmer in the world. One thing that was particularly interesting about his story was that his coach, Terry, couldn’t swim!

Adrian wondered how Terry would be able to tell him the right things to do and raise his performance, when Terry had never experienced it for himself…

The Great Britain men’s hockey team was achieving above average results, but they knew they could be better. The competition After watching his brother As a child, Alison hadn’t within the squad wasn’t win the Henley Regatta been very good at sport. always healthy, they in 1984, Greg was inspired When she started rowing wouldn’t natuarally help at university, the idea of each other to improve…and to become a world class rower. He won Gold at going to the Olympic if a player made a mistake, the Barcelona Olympics Games was such a far the others would blame alongside his brother away dream and no one him and leave him confused about what in an epic race in 1992. else seemed to think she But what will it take for could do it. How would he’d done wrong. The team and their coach set him win another medal she find a way of achieving out to become really 20 years later in the 2012 something so big when she honest and learn from Olympics on home soil, was already so far behind? each others’ successes aged 40? and mistakes…

The Wave, Lane4 Issue 3 – June 2012

S

tories like these have formed the backbone of Lane4’s work for the last seventeen years. Real people, with real life performance stories. Old anecdotes and new ones. Narratives that have grown and evolved with time. Tales told in different ways for different audiences, at workshops, events, coaching sessions, in workbooks and in articles. Stories that inspire and fascinate.

Stories that have meaning and make people think differently about their own situations.

The sport to business link isn’t new but after seventeen years, we still believe wholeheartedly in it. In this year of the Home Games, there is more opportunity than ever to tell stories that really make an impact. Using sport as a metaphor for talking about performance in the workplace can take someone out of their current context and help them understand the same idea, but through a different lens. Told well, sporting stories can allow people to think about performance messages in new ways, and successfully apply them back in the work place.

One example is Adrian Moorhouse’s story behind his unparalleled success in British swimming and how his coach helped him to sustain his world number one ranking position for six consecutive years. Adrian’s coach couldn’t swim so he couldn’t show or tell Adrian what do to.

Instead he asked. He asked brilliant questions and listened to the answers.

“Instead of jumping in first with the answer, Terry would say to me ‘what do you notice?’, ‘how does it compare to your technique?’ and we’d start to explore it together”.

By listening to Adrian, Terry was letting him work things out for himself. Adrian felt more motivated and had a greater sense of responsibility as a result.

The notion of metaphor can be traced back to Aristotle, who defined it in his ‘Poetics’, around 335 BC. Simply put, a metaphor is the transference of a word or idea from one context to another. Modern cognitive linguists suggest that metaphors can facilitate learning,

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by helping us understand one conceptual domain, usually an abstract one like theories or ideas, through expressions relating to another, more accessible or concrete domain, like food, nature… or in this case, sport. The focused mindset required by a business leader addressing his team with a tough message might be akin to an anxious swimmer on the start block concentrating only on his dive technique, rather than the overwhelming multitude of uncontrollable distractions – media, officials, competitors and even the gold medal.

As well as linking theoretical concepts to concrete language, a strong metaphor can help memory by creating associations and links. It can facilitate unspoken or unconscious learning, help people to make sense of information on multiple levels and help facilitators or leaders gain understanding about the ways people ‘see things’.

The stories we use with clients are based on personal insight.

They are often told with an intimacy and a level of disclosure that encourages honesty of thought in those listening.

We know that beliefs, feelings and emotions are the things that really influence behaviour, so being able to communicate at this level is critical for making change happen. Stories provide a safe and trusted environment for sharing personal tales at an emotional and transformational level.

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The Wave, Lane4 Issue 3 – June 2012

Stories That Stick…

But it’s one thing to have a good metaphor, anecdote or story – what about its construction and its delivery? How is the story best told

or written? How can you really make it ‘work’ for those who are listening?

As communication practitioners we help organisations to drive performance through engagement, learning and development.

Identify interesting people and authentic stories

Make stories meaningful and relevant to learning, engagement or communication outcomes

What sources can you draw on to find stories that are relevant, exciting, moving and above all, genuine? Think about the networks you have in business, socially, in sport and other performance arenas.

Notice current stories that are happening in the news and media, as well as your own personal anecdotes. How might these stories fit with the key learning and engagement messages you want to convey? Make sure you can draw key messages out of stories in a way that doesn’t feel contrived or forced, rather linking key aspects of the story with themes relating to your learning, engagement or change messages.

What’s the purpose of telling the story? What are the key messages you want to portray? Once you’ve established the objective you want to achieve (e.g. accelerate learning, drive engagement and motivation, generate understanding and care about change etc) you should consider your audience and the type of story that’s relevant for them. We use the acronym M.A.D. to describe the importance of message, audience and delivery.

It would be MAD to adopt a storytelling approach without first considering why you want to use it (message) and who you’re using it for (audience)!

In addition we work with leaders on their formal and informal communication. Based on this experience we believe there are three key elements that allow sporting stories to really stick.

Think creatively and be smart about how you tell stories, and how you want your listeners to respond

How can you use stories in ways that are fresh, compelling and always meaningful? In a world where technological delivery mechanisms are continually exploding onto the market, methods such as video, webcast, blogging and social media channels are popular ways to share stories. Face-to-face delivery arguably remains one of the most powerful ways to share a tale or anecdote with impact as those in the audience can be drawn into immediate reflection and discussion about the topic.

But learning and development programmes can certainly benefit from blended learning solutions where stories are weaved into online and offline content, inspiring the audience, inviting them to give a view or take action in some way.

The Wave, Lane4 Issue 3 – June 2012

Generating Overall, our clients have used storytelling to support a number of different initiatives:

excitement about a sponsorship campaign It is important to consider whether there is a unique story to tell as part of your sponsorship. Is there synergy between the activity being sponsored and your business?

Are there opportunities to offer people a unique insight and how can you bring this to life in order to make it more meaningful and engaging? What is the business call to action as part of a sponsorship campaign?

Encouraging

engagement with organisational vision and values Businesses are often accused of failing to distinguish themselves in their vision or values.

Storytelling offers organisations an opportunity to capture people’s imagination with a meaningful narrative that is unique to them.

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ringing B learning and development themes to life Storytelling can help organisations to create a direct link between development and performance – putting learning into context and opening up to new ways of doing things. Sometimes people are sceptical about the value of learning and development, but telling a real life story provides a different way of exploring these concepts and can be an excellent source of inspiration.

As part of a

recognition and reward Scheme Storytelling offers a great opportunity to highlight people’s achievements and inspire as part of a recognition programme.

It is an excellent way to showcase individual achievement and motivate people. Consider the inspirational stories that exist within your organisation and think about how you could tell these stories.

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The Wave, Lane4 Issue 3 – June 2012

Case Study: Introducing a Coaching philosophy

At Lane4 we strongly believe that businesses can benefit from taking the principles of coaching and applying them to their day-to-day interactions. We use storytelling as a powerful way of bringing our coaching programmes alive.

To support this we created a video of Greg Searle telling his story about winning Gold at the Barcelona Olympics in 1992. He explained the important role of goal setting in his achievements and went on to describe his ambition to win another Gold medal 20 years later at the London 2012 Olympics.

needs something specific to focus on so he breaks it down into the measurable areas that he needs to pay attention to – these are his goals. This process helps him to do 100 things one percent better such as getting 8 hours sleep, drinking enough water and doing his stretching exercises.

The video was provided with a toolkit, designed to help people translate these stories into their own goal setting. The toolkit included a series of reflective questions about Greg’s story to help them make sense of it and consider the importance of goal setting in their respective roles.

environment. It also enabled us to easily reach a wide audience.

This was supported by a toolkit which meant participants had the space to reflect on what the story meant to them.

Try out our goal setting framework by completing our example toolkit exercise on the page opposite.

The Final Chapter…

With the Home Games on our doorstep, there’s more opportunity than ever to tell performance stories that really make a mark. Done well, the use of story and metaphor can allow people to think about situations Here is how our MAD framework in new ways. Performance issues can can be applied to this story: be explored honestly and intimately, The message was very clear. yet through a channel that feels The objective of telling Greg’s safe and relevant. Stories have the story was to inspire people power to engage, inspire and shape to focus on their own goals, behaviour change. introduce a method for doing With a compelling reason to this and help people to apply tell a story, and a compelling story it to their business. to tell, all that’s left is to share it.

Your message clear, your delivery Our audience was a mode primed, your audience sitting group of sales professionals comfortably… then you can begin? working for a European But once the chapter is over and organisation who were the tale is told, what then for your participating in a coaching audience? Perhaps the greatest programme. We needed to challenge of storytelling in business be able to bring this to life Greg described how he had used goal is not getting the audience to sit still without Greg delivering his setting to map out his vision, desired and listen, but instead to get up and story face-to-face. outcome, performance and processes talk. To reflect on, recall and revamp then explained how this could be The story was delivered your tale…and then to take action. translated to business. through online video. This was From inspiration to motivation Greg shared that his vision to particularly effective because it and application, perhaps the last achieve two Gold Medals 20 years provided an opportunity to tell chapter of the story is really just apart is his inspiration to get out of Greg’s story from his perspective the beginning…sitting comfortably bed in the morning. But each day he in his own performance is not what’s required at all.

M A

D

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Goal Setting Framework

Greg and his team members were fully aware of their outcome, performance and process goals. These goals were vital for motivating them, giving direction and driving their performance.

VISION

e.g. to be the world’s best rower

OUTCOME

OUTCOME

e.g. to win the Olympic Gold Medal

PERFORMANCE

PERFORMANCE

PERFORMANCE

PERFORMANCE

e.g. to row a personal best time at 7.01

PROCESS

PROCESS

e.g. focus on stroke rhythm

e.g. strong technique to start the boat

PROCESS

PROCESS

PROCESS

PROCESS

PROCESS

PROCESS

This framework is based on sport psychology research. It shows how setting all three types of ‘linked’ goals can help you achieve the vision, or dream goal.

Vision

Outcome

Performance

Process

The Vision is the ultimate goal, or compelling story that you want to shape (e.g. to be the most well-known sprinter in the world or to become an impactful leader in an organisation). It’s the thing that motivates and excites you, and it’s powerful to identify this first.

The Outcome goal focuses on the end point of a particular event and usually involves interpersonal comparison of some kind (e.g. winning the Olympic 400m hurdles final or being promoted to team leader). It’s easy to measure outcome goals and distinguish whether or not you’ve achieved them.

Performance goals focus on personal performance and achieving a particular standard (e.g. running the hurdles race in a personal best time, beating last year’s personal target figures).

Process goals identify the specific, day-to-day actions that are needed to achieve performance goals (e.g. maintain a good lead leg technique over each hurdle, gain feedback on how clear my communication is). In this way, the bigger goals are broken down into much smaller, more manageable and controllable pieces.

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The Wave, Lane4 Issue 3 – June 2012

“ A belief in our ability to beat the best and a fearlessness in the face of the ultimate test.”

Building an Empowered Team – Lessons from GB Hockey ARTICLE BY Catherine

W

Jenkins, Wil James & Jonathan Zneimer

ith the London Games approaching ever closer, the pressure is on for teams to be at their best.

Different methods are used to get squads ‘fit for the fight’ which include technical, tactical, physiological and psychological approaches. The coach’s leadership role is essential to this, driving performance and empowering the team. Jason Lee, GB Hockey Men’s Coach has managed to turn his squad around, in part, through changing his own leadership style. He recognised a need to shift from an autocratic leader to a more empowering one and worked with Wil James and Jonathan Zneimer (see sidebar: Sport Psychology and GB Hockey) to achieve his goal. This article outlines how Jason has forged his own development journey to be the best he can in supporting his team.

develop players’ talents individually and believed that through repetition they would eventually put his advice into action – and even when they resisted he would not give in.

Indeed, this situation is echoed in many business environments.

Lane4’s data on 360-degree leadership feedback1 shows that this autocratic, ‘one size fits all’ approach is common in business, despite the wealth of research and theory emphasising the value of adapting to support the individual needs of employees.

Leaders believe themselves to be better at including others, providing individualised support and collaborating than their followers do, suggesting a leadership ‘blind-spot’. Failures in teams are often due to problems associated with team leadership2 so it is important for both businesses and sport teams to address their leadership limitations.

Fortunately for GB Hockey, Letting go of Control due to strong self-awareness In his early career as GB head and reflection, Jason recognised coach, Jason believed that autocratic that his approach was not having leadership was the only way to lead the impact he was looking for. in the conditions in which he was With the support of Wil and operating. He lacked the time to Jonathan, he started to change the

way he operated. Jason’s aim was to allow individuals to explore and develop their own way of playing.

Wil introduced small playerled groups to discuss performance after games rather than a one-way feedback session from Jason to a select group of players. The smaller groups allowed the squad to feel they had an accurate summary of the game and what to work on for the next match. More responsibility was generated and players were encouraged to learn from each other rather than only through the coaching staff. Jason still retains an assertive nature but his day-today behaviour is focused more on supporting the individual. A member of the squad who recently returned described the changes he noticed:

“The difference from 2005 (re-joined the squad in 2011) is immense and it is a pleasure to be involved with a squad which has such an impressive and self-driven performance culture”.

1 – Jenkins & Whysall (2012). How effective are your leaders? Analysis of 360-degree feedback. Lane4 White Paper.

2 – Avolio, B. J., Jung, D. I., Murry, W., & Sivasubramaniam, N. (1996). Building highly developed teams: Focusing on shared leadership processes, efficacy, trust, and performance. Advances in Interdisciplinary Studies of Work Teams, 3, 173–209.

The Wave, Lane4 Issue 3 – June 2012

Jason has shown that changing his style really helped the squad develop and improve. This difference has contributed to the creation of an empowered team environment.

The new dynamic within the squad allowed them to go on and win the 2009 European championships (something that England had not done since the 1920’s) and regularly record top four finishes in global tournaments.

Leading an Empowered Team In the past few years, the squad has grown tremendously and it has now expanded to nearly 30 players providing more options for the team.

There is no longer a rigid structure when the individuals train and there is a lot of experimentation and innovation to help stretch the squad to their ultimate game. The players are switched around regularly so defenders can play in attack and defence providing agility within the squad.

Additionally, the large squad creates healthy internal competition, as each player is competing to be selected on the day, but needs to collaborate in order to perform at their best. This has made each player step up their game and work to higher standards. It has also generated a sense of willingness and appreciation of the squad coming first rather than the individual.

One player commented: “The team works well together, especially under pressure, which is a massive strength as 2012 is going to be a stressful year for the team”.

The squad is set up to have a flat structure which allows everyone to feel like a contributor, helping the squad to talk freely and honestly

together, as each person feels equal.

This type of ‘shared leadership’ where multiple members engage in the leadership of the team is also known to be effective in the workplace. In change management, for example, shared leadership tends to lead to greater team effectiveness than traditional vertical leadership3.

Focusing on Constant Improvement To assess the strengths and weaknesses of the GB Hockey squad a pulse survey was conducted alongside Lane4’s High Performing Team measure (HPT).

These diagnostics were given to the squad and staff of GB Hockey to get data on the current team environment. The feedback gathered from the HPT provides teams with data on how they are currently performing; what works well and what they need to improve.

The feedback from the pulse survey helps to clarify certain goals for the squad specifically around vision and re-contracting.

A key development area revealed by the diagnostics was that the vision needed to be refreshed and reinvigorated. Team members were not equally inspired by the vision; some were not totally clear on what it was or what it meant for them. However, they agreed that there was a very strong sense of unity and they are all determined to work hard together to win a medal in 2012.

Following the initial work on developing a strong vision and shared leadership, many of the players agree that the one key thing they finally need to improve is belief in their ability. Some of this belief must come from their

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coach as it has been suggested that a coach’s expectations are the key to performance and development4.

However, the squad must develop their inner confidence, as a winning mind is essential to reaching the top. In the words of one player.

The Team needed to develop: “A belief in our ability to beat the best and a fearlessness in the face of the ultimate test.”

Conclusion The turnaround of the GB Hockey squad since 2009 was attained through a lot of hard work, determination and a shift in thinking. Through Jason’s receptiveness to learning and development and Lane4’s involvement in developing the hockey squads’ winning mindset, an empowered team performance culture has been created. The shared responsibility throughout the squad has generated more successful performance compared to when Jason took an autocratic approach and the squad feel empowered to go on and give the best performace they can this summer.

Sport Psychology and GB Hockey

Jonathan Zneimer, Partner and Consultant Director and Wil James, Principal Consultant at Lane4 both have a background in sport psychology and have been working with the GB Men’s Hockey squad and coaches since 2009. Their involvement helps to develop the squad’s winning mindset and in turn creates an empowered team environment. Psychology plays an increasingly important role in the preparation for major tournaments.

3 – Bergman, J. Z., Rentsch, J. R., Small, E. E., Davenport, S. W., Bergman, S. M. (2012). The shared leadership process in decision-making teams. The Journal of Social Psychology, 152(1), 17-42.

4 – Livingston, J. S. (2003). Pygmalion in Management. Harvard Business Review, 81-89.

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The Wave, Lane4 Issue 3 – June 2012

What’s luck got to do with it?

ARTICLE BY Mustafa

Sarkar & Dr David Fletcher

I

n the sport and business domains, many high achievers attribute their success to inherently controllable factors, such as hard work and meticulous preparation. In support of this observation, Ericsson1 found that expert performers typically accumulate 10,000 hours of purposeful practice before they begin to flourish in their respective domains. With this in mind, many people may ask ‘what’s luck got to do with it?’ When exploring the fundamental nature of random processes, Mlodinow2 astutely observes that “the outline of our lives, like a candle’s flame, is continuously coaxed in new directions by a variety of random events that, along with our responses to them, determine our fate”. But is this completely out of our control?

1 – Ericsson, A. K., Krampe, R. T., & Tesch-Romer (1993). The role of deliberate practice in the acquisition of expert performance. Psychological Review, 100, 363-403.

2 – Mlodinow, L. (2008). The drunkard’s walk: How randomness rules our lives. London, UK: Allen Lane.

3 – Fletcher, D., & Sarkar, M. (in press). A grounded theory of psychological resilience in Olympic champions. Psychology of Sport and Exercise.

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The Role of Luck

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making in senior managers of companies representing computer, The concept of luck has exerted banking and utility industries. an uncanny influence over the Interestingly, in an unstable careers of highly successful environment, intuitive synthesis sport and business performers. had a positive effect on various During interviews with Olympic indicators of organisational champions, for example, a number performance including growth of Gold Medallists mentioned rates of sales and efficiency of how events appeared ‘in the right operations. In view of the general place at the right time’3. In a similar trend of increasing complexity fashion, business managers have and dynamism in most business recognised the importance of environments, individuals should luck in determining competitive be encouraged to create their own advantage and firm performance4. luck by paying greater attention Listen to your Inner Voice Interestingly, over the past decade, to their ‘inner voice’ and taking popular interest in the principles People who report being lucky often conscious steps to boost of luck has grown considerably5,6. make successful decisions by using their intuition.

Although perceptions of luck appear their intuition and gut feelings. to play a significant role throughout For example, an Olympic champion various aspects of our professional who is now responsible for a sport’s lives, academic scholars have tended elite performance programme to avoid this topic since they have commented that: preferred, quite understandably, “(During interviews) my to examine factors that they can measure and control more colleagues will look at the easily. Drawing directly from the desirables. I don’t. I look at experiences of Olympic champions the person. I look at their and successful business people, motivation to be across this article will demonstrate how people can create their own luck the table because I’m very in their careers.

Maximise your Opportunities Individuals who describe themselves as lucky appear to be proactive, that is, they have the ability to identify opportunities in their environment and demonstrate a strong drive towards action. Studies have found a proactive personality to be an important characteristic in predisposing people to higher levels of performance in various settings, such as politics7, business8 and sport3. High achievers increase

the likelihood of encountering opportunities by actively involving themselves in new experiences.

In an interview about luck and success, Richard O’Sullivan, co-founder of Millies Cookies, remarked how he noticed and took a chance on a business enterprise: “A stroke of good luck was that when I was 19, I was working for a restaurant that went into receivership. I saw the opportunity and bought it from the receivers for £1”5.

gut-instinct driven. 90% of the time I’m pretty close, I’m pretty right from that”4.

In a business environment, numerous studies have acknowledged the role of intuition when considering perceptions of luck in the specific context of managerial decision making9,10.

For example, Khatri and Ng10 found intuitive synthesis (defined as a combination of experience, judgement, and gut feel) to be an important part of strategic decision

4 – Ma, H. (2002). Competitive advantage: What’s luck got to do with it? Management Decision, 40, 525-536.

5 – Summers, H., & Watson, A. (2004). The book of luck: Brilliant ideas for creating your own success and making life go your way. West Sussex, UK: Capstone.

6 – Wiseman, R. (2004). The luck factor: The scientific study of the lucky mind. London, UK: Arrow.

7 – Deluga, R. J. (1998). American presidential proactivity, charismatic leadership, and rated performance. Leadership Quarterly. 9, 265-291.

8 – Seibert, S. E., Kraimer, M. L., & Crant, J. M. (2001). What do proactive people do? A longitudinal model linking proactive personality and career success. Personnel Psychology, 21, 845-874.

9 – Parnell, J. A., & Dent, E. B. (2009). The role of luck in the strategy-performance relationship. Management Decision, 47, 1000-1021.

10 – Khatri, N., & Ng, A. H. (2000). The role of intuition in strategic decision making. Human Relations, 53, 57-86.

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The Wave, Lane4 Issue 3 – June 2012

one of those things; if you don’t take a ticket in the raffle, you’re never Our expectations make a real going to win a prize. So you have to Lucky people tend to see the positive difference to how we interact with take the ticket…that’s part of life and others and how others interact with side of any setbacks they may have it just makes you think, “Well, what encountered by imagining how us11. In the workplace, for example, can I do differently to make sure I do individuals who consider themselves the situation could have been even get success?”3 worse13. Innovative research by as lucky expect those around them to be competent and expect Medvec and colleagues14 found that Final thoughts 4,9 their meetings to be profitable . athletes who won Olympic Bronze Based on rigorous scientific research, Indeed, studies have shown that Medals tended to be happier than this article has illustrated how luck managers’ expectations have a those who won Silver Medals. can play a significant role during our profound effect on the productivity The reason being is that Silver careers. In support of this viewpoint, of their staff12. Specifically, managers Medallists typically focused on the an Olympic champion remarked: with high expectations about notion that, if they had performed their subordinates motivate the slightly better, then they would “I don’t know if this is people around them to perform perhaps have won a Gold. In contrast, going to be a theme well, whereas those with poor the Bronze Medallists focused expectations cause their colleagues on the thought that if they had where timing and luck to become despondent and performed slightly worse, then they have been in the right unproductive. This phenomenon wouldn’t have won anything at all. place, but I’m a great has been found in different types Furthermore, people who describe and levels of business, from life themselves as lucky tend to reframe believer in making and insurance to telecommunications, disappointments in a constructive building your own luck”. from CEOs to low-level fashion. For example, an Olympic management. Undoubtedly, champion evaluated missing out on So, what’s luck got to do with it? throughout the business world, selection for a major international Well, perhaps more than you expectations have the power to competition in a positive manner might think. be transformed into potent selfas the following quote illustrates: fulfilling prophecies; that is, “There were four of us challenging thoughts and feelings can turn for these final two places…and I got directly into reality. told I was on the reserve list. And at the time it was devastating but it’s Expect the Best

Turn Adversity into Advantage

11 – Doughtery, T. W., Turban, D. B., & Callender, J. C. (1994). Confirming first impressions in the employment interview: A field study of interviewer behaviour. Journal of Applied Psychology, 79, 659-665.

12 – Kierein, N. M., & Gold, M. A. (2000). Pygmalion in work organizations. Journal of Organizational Behaviour, 21, 913-928.

13 – Teigen, K. H., & Jensen, T. K. (2011). Unlucky victims or lucky survivors? Spontaneous counterfactual thinking by families exposed to the Tsunami disaster. European Psychologist, 16, 48-57.

14 – Medvec, V. H., Madey, S. F., & Gilovich, T. (1995). When less is more: Counterfactual thinking and satisfaction among Olympic medallists. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 69, 603-610.

INTERVIEW

The Wave, Lane4 Issue 3 – June 2012

05’00”000 with Adrian Moorhouse

Adrian has been involved in the Games for over 20 years as an athlete, a commentator and now an Official Team GB 2012 Ambassador. Alongside this he has an established track record as a business leader and consultant, winning various awards including being voted in the ‘top 25 HR most influential UK thinkers’ most recently. We spoke to Adrian about how businesses can make the most of the Home Games.

Adrian Moorhouse Managing Director and Co-founder Lane4

Why do you believe the Games are good for British business? “ I don’t think it’s just about companies winning big new contracts, I think it’s broader than that.

A summer of joint celebration makes people feel good – we saw a bit of it last year with people getting excited about the Royal Wedding. It will be a period of good spirit, celebration and stories of unbelievable human endeavour. It’s uplifting and inspiring to see people performing at their best and I believe this will boost employees and the companies they work for.”

What companies are making the most of this opportunity? “ I’ve seen sponsors such as BMW, BT and Coca-Cola are really making the most of their sponsorship internally, using the Games to engage and inspire their employees in ways that go beyond the typical free merchandising. I’m also really interested in the way some companies are looking at how their connection with the Games can have a positive impact on society. Cisco are running a really great initiative with STEMNet to encourage involvement with science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM). They’ve come up with 10 challenges for 11-16 year olds that use these skills. It’s clever because everything is aligned – the challenges are all connected to preparation for the Games and involve using STEM skills, which are essential for Cisco’s commercial future”.

Any last minute tips for companies in the run-up to the Games? “ Don’t shy away from it- let people watch it at work. If you treat people like adults and let them manage their own time, more often than not they’ll act like adults and continue to deliver what you need from them”.

How can companies continue to benefit following the Games? “ The sporting metaphor is a powerful one and doesn’t stop being relevant after the Games finish. It will be interesting to see what stories come from the Games; what preparation went into the successes? How did successful teams build their performance environment? How did athletes cope with set-backs and the inevitable pressure of the Games? In all of these stories there are lessons that can be applied to business”.

Finally, what are you most looking forward to? “ Athletes who love what they’re doing –professional sport can sometimes become about the money... this is rare at the Games. But most of all, being part of it. This is the 8th Games I’ve been involved in so it’s really a big part of my identity. At the 2012 Games I feel privileged to be an Official Team GB 2012 Ambassador and continue my commentary for the BBC. It’s exciting to be right at the heart of things”.

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The Wave, Lane4 Issue 3 – June 2012

Using group goal-setting to build team engagement Lessons from the Scotland Rugby Team ARTICLE BY Christian

Thing

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...during the game if I make a mistake I refer back to my goals and really focus my mind on them as opposed to what has just taken place...

Max Evans, Scotland wing

L

ast summer I was invited

by Dr Richard Cox, Sport Psychologist to Scotland Rugby Team, to shadow him during a training camp before the team headed to New Zealand for the World Cup. This was a great opportunity for someone who is passionate about sport and performance. In particular I felt privileged to gain insight into the use of goal-setting in high level sport as part of the team’s preparation to perform – something I regularly support managers to do in my role at Lane4. What really struck me was the way goal-setting was being used to develop team engagement in this high performance environment.

In the build up to the World Cup, Scotland had produced two good results, beating Ireland and Italy in their warm up games.

They entered the tournament confident that they could be one of the two teams to qualify from their group, which consisted of two powerhouses of international rugby: England and Argentina. Goal-setting

was identified as a key activity in the team’s preparation for the World Cup and I asked Richard to describe the process that was used:

“As the Sport Psychologist for the Scotland Men’s Rugby Team I was charged by the Head Coach with a number of responsibilities in preparation for the World Cup 2011, one of which was to develop the processes involved in goal-setting that had been started during the summer tour to Argentina in June 2010.

In Argentina, I had devised a goal-setting activity which each player completed, with my assistance, prior to both Test matches. This exercise worked smoothly and both Test matches were won by Scotland. However, when

the Autumn Series of three matches following that tour came round it was decided that the private nature of the goal-setting exercise was not in the interest of the team as a whole. Consequently, each player was asked to ‘buddy up’ with another and the two reveal their goals together.

The aim of this development was to raise each player’s commitment to completing his goals and was based on the knowledge that stating one’s goals to another increases the likelihood of achieving them.”

By the end of the Six Nations Championship 2011 this process was about more than just goalsetting. Team-building and developing team engagement through a clearer understanding of teammates’ drivers and aims had superseded it. Bearing these

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The Wave, Lane4 Issue 3 – June 2012

new outcomes in mind, the next development was to set goals in actual playing units which consisted of players who had to co-operate closely with each other on the field of play.

Thus, three groups of five players were created: the front five, the middle five (consisting of both forwards and backs), and the back five. A different player was appointed leader of his group for each meeting, which occurred on the eve of every International. This new format allowed team mates to positively challenge each other on their goals providing the opportunity to refine them if needed. This process was also a way for role specific information to be shared which heightened the groups’ understanding of their positional team. Each of the three technical coaches was appointed to one of the groups and was rotated to a different group for each match.

Thus, it took only three meetings for each coach to hear every member of the team state his goals publicly. It is important to note that the coaches could only speak with permission of the group leader as it was essential that this was a player-led activity.

They plan to evolve this into a situation where all fifteen players will form one group and each player in turn will describe his goals to every other team mate.

Max Evans, Scotland wing –

“Sharing my goals before matches with fellow backs allows me to fine tune my thinking and to get advice on my goals. The process also helps increase our understanding of each other which creates a collective confidence…

…during the game if I make a mistake I refer back to my goals Example of Max Evans Match Day Goals: and really focus my mind on

them as opposed to what has Outcome just taken place…

…After the match I not only refer back to my own goals but also to those of my teammates and give feedback based on this” As is often the case in sport, Scotland have had their highs and lows since my visit. They made a disappointing exit from the Rugby World Cup, failing to qualify from their group with two very close losses to Argentina by one point and England by four points.

In both these games Scotland were hampered by momentary losses in concentration that ultimately caused their early exit from the tournament and they suffered a similar fate in this year’s Six Nations Cup. Despite these knockbacks, the team believe that the goalsetting process to date has set great foundations for future performance.

It’s in these tough times that the players need to remember why they are working so hard and their goals help them do exactly that, providing a reminder of what they are trying to achieve and exactly what they’ll need to do to get there – this is the ultimate recipe for resilience.

(What you want to achieve) “Make an impact in the first 10 minutes of the game” Performance (The level of performance needed to achieve this) “Get at least two touches in the first 10 minutes”

Process (How you achieve this) “Come off my wing and actively look for the ball. Keep a constant look out for mismatches with props and second rows as a chance to step and make half breaks”

Group Goal-Setting and Performance

Mesmer–Magnus & DeChurch1 demonstrated the importance of information sharing which enhances not only team cohesion but ultimately team performance.

The goal-setting exercise as used by Scotland is an effective way of bringing this to life.

Kerr and Tindale2 reinforce the theory showing that information sharing allows for more effective decision making which leads to increased performance.

1 – Mesmer-Magnus. J.R. & DeChurch. L.A. (2009). Information sharing and team performance: A meta-analysis. Journal of Applied Psychology, 94(2), 535-546.

2 – Kerr, N.L. & Tindale, R.S. (2004). Group performance and decision making. Annual Review of Psychology, 55, 623-655.

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It takes two:

Reflections on a coaching relationship ARTICLE BY Janine

A

Belton

s the start of the Games draws closer it has made me think about the relationship I had with my coach. Not just the impact this had on my swimming career but also how it has helped shape who I am today. Ian Armiger first became my coach when I was 12 years old and, with the exception of one year, continued to be my coach until I retired in 2004. Throughout our time together I competed at numerous European Championships, Commonwealth Games, World Championships and two Olympic Games. Our most successful year was in 2001 when I became World Champion and World Record holder as part of the 4 x 200m freestyle relay. At the time, I took our relationship for granted but as I have begun to coach in the business world I have started to look deeper into this and how it changed and reformed over the years. Over all I would say that Ian and I had a great relationship, which continues to this day, but the one we had when I was a 12 year old was very different to that of my early twenties. Throughout the years my coach acted as a friend, parental figure, advisor, mentor, confidant and

Figure 1.0

coach and I truly believe it was his ability to adapt the role he played in my life which made our partnership successful.

Research has only recently begun in the area of coach-athlete relationships. However, as we are quickly approaching an event that the whole country has been looking forward to since that momentous day in 2005, more and more people are becoming interested in the often hidden figure who has supported an athlete to be their best. A coach and their athlete are often linked contractually, professionally or voluntarily with a view to achieving set goals and relationship quality is linked to performance success. Why wouldn’t we want to know more? An interesting lens through which to view the coaching relationship is provided by the COMPASS model1.

COMPASS identifies seven themes: conflict management, openness, motivation, positivity, advice, support, and social networks (See Figure 1.0). In using the model to reflect on the strengths of my coaching relationship with Ian, I am struck by the importance of the following three factors: (see overleaf)

The COMPASS model

Conflict Management

Patience, understanding, co-operation, and willingness to listen during disagreements

Openness

Constructive feedback and praise when appropriate and the ability to share feelings and opinions

Motivation

Motivation and passion to work hard together

Positivity

Adaptability, fairness and ability to deal with external pressures

Advice

Giving opinions on problems encountered by the coach/athlete, as well as giving and receiving feedback in a positive and open way

Support

Being considerate of external and personal problems and providing assistance during difficult times

Social Networks

Mutual friends and affiliations, and time spent socialising outside of training

1 – Rhind, Daniel J. A., Jowett, S. Relationship Maintenance Strategies in the Coach-Athlete Relationship: The Development of the COMPASS Model. Journal of Applied Sport Psychology, Jan-Mar2010, Vol. 22 Issue 1, p106-121.

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Motivation

This is about the factors that influence how motivated the coach and athlete are to work together and pursue an ongoing relationship.

Examples which fit under this dimension are effort, fun and ability.

At the beginning of each training cycle I would meet with Ian to discuss the goals we would be setting for that particular season. Swimming can be quite a lonely sport as up to 25+ hours a week can be spent swimming up and down a pool staring at the black line beneath you and whilst the outcome goal of the season was always very motivational to me, for example to be selected for Team GB, getting up at 4.43am in the middle of winter to dive into cold water could be hard. This is where our planning would come into effect. Each training cycle would be broken down into individual weeks and then broken down further into what the focus of each day would be.

Ian would then help my motivation even further by highlighting the purpose of each session and how this fed into the overall goal. I also found him very inspiring. His passion and enthusiasm for anything to do with swimming and getting the best out of his swimmers was contagious and he could make the hardest training sessions that little bit easier to get through.

Positivity

This encompasses three main aspects: adaptability, fairness and dealing with external pressures.

The relationship needs to be adaptable in order to meet the preferences of both parties.

The relationship needs to be

fair, for example, showing good sportsmanship, and the ability to deal positively with events that are outside of the coach/ athlete’s sporting life.

I competed in my first Olympic Games only weeks after taking my GCSEs and whilst I have often looked back and thought it was just something that I did, in reflecting on it further for this article I have begun to appreciate the different elements that had to come together to make me a successful student and swimmer. Ian was able to adapt to the unusual circumstances of having such a young successful swimmer who desperately wanted to continue academically as well as in the pool.

Many swimmers at the time often put their education second but Ian was 100% behind my decision and that of my family that this couldn’t be the case. He took the time to meet with my headmistress and my parents to discuss the other demands on my life and worked out a way of me being able to train whilst accommodating everything else. Session times were changed to give me more time to rest or study and even when I had progressed to university he met with key figures to discuss what impact training camps would have on my studies.

This was one of the most important things he could have done for me.

There were numerous times when the pressures of studying and training could have become too much resulting in something having to give, but together we managed to get to the end of a successful swimming career whilst studying up to MSc. level.

Advice

This was defined as giving opinions on problems encountered by the coach or the athlete, as well as giving and receiving feedback in a positive and open way. This means being able to discuss issues that are directly related to training and competition, praising the athlete/ coach where appropriate and being able to give views and instructions designed to improve performance rather than criticise.

In 1998 I was faced with the challenge of deciding which university to go to.

On one hand the decision was easy – Ian had taken the role of Director of Swimming at Loughborough University the previous summer and it had always been the plan to join him. However, the British Swimming Performance Director at the time wanted me to go to another university where a new swimming programme was being set up. For me, Loughborough University had always been top of my list; however, I had to contend with knowing that the Performance Director had told me my lottery funding would be discontinued if I chose Loughborough and that in his view I would not have a chance of competing at an Olympics again.

For Ian it was simple – I would go to Loughborough and we would prove the performance director wrong! I’m not sure if Ian ever had any doubts about this but whenever I did he gave me so much support and encouragement that by the time the Olympic trials came around there were no doubts that I would be on that team. My coach was there when I needed him to encourage me,

The Wave, Lane4 Issue 3 – June 2012

give me advice and provide that unwavering support.

These are just some examples of what made this coaching relationship successful for me, both in terms of process and outcomes. Ultimately, the way we worked together allowed our coaching relationship to evolve and fit the needs and demands of the time. This supported me in some of my greatest achievements and still impacts the way I approach my performance, in particular my coaching, to this day.

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THE Coaches Viewpoint Ian Armiger is currently Director of Swimming at Loughborough University and has 30+ years experience as a Head Coach. During this time his swimmers have won medals and broken records at British, Commonwealth, European and World level. He has placed swimmers on five Olympic Teams, making Olympic Finals at two of these Games. A further four of his of his swimmers will be competing this summer.

“As an outstanding athlete and exceptional person, Janine was very coachable and responded well to an evolving coaching style and model…the fit was perfect.

We addressed PROCESS rather than OUTCOME and I would view this process from two standpoints: the PHYSICAL TRAINING ENVIRONMENT and the NON PHYSICAL TRAINING ENVIRONMENT.”

PHYSICAL TRAINING ENVIRONMENT • Formulate a sound Training Model • D evelop sport specific technical skills and conditioning through sound planning, preparation and execution • C reate a positive, meaningful and enjoyable programme of training and competition which recognise the developmental stages of the athlete NON PHYSICAL TRAINING ENVIRONMENT

• Coach the person and do whatever it takes to support them in all areas of their life • S how empathy, recognise individual differences and show flexibility • H ave unwavering belief in their ability and fully commit to the common, shared goal • B e enthusiastic, positive and create an exciting, enjoyable & stimulating programme • HAVE FUN!!

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The Wave, Lane4 Issue 3 – June 2012

High performance leadership: A black and white issue, or different shades of grey?

ARTICLE BY Rachel

L

Arnold & Dr David Fletcher

eadership research over the last few decades has identified certain personality traits that relate to the rise of leaders and their effectiveness, as well as those seen to compromise leadership effectiveness. These are known as ‘bright’ and ‘dark’ traits.

Leaders are often encouraged to display socially desirable ‘bright’ traits, such as conscientiousness, emotional stability, and charisma, as these can assist organisations in gaining a competitive advantage in the marketplace. In contrast to these ‘bright’ traits, researchers have also identified a number of socially undesirable ‘dark’ traits that, if displayed, are thought to compromise leadership effectiveness. Examples of these traits include narcissism and social dominance.

So it appears that the solution

to high performance leadership is simple: to emerge as a leader and be effective in that role, individuals should develop and nurture the ‘bright’ traits and avoid those of a more ‘dark’ nature. If only it was that straightforward.

In fact, all of the traits underlying leader emergence and effectiveness can have both a positive and negative side1,2,3,4,5. The leadership behaviours that may help an organisation thrive and prosper can become inappropriate or, worse, counterproductive in changing circumstances.

The Negative Side of ‘Bright’ Traits ‘Bright’ traits tend to be valuable for effective leadership in many, if not most situations.

However, under particular circumstances, the same ‘bright’ traits have a dark side. A charismatic leader can inspire high levels of performance and commitment among their subordinates, but that same inspiration and charm may work against them in times of uncertainty.

Followers caught in a charismatic leader’s charm may discount any information that contradicts the leader’s vision, even if that information might help them plan for the future and gain a competitive advantage in the marketplace.

Further catalysts for the negative side of ‘bright’ traits include: changes in situations or circumstances3,4, followers who idealise the leader1, certain occupations3, times of crisis1, particular societal or organisational expectations3, and when a certain

1 – Conger, J. A. (1990). The dark side of leadership. Organisational Dynamics, 19, 40-51.

2 – Hogan, R., & Hogan, J. (2001). Assessing leadership: A view from the dark side. International Journal of Selection and Assessment, 9, 40-51.

3 – Judge, T. A., & LePine, J. A. (2007). The bright and dark side of personality: Implications for personnel selection in individual and team contexts. In J. Langan-Fox, C. Cooper, & R. Klimoski (Eds.), Research companion to the dysfunctional workplace: Management challenges and symptoms (pp. 332-355). Cheltenham, UK: Edward Elgar Publishing.

4 – Judge, T. A., Piccolo, R. F., & Kosalka, T. (2009). The bright and dark sides of leader traits: A review and theoretical extension of the leader trait paradigm. The Leadership Quarterly, 20, 855-875.

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Table 1 – The Positive and Negative Sides of ‘Bright’ Leadership Traits 1,2,4

Positive Side

Negative Side

Conscientiousness • Exhibit integrity and tenacity • Have a strong sense of direction and discipline in pursuit of goal attainment

trait is combined with other traits either within the same individual or on members of a team (e.g. conscientiousness and agreeableness)3. Table 1 provides further examples of the positive and negative sides of ‘bright’ leadership traits.

Case Study: National Performance Directors of Olympic Sports6

A recent study in sport psychology6 found that National Performance Directors leading Olympic sports associated various ‘bright’ traits (e.g., conscientiousness, openness, intelligence, and charisma) with their leadership and management effectiveness. However, the authors observed that many of the participants interviewed in the study also alluded to aspects of ‘dark’ traits (e.g., Narcissism, hubris, dominance, and Machiavellianism), which they perceived as beneficial attributes for performance leadership and management in elite sport.

• May emerge as perfectionists and be inflexible • Tend to be threatened by turbulent circumstances and are less adaptable to change

Extraversion • Have optimistic views of the future • Talkative, upbeat, energetic, active, and assertive

• Prone to overestimating their own capabilities • Tendency to behave in bold, aggressive, and grandiose ways so they are the centre of attention

Agreeableness • Seen as attractive role models because of their trustworthy and cooperative nature • Encourage a pleasant, fair, and friendly work environment

• Give lenient performance ratings, depriving employees of an honest perspective • Unlikely to propose radical process innovations or progressive advancements to organisational policy

Emotional Stability • Likely to remain calm in moments of crisis • Relaxed and consistent in emotional expressions

• May hamper employees who value frequent interaction with their supervisors • Failing to express emotion could be interpreted as apathy or disinterest Charisma

• Able to inspire high levels of performance • Highly visible, approachable, and able to react to issues quickly

• Followers caught in a charismatic leader’s charm may discount any information that contradicts the leader’s vision • In uncertain and troubling situations, vulnerable followers are prone to offer blind loyalty and passive compliance

5 – Resick, C. J., Whitman, D. S., Weingarden, S. W., & Hiller, N. J. (2009). The bright-side and dark-side of CEO personality: Examining core self-evaluations, narcissism, transformational leadership, and strategic influence.

Journal of Applied Psychology, 94, 1365-1381.

6 – Fletcher, D., & Arnold, R. (2011). A qualitative study of performance leadership and management in elite sport. Journal of Applied Sport Psychology, 23, 223-242.

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The Wave, Lane4 Issue 3 – June 2012

Are leaders born or made? Research suggests that roughly half of the difference in our personalities is hereditable and between 0% and 10% is determined by the environment; the rest remains unexplained4.

The Positive Side of ‘Dark’ Traits A similar situation can be seen for ‘dark’, socially undesirable traits which can sometimes enhance performance.

Leaders with high levels of pride or self-confidence (also known as hubris) can discount information that is in conflict with their inflated self-views, believing that they can accomplish more than others. However, this same trait allows these leaders to project power, strength, and authority in difficult situations, enabling them to inspire confidence among their subordinates. Table 2 provides further examples of the positive and negative sides of ‘dark’ leadership traits.

Case Study: José Mourinho

José Mourinho is regarded as one of the best coaches in football7.

However, despite his long list of achievements with clubs such as Chelsea, Porto, and Real Madrid, he has often courted controversy for his statements, comments, and actions, perceived by some individuals as outspoken, contentious, arrogant, and insulting8,9. While these actions and behaviours have often incurred punishment from football authorities, some have contended that it is these ‘dark’ traits which have enabled José to inspire confidence within his players and gain their attention and respect10.

Table 2 –The Positive and Negative Sides of ‘Dark’ Leadership Traits1,2,4

Positive Side

Negative Side

Narcissism • T he best rated leaders have been found to be those who are high in egotism and self-esteem • A re likely to draw attention to their vision, which sometimes has positive implications for firm strategy and performance

• Can view others as inferior to themselves • Manipulate conversational patterns towards their own interests and accomplishments

Hubris • M ove quickly to innovate and form new ventures • L ikeable, attractive, and more likely to speak up in groups

• Typically defensive against most forms of critical feedback • Believe they can accomplish more than others, which can cloud their rational decision making

Social Dominance • B ehave in ways that make them appear competent even when they are not • C ommand the attention and respect of other

• Regarded as prejudiced, power hungry, and manipulative • Often motivate through fear

Machiavellianism • V ery strategic in their thinking and a high motivation to lead • A ble to navigate power dynamics in complex organisations

• Less willing to adhere to procedure, instead concerned with maximising opportunities to craft personal power • Politically oriented and seek control over followers

7 – Telegraph Staff (2010). Barcelona v Inter Milan: Jose Mourinho ‘best manager in the world’, says Pep Guardiola. Retrieved from http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/competitions/championsleague/7643868 8 – BBC Sport (2010). Jose Mourinho banned and fined over ‘handcuffs’ gesture. Retrieved from http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/europe/8529113.stm 9 – The Independent (2011). Johan Cruyff label Jose Mourinho actions ‘arrogant’ and ‘impotent’. Retrieved from http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/european/johan-cruyff-label-josemourinho-actions-arrogant-and-impotent-2349701.html 10 – ESPN (2010). José Mourinho is a phenomenon. Retrieved from http://www.espnstar.com/rss-feed/detail/item509358/ ESPN (2010).

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“Leadership conditions change quickly, and pose new and complex requirements on leaders that may be mismatched to our current ‘stock’ of traits.”4

So What Does This Mean For Business?

Personality tools are undeniably useful in both selection and development but attention needs to be paid to the subtleties of this approach, particularly in a rapidly changing environment where tomorrow’s leaders may be very different to today’s success stories. We recommend paying attention to the following when working with leaders and personality: Explore sub-traits For example, instead of scoring overall conscientiousness, organisations should consider using scores on both the positive (e.g. achievement-striving and persistence) and negative (e.g., struggle to make decisions against consensus) aspects of the trait.

Improve self-awareness Help leaders to understand the impact they have in different situations and how their underlying traits may be affecting this.

Develop agility Once leaders understand the impact they have, support them in flexing their style to let the appropriate part of their personality shine in changing situations.

Look behind the public persona Delve deeper into both an

individual’s private personality (i.e. that which only they experience) and attributed personality (i.e., the view that other’s form of them), rather than settling for the public persona that an individual chooses to project11.

Through these mechanisms, organisations and educational institutions can play a key role in training, socialising, and managing future leaders2.

“Failing to look closely beneath the outer trappings of stereotypical leadership to the inner working of the personality can sometimes lead to a regrettable hiring decision…for example, psychopaths can be very charming, able to talk their way past even the most seasoned interviewers. When it is to their advantage, they can display a charisma that can disarm and beguile even the most wary individuals.” 11 To conclude, it is apparent that high performance leadership is not as straightforward as it may

11 – Babiak, P., & Hare, R. D. (2006). Snakes in suits: When psychopaths go to work. London, UK: Harper Collins Publishers.

first appear. While many organisations view leadership simplistically, hiring those with ‘bright’ traits and avoiding those with the more ‘dark’ traits, it is becoming clear that this will not always lead to flourishing leaders or effective organisations.

By delving deeper into personality traits in high performance leadership we see that all traits can display both a positive and negative side. As a result leaders, employers, and organisations are encouraged to not view high performance leadership as a simple black and white issue, but instead consider the different shades of grey.

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The Wave, Lane4 Issue 3 – June 2012

99 medals and counting…

How Leander Rowing Club created a high performance environment ARTICLE BY

Mark Gittins & Chris Lloyd

The Wave, Lane4 Issue 3 – June 2012

A

s the eyes of the world fix firmly on London, we will be privileged to experience potentially life-changing stories from the Home Games. From a GB perspective, particular focus will be on those representing our most successful Olympic sports: cycling, sailing and rowing (or the ‘sitting down sports’ as the Aussies claim after we beat them in the overall medal table in 2008!).

Increasing media and research attention has been placed on understanding why these sports have been so successful. What is it about these performance environments that can be applied not just across other sports, but might also be taken into the business arena given ever increasing levels of competition?

Of these three Olympic sports, Rowing is undoubtedly GB’s most successful, having produced Gold Medals at every Olympics since the 1984 Los Angeles Games.

One UK rowing club based in Henley-on-Thames stands out for its contribution towards this success: Leander Club.

At the 2008 Beijing Games, of the 24 Olympic Rowing Medals won by GB athletes, 13 came from Leander athletes (male and female).

The club has produced some of GB’s most successful Olympians such as Steve Redgrave, Matthew Pinsent, James Cracknell and Steve Williams: 5-time, 4-time and 2-time Olympic Gold Medallists (both Cracknell and Williams), respectively.

However, this ‘recent’ success is based on a far deeper performance legacy. In its 194 year history, Leander has delivered 99 Olympic Medals: more than any other club in any other sport in the world. So what

makes Leander so special?

To explore this we gained perspectives from Club Chairman Ivor Lloyd, Director of Rowing Mark Banks and former Leander athlete Chris Lloyd using Lane4’s High Performance Environment Model as a guide (Figure 1).

Organisational Culture‘Getting your name on the board’ When you first walk into the marble-floored reception area at Leander you are struck by the feeling of history and tradition.

The performance heritage of the club is immediately represented by the Honours Boards that appear along one wall in the reception

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area. These boards list all recent club members who have been to an Olympics, World Championships, or rowed in a final at Henley Royal Regatta.

The names appear in two colours: in gold to depict those who have won events or in black for any other result. Chris Lloyd shared that his experience as an athlete passing through this reception area every day to get to the changing rooms, was both inspiring and initially intimidating. Inspiring as it provided a clear statement of what you were aiming to achieve although somewhat intimidating as even an Olympic or World Silver Medallist would appear in black!

PERFORMANCE OUTCOME

Performance Environment

Achievement

Well being

Innovation

Internal Process

People Performance enablers Culture

Culture

Leadership Vision | Support | Challenge Information | Instruments | Incentives Attitudes & Beliefs | Behaviours Individual & Team | Capacity Culture

(Figure 1) Lane4’s High Performance Environment MODEL © Lane4 Lane4’s High Performance Environment (HPE) Model was developed from a review of the organisational performance literature in which business, sport, and military domains figured prominently. This model presents the psychological and social factors within a performance environment which impact on performance. These factors are conceptualised within the areas of leadership, performance enablers, people, organisational climate and culture.

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The Wave, Lane4 Issue 3 – June 2012

Leadership

their regimes as probably the most important performance enabler. (a) Vision and strategy: Leander club has been able to ‘Compelling, Clarity, Consistency’ identify, attract and develop some The early 80s was a significant time of the most renowned coaches for the club. With considerable in the sport. These include Bob experience in the retail sector, Janousek, Mike Spracklen, Jurgen Ivor Lloyd, then Club Captain, Grobler (current Chief Coach of the was focused on transformation.

GB Rowing Team) and incumbent He treated the club as a business, Director of Rowing, Mark Banks. developing a successful rowing The club recognised that these system based around delivering coaches in turn helped attract elite-level performance. the best athletes to Leander thus A clear vision was developed for providing the raw materials for the future of the club that to this building a successful rowing day guides every decision taken: to squad. In fact, the year following produce athletes capable of winning Grobler’s appointment was the most Olympic and World Championship successful in the club’s history, with Medals on the international stage Leander crews winning a record six and winning Henley Royal Regatta events at Henley Royal Regatta. domestically. The committee was (b) Goals and measurement: transitioned from being a bunch ‘Fanatical Discipline’ of ‘jolly good chaps’ to a leadership team with individual specialisms in Leander’s coaches place considerable legal, accountancy, marketing, and emphasis on measuring general management disciplines. performance. Chris recalled how The day-to-day running of the current Leander Director of Rowing, ‘house side’ of the club (hotel Mark Banks, would clearly articulate accommodation, conferencing goals at the start of each year, such and restaurant) was also as the number of medals they were professionalised through the trying to achieve. The goals were in appointment of a General Manager turn broken down and translated and Duty Managers. into what was required for each The philosophy became one training session. Everything was of continual improvement with linked to performance. the mantra that ‘we can simply be Chris and the other athletes were better’. Leander recognised that since consistently tested, both indoors Olympic Gold Medal times improve and out on the water. The resulting by 2% every Olympic cycle, the club bank of data was used to rank the needed to create an environment rowers on their performance. When which facilitated this improvement. asked how it felt to be ranked, Chris’ response was “it depended Performance Enablers on where you were in the ranking!”

Whilst at times it could feel like (a) The Coaches: you had been “weighed, measured, ‘The ‘pied piper effect’ sorted…and found wanting”, there and winning systems’ was also recognition of the different Ivor described the coaches and strengths each athlete brought and

on progress made against personal bests. The aspiration for excellence was clearly signalled by test results being represented as a % of world best time for each boat class. (c) Facilities In 1996 the club realised that they needed to re-build their facilities but money was an issue. The purposebuilt Edwardian building was 100 years old, very poorly laid out, and had a laughable gym with very few modern facilities. Through securing a Lottery Grant and fundraising from its membership base, Leander was were able to raise £3.2 million to knock half of the club down and rebuild it with modern amenities, such as a new gym, medical room, dining facility, and more athlete infrastructure. The renovation was completed in 1999, and has been at the heart of Leander’s vision of providing world class facilities capable of producing champions both now and in the future.

People Current Director of Rowing, Mark Banks shared “there are other examples in sport of clubs who have great facilities but still do not perform. Facilities are not enough on their own”. Leander also focused on recruiting the best people and carefully balancing the extent to which they supported and challenged them. (a) Talent identification and development Athlete talent identification used to be one of the club’s biggest problems.

Historically, Leander was viewed as a summer playground for Oxbridge rowers and the view remained for some time that you had to have

The Wave, Lane4 Issue 3 – June 2012

‘a silver spoon in your mouth’ to get in. As part of its transformation in the 1980s, the club shifted their recruitment to an ‘open-door policy’ in which anyone could come through the door for testing. This was then extended to an outreach programme in partnership with local schools. The club takes athletes from age 15-16 and the accommodation at the club means that athletes can travel from around the country.

In terms of development, athletes are deliberately put in pressurised situations during training to develop their mental toughness. Mark Banks shared that, in his experience, many athletes can perform well in training but not in competition under extreme pressure. For this reason, athletes were tested individually and collectively in both regular training and also key training camps.

Self-belief was built by pushing each other through hard sessions and training camps to the point of exhaustion, and ‘coming out the other side’. (b) Being around the best: ‘An international approach in a club environment’ Chris recalled during his time at Leander, athletes like James Cracknell, Steve Redgrave, and Matthew Pinsent were still doing their daily training there.

As well as creating the feel of being in a world-class environment, Chris talked about how the noninternational club squad gained a huge amount of confidence from the fact that they knew their training programme was based on what Leander’s international squad was doing. Importantly, top club athletes were also able to earn the

right to train and race with this international group. With the system becoming so centralised now, and the GB squad moving to a dedicated performance centre at Caversham, one of Leander’s and other rowing clubs’ biggest challenges is giving their athletes consistent access to these inspirational role models.

So what lessons can we learn from Leander club and apply to our own organisations? Leander club scores highly against the factors in Lane4’s High Performance Environment model. Firstly, it has taken advantage of its history and tradition to create the image of a special club that people want to join. The honours boards and images of Olympic success exemplify a mindset of striving for excellence as soon as you walk through the door. The club’s business approach to leadership involves taking a long term view, challenging orthodoxies within the sport, focusing on continuous improvement and living the mantra of ‘change before you have to’.

The environment’s performance enablers comprise world-class coaches supported by world-class facilities to develop a system totally focused on developing GB athletes.

The people are supported through a talent pipeline and are surrounded by exceptional role models, yet also challenged to earn their right to be there through consistently hitting key performance metrics.

The number of Olympic medals produced by Leander club might be ‘99 and counting’ at the moment, but after taking time to examine the performance environment which has enabled them, you wouldn’t bet against this moving to three figures at Dorney Lake this summer.

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Achieving Balanced Performance

Our research suggests that High Performance Environments (HPEs) are able to deliver on current demands whilst building for the future, and develop internal capability whilst meeting external stakeholder needs. Our HPE model represents these tensions as four areas of organisational focus: achievement, innovation, wellbeing, and internal processes.

Sustained high performance results from the ability to give a balanced focus across each: • L eander Club has a clear achievement focus: to produce international athletes who compete and medal at the Olympics, World Championships and Henley Royal Regatta.

• T hey drive innovation by looking outside of the club. For example, they incorporate aspects of GB international training and other nations’ systems and methods as part of a continuous drive to improve.

• W ell-being and development is at the heart of their set-up, providing individual training programmes and mentors for all.

They recruit the best people and surround developing athletes with international stars.

• F inally, the club’s internal processes have also become more and more professional over recent years.

This includes strategic and fiscal planning, the coaches’ focus on discipline and metrics and the process of ‘bottom to top’ support for athletes.

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The Wave, Lane4 Issue 3 – June 2012

At our annual conference in 2011, Dido Harding, Chief Executive, TalkTalk, captured the audience’s attention when she spoke of the courage to be both confident and paranoid at the same time, convincingly describing how ‘productive paranoia’ is essential to delivering when it really counts.

To understand this further we asked individuals across Sport Psychology, Occupational Psychology and Business to share what this means in their worlds.

delivery of their performance often find themselves on the right side of those fine margins. You see it in their relentless questioning of what is possible physically, technically and mentally. This mindset drives them to train with both rigour and In Canoe Slalom, competitors race creativity and as a result, their best down a 300m white-water course containing up to 25 gates. If you gets better and better. touch a gate, 2 seconds are added For me, productive paranoia is to your finishing time. If you miss productive for two reasons: choice a gate altogether, that’s another and perspective. Athletes who 50 seconds. Canoe Slalom is the employ productive paranoia ultimate challenge in speed, agility choose that approach; they do and precision. it because they want to be the At the top of the sport, the best they can be in their chosen margins are extremely tight, with a sport and often in life too. few hundredths of a second often This becomes unhealthy when separating first from second. Athletes ‘passionately want’ becomes who possess a degree of productive ‘desperately need’. When this paranoia in the preparation and perspective is taken, fear, stress Sport Psychology:

ARTICLE BY: Katie Warriner Sport Psychology Coach to GB Canoe Slalom Senior Team

and other unhelpful emotions enter the equation and eat away at performance. So how can we develop productive paranoia?

• Be clear on your goal – what are you trying to achieve and why?

• Challenge yourself – if you had all the confidence in the world, what goal would you set yourself?

• Build a team to support you – our elite athletes have access to world-class coaches and sport scientists who are all working together to help them be the best they can be. Who’s on your team?

• Are you enjoying yourself? If the answer is no, do something about it! That’s what life is all about after all, isn’t it?

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into the productive side of paranoia without going over the edge?

I find that the best place to start is with self-awareness.A derailer personality report can support this by opening up conversations about The Games provide a unique helpful and unhelpful feelings and opportunity for many organisations; behaviours. Having an extreme ‘lack those involved in building, planning, Occupational Psychology: of ’ preferences relating to hyperrunning and sponsoring are all

sensitivity (a form of paranoia) working to ensure they make it ARTICLE BY: Hannah Hemmingham may result in being overly-trusting, count. To make the most of this seeing the good in everything occasion – like any other significant Talent Management and and being insensitive to dangers event – will involve meticulous Assessment, Lane4 which may become ‘career limiters’. planning, attention to detail and Having extremely strong preferences what we call ‘productive paranoia’.

Within psychology paranoia relating to hyper-sensitivity can My past experience within an has largely been discussed as a result in feeling victimised, being FMCG sponsor of large events personality disorder or a career taught me this well. The opportunity derailer. Adrian Furnham1 describes pre-occupied with hidden agendas and anxiety. Getting to the middle ‘paranoids’ as individuals who are is huge which brings great risks: what marketing techniques are ‘super-vigilant; nothing escapes their ground requires awareness of our non-sponsor competitors notice’. When at their best they can the natural ‘go to’ response and a conscious decision to change planning? How do we protect be very insightful about politics, it if necessary. A cognitive customer intimacy despite the the motives of others, the meaning behavioural approach to coaching scale of the event? What will our of events and are loyal colleagues. employees think about this spend? can support this, providing tools Not surprisingly such individuals How do we make sure our product can be found thriving in security and techniques for changing thought is delivered in the best possible organisations and even the military. processes. This type of coaching challenges black and white thinking, way? In short, what could prevent However, at their worst ‘paranoids’ catastrophising and self-limiting us getting the most out of this suspect everything without much investment and how can we protect evidence, view others’ intentions as beliefs to develop new thought against this? These experiences hostile, are defensive, argumentative processes that will keep people on the healthy, productive side and find fault easily. taught me the following lessons So how can we help people to tap of paranoia. about how to keep paranoia productive: Business:

ARTICLE BY: Mark Wheatley Principal Consultant, Lane4

• Be aware of the new rules of the game – the operating conditions may change drastically for this period of time; stay alert and anticipate the challenges • Identify your biggest threats and ‘what if ’ scenarios’ – being open to all eventualities means you can prepare for them • Pay attention to the small things – watch out for signs that things are going off track and do something about them

• Communicate clearly and continuously – projects of this scale involve many people, make sure they all understand what you’re doing and why you’re doing it

Positives

+ Champions of underdogs

NEGATIVES

+ Whistleblowers on corruption

- Pre-occupied with unjustified doubts about loyalty or trustworthiness

+ Alert

- Suspect without much evidence - Anxious

+ Careful + Observant

- Risk averse

+ Loyal friends

- Tunnel visioned

+ Insightful about the motives of others

- Slow to commit and trust, unforgiving

1 - Furnham, A. (2008) Personality and Intelligence at Work: Exploring and Explaining Individual Difference at Work. Routledge: East Sussex.

- Suspicious and distrusting

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The Wave, Lane4 Issue 3 – May 2012

Turning a positive into a negative Mark Richardson was dealt a devastating blow at the height of his athletics career when he tested positive for performance enhancing drugs. Here he tells the story of how he used the focus and discipline he learnt as an athlete to clear his name and protect his career.

The Olympics always evokes mixed emotions for me. When I was an athlete my passion for the sport stemmed from the constant challenges presented to me on a daily basis. I’ve always relished a challenge.

As an elite performer I loved the exhilaration of continually pushing myself to new limits. Setting new and greater parameters for myself is what made me ‘tick.’ I used to be in the business of challenging the ordinary in order to create and foster the extraordinary in myself.

I had always assumed that the biggest battles of my sporting career would be conducted in iconic stadiums around the world, competing for honours at major championships. That’s the problem with assumptions; they can distort your view of the world. On the 26th of November 1999 I became embroiled in an unthinkable melodrama, a personal nightmare involving the anabolic steroid nandrolone, a substance that occurs naturally in the human body.

Shaving hundredths of a second off my personal best time for the 400m was the ultimate internal battle.

My nemesis, for the most part had been the clock. To add drugs to my regime was unthinkable. I could not and would not, for it would contradict all the attributes, in fact the very essence, of what made me a successful athlete. As an athlete I led a life that revolved around dedication, commitment, selfdiscipline and self-motivation.

If I’d turned to drugs my whole identity would have become distorted – I’d have been a fraud.

Yet despite all of this I found myself having a case to answer having registered a drug’s test over the permitted threshold of two nanogrammes per millilitre for men.

My approach to the whole situation somewhat challenged the existing orthodoxies of the time.

It had to; I had to find a differentiator from the other drugs cases that had come before me, a way of actually proving my innocence.

Proactively going public with the news of my failed test was crucial. I couldn’t lose sense of the bigger picture. I knew that the way in which this delicate matter was handled would have massive

reverberations on my future career.

I steadfastly refused to go down the traditional route of announcing the news via a press conference – I just couldn’t see how I could articulate my story properly with such a restrictive format. It would be like wearing a strait jacket.

I believed at the time that if I was to stand any chance of getting through this with any kind of integrity I had to win people over through the journalists who would ultimately deliver the news. The only realistic chance I had was to create an intimate environment whereby I could have a really open and honest dialogue with the journalists.

At this point in time I had a strong suspicion that the supplements I was taking, protein shakes and vitamin pills which I always diligently checked the labels of to ensure they were free of prohibited substances, were the root cause of my positive test.

The tone that I took throughout the ‘going public’ phase seemed to help me gain credibility with the regulatory governing bodies.

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My stance throughout was clear; I didn’t want to bring the sport into disrepute by attacking the system or the process. I was more concerned with unearthing the truth and preventing my fellow athletes being snared in a similar nightmare.

Some compelling medical evidence had raised two contentious issues; the endogenous production of nandrolone could occur naturally at much higher levels and also in the area of ‘mass spectrometry’ namely the calculations used to determine the levels of prohibited substances in athletes’ urine.

There was enough of a ‘grey area’ for a Nandrolone Review to be launched. The investigation was made up of several parts including the analysis of food supplements, a study in the effects of administration of various supplements and the measures of the daily variation in urine concentration of these steroids.

In the build-up to my disciplinary hearing I found myself in the surreal position of actually trying to fail a drugs test whilst being involved in the scientific review. It was an all or nothing strategy. I had left my legal counsel – my very expensive Barrister and my Solicitor with pretty much no legal argument. I refused to attack either the ‘chain of custody’ which often has a series of holes as the necessary procedures are not always enforced once the sample is given by the athlete, or the ‘mass spectrometry’ calculations. My reasoning for this was if I got off on a technicality there would always be a slur against my name. My legal team gave me a 3 in 10 chance of being acquitted.

During my disciplinary hearing I’ll never forget the absolute irony of celebrating failing a drug’s test.

An urgent fax arrived from Aberdeen

University confirming the news that the supplements I had taken in a controlled environment had resulted in a positive test. This was a game changer. The mood in the hearing changed dramatically after this revelation. The fog of scepticism and cynicism lifted in an instance.

It no longer felt as if it was a straight forward ‘execution’ of my character and athletics career.

The stream of scientific evidence that emerged from the Nandrolone Review was so persuasive that it led to my hearing being adjourned and I was acquitted in the second sitting.

Two weeks after my suspension I won the 400 metres Olympic Trial at the Alexander Stadium in Birmingham. Crossing that line felt like the ultimate redemption – I can remember holding my arms aloft as I crossed the line and feeling a sheer unadulterated joy in that moment.

Despite the emotional turmoil that I’d been through I’d managed to maintain my focus and discipline in training by really effectively compartmentalising my life.

The outcome was that I was selected to be part of Team GB for both the 400m and the relay. My season kicked on from there and I quickly elevated myself into the world’s top 5 with a string of sub 45 second performances for the 400m. In fact the only athlete consistently beating me was the world record holder Michael Johnson and I was considered a medal contender.

However, my Olympic dreams were dashed when the IAAF called my case into arbitration on the eve of the Sydney Games as they felt the previous decision was an erroneous one. Their concern was that the equipment used by the University of Aberdeen in their Nanadrolone

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Review did not have the same level of sensitivity as an IOC accredited laboratory.

The IAAF had requested me to go into arbitration literally days before the start of the Games.

At the time it felt like my case would provide the perfect opportunity for the world governing body to demonstrate their tough stance on drugs. The ‘vibes’ that we were picking up led us to believe that this was going to be the high profile termination of my short term Olympic goals and my longer term athletics career.

Once again I chose to deviate from orthodoxy. To prevent the IAAF from facing unwanted scrutiny I volunteered to walk away from my dream of winning an Olympic medal in the 400m. It was a dream that had sustained me throughout my athletics career. In return I asked the IAAF to replicate the tests carried out by the Nandrolone Review in one of their very own IOC labs. The IAAF agreed and from my perspective the Sydney Olympics did not happen – I did everything that was humanly possible to avoid all coverage of that Games.

Yet again a couple of months after the Games I found myself celebrating the fact that I’d failed a drug’s test. The IAAF agreed that I had no further case to answer and my name was cleared once and for all. In facing this challenge I’d had to draw on many resources that I’d developed as an athlete: Focus, determination and emotional control all played a significant part in getting my athletics career and reputation back on track and they continue to underpin my performance in my current working life.

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Austin’s approach to people and organisational development is drawn from an elite performance and sport psychology background. Combining this heritage with extensive experience in the commercial world, Austin specialises in leadership development for senior executives and teams. Austin is also responsible for ensuring that Lane4’s product offerings and consultant delivery are cutting edge in his role as Research and Product Director.

Austin Swain Director, Research & Product

Austin Swain tells us how partnering with Loughborough University on the High Performance Leadership Academy has taken him back to his roots and why the world of sport is a constant inspiration in his practice.

High performance leadership The design of the High Performance Leadership Academy (HPLA) based at Loughborough University is firmly and deliberately anchored in the lessons that can be drawn from high performance sport to other achievement contexts.

The very concept is not even remotely new and has formed the basis of Lane4’s market proposition for nearly 20 years. However, the fast approaching epitome of sporting excellence descending upon this country in the form of the Games, makes this link more timely than ever.

High performance sport is constantly on the march and pushing back it’s own frontiers, so a focused look at current best practice and what might add value in such pressurised times for the corporate world has to be worth considering.

In fact, the bringing together of this academy was a return to my own roots as a young Sport Psychologist lecturing and researching at Loughborough a generation ago.

Specifically, we have chosen to emphasise the changing challenge for teams in business by exposing participants to unique, ‘fly-on-the-

wall’ experience of the conversations and activities that squads engage in as they approach major competition.

Whether it be the challenge of having to run and transform one’s business simultaneously, increasing their capacity for working through conflict, or fully exploring the interconnections that exist among them, these are all issues that squads wrestle with. Significantly, they do so under considerable pressure and expectation, where ‘winning’ and ‘losing’ is brutally clear-cut and the gap between them often microscopic. In short, there can be huge learning for any enterprise from understanding how high performing sport teams approach their own pursuit of excellence.

The Academy programmes also provide privileged access to the inner workings of the coachathlete relationship that is so critical to success. Lessons from the coach-athlete relationships that work really well (as well as observing those that don’t) enable leaders to reflect on their relationships with both members of their own team and their own leaders. Experienced coaches,

with consistent track records of producing world beaters, talk about their philosophy and their approaches to bringing out the best of a host of different athletes each with their own unique personality and preferences.

It can be eye-opening to see the level of understanding that these coaches generate about how to motivate and develop the talent that they are charged with.

The opportunity to enquire into how this is achieved, with these coaches in person, helps the process of transferring insight into one’s own experience.

The Games will provide many great moments of triumph as well as anguish as athletes and teams push themselves to the limit in pursuit of their goals.

The levels of focus, determination, delivery under pressure, and sheer courage will be there for all to see. Getting exposure to what underpins those performances is what the HPLA is all about and one that is designed not just to inspire in the moment but to inspire change that is sustainable in one’s own leadership context.

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In transition…

We explore how members of Lane4 transfer their skills, learnings and approaches into the principles of high performance business practices. FEATURING Greg Searle After my Olympic success, I spent a year working as a Chartered Surveyor in the West End of London.

Although I enjoyed the work, I felt I would start the day by leaving my Gold medal at the door, and I wasn’t able to make the most of my career by separating the two; working 9-5 during the week and racing at the weekends.

While working I found it’s easy to fall into a rut – you’re doing something (whether it be sport training or working within an organisation) for a long time, the hen I reflect on my days, weeks and months run career to date there Balancing business together and your performance is a clear circular and sport hasn’t improved. You must remember relationship with I grew up in the generation that kept that this ‘daily grind’ is what you sport and business. I’ve worked in both, and in fact done both together, a job alongside rowing so always had signed up for, and make the best and have been able to learn and a strong work ethic. I was interviewed of it. Putting the hard work in now will make you more successful. apply lessons from each to the other. for a job at a Chartered Surveyors In this article I’ll tease out some of in 1992 and I remember telling them One saying that stands out for me is, “The more you sweat in training, the the key lessons that I have learnt on that I couldn’t start straight away less you bleed in battle”. Make every as I was going to the Olympics, and my journey. day count and you will feel better. the interviewer asked what tickets I As a child I was always sporty.

I enjoyed it, was good at it and much had! The same year as that interview, In an organisation, this focus and hard work could lead to recognition I entered the Coxed Pair at the preferred it to the academic life at school. I found with academic work Barcelona Olympics with my brother and reward, but more importantly, and won Gold, beating the Abbagnale feeling good about the job that you I would put the effort in but not do and your organisation as a whole. brothers who were twice Olympic get anything near the same level of When I joined Lane4 in 1997 as rewards that sport brings – the highs, Champions and all out favourites.

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the teamwork, the wins. I’m a sociable person and like trusting others and being trusted, so was drawn to team sports in particular.

I rowed at Hampton School.

Jonny, my older brother by three years, was a talented rower and I would watch him do well, and felt encouraged to join in. By the time I was 15 I’d been rowing for two years and I felt I was on a pathway to success, due to the great set up at Hampton. I remember these as some of the best years’ rowing and training I ever did.

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Joined Lane4 in 1997 as a Learning and Development Consultant working with senior executives to raise business and personal performance under pressure.

Jonny and Greg, 1991 Olympic Champions and 1993 World Champions

a Learning and Development Consultant, it allowed me to work with my Olympic success rather than against it. By then I’d been in the Olympic team 3 years. I could talk and think about my training openly at work.

Competing in the Sydney Olympics in 2000, I came fourth.

This gave me perspective that I take into business to this day – ride with the knocks and don’t over celebrate.

Business I officially retired from rowing in 2001 and worked full time at Lane4.

At this time I concentrated on being the best I could at work – I was set clear targets and had clear responsibility. I gathered the best team around me and felt supported and challenged to do my best for them – work hard, play hard!

I developed great relationships based on trust.

At the 1997 World Rowing Championships Greg surprised almost everyone, perhaps even himself by winning the Bronze Medal.

A big thing I’d noticed was that businesses were better at confronting and resolving people issues than sport – at least my sport at that point in time. Using consultancies, mediators or coaches, organisations take swift action to ensure that all employees are working in an environment that is productive and supportive. In sport the culture was more challenging – if you had a problem with your training partners or environment, you had to ‘grunt up’ and deal with it.

One of the great things which I carried with me from rowing into Lane4 was the use of goal setting.

As an athlete you know that the dream of winning an Olympic Gold doesn’t just happen overnight and you need a clear plan of action and to understand what small things need to happen first to get to your goal.

However, in business, some teams are given a goal of ‘increase productivity by x%’ and that’s as far as the detail

goes! I would jot down, adjust and review my goal setting tree regularly to keep myself on track, motivated and providing a clear pathway to success. This helped me monitor how I’d reach my goals. Even more importantly I’d constantly remind myself about why; the meaning behind these goals and why they were significant to me.

Sport I saw first-hand the fantastic turnarounds in organisations by getting people focused on goals, knowing how to behave and work together to get the best performance from a team. I started contemplating my personal goals and a sporting comeback in 2009, inspired by my work with organisations and wanting to make the most of my talent.

Personally, I didn’t want to have any regrets, I wanted to see if I still had it in me to win.

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Greg came out of 10 years of International retirement in the autumn of 2009.

Greg began the careful process of building his return to peak performance and trained with the GB Senior Squad during the winter where he did very well at the Winter Assessment.

This time around there is a greater consistency of approach to training. I used to be a bit of a ‘rebel without a cause’ – wanting to do things my own way, wanting to prove myself to others. I’m older and wiser now and am prepared to put my head down and concentrate on performing.

One lesson I’ve brought with me from work into my training for London 2012 is an understanding of the different types of leadership communication. I am by no means a leader within the team – I am one of the eight – but through work at Lane4 I know that informal leaders can influence teams just as much as the formal leaders. I pride myself on strong role modelling – demonstrating to the other members of the team the sheer hard work and focus needed during training. By being a strong, consistent example of this, I hope to role model the

attitudes and behaviours required by the team in order to perform at its best.

Overall, a large lesson I’ve learnt from both sport and business is just how complicated the relationship between leader and follower can be – be that coach and athlete or leader and employee.

No one likes to be told what to do – and a ‘parent-child’ relationship when you are an adult can be unfulfilling for both parties involved. An example of this in business would be employees being told what to do by their boss, who keeps all the answers to themselves, so that employees do not feel empowered and rely on them for daily instructions.

But the worst thing you can do when faced with autocratic leadership, or coaching, is to argue and moan at them – you are just reinforcing their view of you as a

The GB men’s Eght, of which Greg is a member, won the Silver Medal at the World Rowing Championships in Slovenia.

They were beaten to the Gold by a strong German crew, but fought on to win Silver. Their performance in the championships now guarantees them a place at this year’s London 2012 Olympics, – where they will be going for Gold!

child. This will spiral out of control, with both parties misunderstanding the needs of the other. If I am faced with that style of coaching or leadership now, I behave as an adult – meeting and exceeding expectations that have been set within their boundaries.

Eventually the leader using the ‘parent’ style will realise that I am capable, and will empower and engage me on a more adult, peer to peer level.

The Future…

What the future will bring is uncertain, never more so than now as I compete for my place at the 2012 Games. But what I am sure of is that the performance lessons I’ve learnt from both business and sport mean that I will turn out the best performance I can, as a father, husband, rower and consultant.

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Seb Coe: Winning communication ARTICLE BY Patrick

Mammone

“On behalf of the youth of today, the athletes of tomorrow and the Olympians of the future, we humbly submit the bid of London 2012.”

T

he closing remarks of Seb Coe’s final bid presentation to the IOC session in Singapore 6th July 2005; a masterpiece in storytelling and the finale to an expertly executed communications campaign that delivered the Games to London. Many of us will remember where we were when those famous six letters were uttered by IOC President Jacques Rogge. A nation in celebration, a communicator in victory. In this article we’ll explore Seb Coe’s role as a communicator during London’s successful campaign, and consider what leaders in other organisations can learn from his skilful, yet authentic techniques.

As a two-time Olympic champion, Coe knows just what it takes to deliver on the biggest stage of all. You could even argue, given the scale of the achievement that delivered the Games to London, it’s this which stands out as the greatest victory of his career. Having been handed the baton by American Barbara Cassani in the summer

of 2004, Coe’s first task was to develop a compelling vision for the bid. The vision needed to capture people’s imagination, engage an unconvinced British public and impress an incredulous International Olympic Committee.

Drawing from his personal experience of the power of sport to change lives, a vision was born.

A London Games would create a lasting legacy; a legacy of regeneration in the once deprived East End of London and, more importantly, a legacy of inspiration and sporting participation for the youth of today.

Once the vision for a London Games was clear, the next step was to make this message meaningful to the people that mattered but the audience was wide and far-reaching. From the multitude of different sectors and groups that make up the British public, to the worldwide media, international sports federations and the ultimate decision-makers; the IOC members, the task was tough.

Coe and his bid team knew how

1 – ‘The Race For The 2012 OIympics: The Inside Story of How London Won the Bid’ Mike Lee (2006).

important it was to tailor their messages skilfully to each. As Mike Lee, London 2012 bid Communications Director explained:

“We set about developing key themes that we could reinforce through presentations and communications events [and] we also varied our themes, depending on our audience.” 1 Having identified their audiences, the next task for Coe and Lee was to consider how they could communicate effectively and reinforce their messages to the varied groups. Legacy holds different meaning to different people and that was part of both the communications challenge and prize. People, in different audience groups, had to feel a personal connection to an ambitious vision.

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C1 CONVENTIONAL FORUMS AND PROCESSES

C4 ROLE MODELLING

C2 STRUCTURED, DIALOGIC CONVERSATION

C3 EVERYDAY CONVERSATIONS AND INTERACTIONS

INFORMAL Emphasis on joint sensemaking and relationship building

FORMAL Emphasis on message passing

STRUCTURED Emphasis on planning and containment

Emphasis on spontaneity and emergence UNSTRUCTURED

Figure 1 Leadership Communication Grid © Chris Rodgers Consulting Ltd

Winning Communication

depicting aspiring young athletes running, jumping and diving over To explore the different iconic London landmarks. Targeting communication methods Coe a mass audience, this conventional and his team had at their disposal, communication method focused we turn to the Leadership largely on informing the British Communication Grid (Figure 1). public about London’s decision to It highlights the range of bid for the Games. Coe and his team’s communication approaches formal bid documentation to the available to a leader, and is used as IOC, and other official publications a tool to guide their approach to delivered through media and press communication. releases are further examples of As we’ll discover, Coe and his communication methods that sit team’s ability to move around the firmly within the C1 box in the Grid and make use of a number of Grid. While useful to inform people different communication approaches about the bid, they did little to dependent on their audience, was a engage people emotionally and build critical and significant contributor commitment to London’s cause. to the campaign’s success.

C2: Structured C1: Conventional Forums Conversation and Processes As the campaign gained ground, The most high profile method of Coe and his team stepped up their communication, used largely to efforts to really engage their audience. inform an unconvinced British More than simply making them public, was the huge marketing and aware of the bid, the team needed advertising campaign, ‘Back the Bid’. people to understand and care about This spanned the entire length London’s vision for the Games. and breadth of the country and They needed to show that they were used posters, banners and billboards listening to people’s questions and

concerns; What would the Games do for the city? How would we finance the biggest show on earth?

What happens after the Games?

Big questions like these needed to be answered and, in Coe, the team had a leader more than capable of doing them justice. His attendance at well-planned campaign events, roadshows and even an appearance on the BBC’s live Question Time panel created opportunities for members of the public, politicians and other interested parties to exchange their thoughts, questions and concerns on a London Games.

These less structured and conversational methods of communication saw Coe and his team navigate into the C2 box in the Grid (structured, yet open multi-way conversation), an area that would play a crucial part in developing audience support, commitment and buy-in to London’s bid.

C3: Everyday Conversations Slowly but surely the excitement was growing. Coe and his bid team were now in full swing. The British public, its politicians and a powerful press were firmly behind the bid, and attention soon turned to the men and women of the IOC; the men and women responsible for making that final decision. In the C3 box of the Leadership Communication Grid, we often refer to the ‘watercooler’ conversations that a leader has, or should have, with his or her employees. It’s a place where feelings are explored, trust is built and a vision is shared through every day conversations. Seb Coe’s skilful lobbying of IOC members throughout the bid campaign demonstrates perfectly the power

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that’s harnessed in this quadrant of the Grid. Travelling around the world to talk to individual IOC members at the reception of an international conference or dinner party was a tiring and potentially arduous task. Yet Coe was built for this. His ability to confidently and expertly share London’s vision, and to listen, understand and empathise with individual members’ concerns was second to none. As the voting progressed and bidding cities dropped out in Singapore, the impact of Coe’s efforts in lobbying IOC members was clear for all to see.

C4: Role Modelling So finally, after months of hard work, the campaign team arrived in Singapore. We often talk at Lane4 about creating consistency between a leader’s actions and their words. Sitting in the C4 box of the Leadership Communication Grid, the leader who role models words through action builds the trust of those they lead. There is the belief that the message they communicate is heartfelt and genuine. Whilst few would’ve doubted this in Coe, London’s leader demonstrated this consistency quite brilliantly in Singapore. As the bidding cities entered the arena and took their seats, London’s contingent appeared strangely youthful. Coe had taken with him thirty 12 to 18 year olds from the East End of London.

Thirty youngsters who would be directly impacted by a London Games, who would be inspired by the best athletes in the world competing in their home city.

This was a touch of genius on behalf of Coe and his team. London was serious about its vision to inspire the youth of today and, if anyone in

the IOC doubted it, they just needed to look at the beaming faces sat right in front of them. Immediately, London had set itself apart from the rest of the competition.

The Final Lap When asked to recall a great leader, I immediately find myself picturing images of individuals from recent history that had great presence and impact on stage or in-front of the media spotlight. Martin Luther King or Winston Churchill spring to mind. I see them on stage delivering a speech, with their audience dutifully hanging off their every word.

As a result, they are more than willing to respond to their leader’s call to action. I think it’s safe to say that there’s no such thing as a great leader who communicates poorly. As former Presidential speech writer James C. Humes once wrote, “The art of communication, is the language of leadership.” As Coe took to the stage in Singapore, this was his moment to shine. Here was his opportunity to share for one last time London’s bid for a 2012 Games: to share the steadfast belief, infectious commitment and unbridled passion he held for hosting the greatest of sporting spectacles in his own backyard. While those that had presented before him focused predominantly on their cities’ architecture, venues and structural capacity to host an Olympic Games, Coe told a story. Accompanied by an inspiring and thought-provoking video depicting a young African boy’s journey to the Games, Coe delivered a speech that many have argued was the masterpiece that ultimately won London the Games. Delivered with poise and precision, Coe was able to truly, deeply and emotionally engage

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his audience. He demonstrated vulnerability in being able to show and share his emotion and captured the hearts and minds of all who listened. Here was a man who truly understood the power of sport to change lives. Here was a man the IOC could trust. The rest, as they say, is history. Not long after Coe’s closing remarks, IOC President Jacques Rogge announced that the Games of the XXX Olympiad would go to London. The curtain finally came down on a hugely successful, creative and inspirationally-led campaign.

Having unveiled an ambitious vision for a London Games in the summer of 2004, Coe and his team planned and executed a meticulous communications campaign that successfully delivered the 2012 Games to London. Through using a range of communication methods, the bid team were able to engage, excite, and unite their various audiences in support of London’s bid. Whilst the ‘Back the bid’ advertising campaign generated awareness of the bid, it was the less structured and informal communication methods that gained the trust and support of IOC members. In Coe, they had a leader they could trust. His heartfelt and emotional speech at the IOC session in Singapore was a final opportunity to share a vision he truly believed in, a vision that would set a London Games apart from any other. It was a fitting end to a remarkable campaign.

London would once again host the greatest sporting show on earth.

As we countdown to the start of the Games, take some time to reflect on your role as a leader in your organisation. What lessons can you learn from Coe’s leadership of the bid campaign?

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The Wave, Lane4 Issue 3 – June 2012

Are you being served?

ARTICLE BY Kate

O

Dermody & Richard Parker

ver the last few years, the pressure on many service providers – both internal and external - to prove their worth has escalated with the increasing cost-cuts, restructures and downsizing triggered by the recession. The English Institute of Sport (EIS) has faced a similar test, and what is more, has navigated this challenge during the most pivotal performance period for a sporting organisation like theirs; the run up to a Home Games. In this article we share the experiences of Richard Parker, Regional Director, on his journey to transform the EIS into a customer focused organisation, and draw out the lessons for the successful creation of a collaborative approach to service provision.

On face value it may be difficult to see the parallel between business services in commercial organisations and the English

Institute of Sport (EIS). However, over the past couple of years, the EIS has had to change their approach to delivery dramatically. Like many commercial organisations, external pressures have resulted in increased accountablity to their customers (the sports).

The EIS are responsible for partnering with sports to improve performances through the delivery of high quality sport science and medical support to elite athletes.

Recently their funding model changed to enable National Governing Bodies (NGBs) for each sport to choose which EIS services they use, and crucially, which they will source elsewhere.

This was a sharp contrast to the previous model in which the EIS held the funding and delivered services to the sports as they saw fit. The challenge faced by the EIS was to make sure they were providing an

excellent service, so that the sports wanted to use them instead of employing the experts directly.

This drive towards a service and customer-centred approach meant that processes, people, and strategy needed to be aligned to the change. The focus of client managers needed to move from operationalising services to ensuring that strategic client needs were met.

What challenges did the EIS face?

A shift was required in employees’ focus from operational to strategic and the EIS recognised that their future success depended on building effective collaboration with the different sporting NGBs. Clearly, there was a crucial role for leaders, as well as relationship managers, to make this change a success. Research has shown that only 16% of managers show collaborative leadership

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behaviours1, so it is not a surprise that influencing the managers was a challenge.

How was this collaborative approach created?

Richard recognised that to survive the EIS needed to gain trust from their customers, demonstrate results and provide a compelling place to work if they wanted to hold on to the best.

“We have some hard measures – how much investment you get, or how many athletes different sports select to go to the Games and so on, but we also do quite a lot on employee and customer engagement. We don’t survive as an organisation if sports don’t buy into us. So how satisfied are they with our services? Equally, we don’t survive if our staff don’t buy the story… most of our staff could earn more in private practice. But they choose to come to us. For our staff it’s really important that they’re having a performance impact.

Putting a dent in the universe.

Knowing they’re right behind an athlete that could win a gold medal. These guys come to work because they love what they do… You need to remind people of that on a regular basis. The reasons why you’re here and why you joined in the first place.”

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Specifically, to achieve this change towards customer centricity, the EIS focused on: Theme

Creating Capability

Having Shared Goals

Creating accountability

EIS approach

Lessons for creating a collaborative approach

The EIS focused on creating a quality of service for the sports, through consultation with the NGBs. They had to ensure that their offering was good enough that all sports would want to use their service.

Are you offering what you currently have or what your clients really want? In addition to a customer-centric strategy and service offering, creating capability also requires ensuring that your talent strategy is aligned. If you have disparities you may need to invest in recruitment and development.

The EIS had open conversations with the NGBs about what good performance solutions would look like. Once agreed detailed goals about the performance needs of the sport and how the EIS could help to achieve them were considered and reviewed regularly.

What is the goal of your partnership? Rather than focus on the daily operational ‘wins’; redefine what success looks like for your function, and the other functions you work with.

What is the organisational goal, as opposed to the narrow, and perhaps individual, agenda?

It has been a challenge to get all employees to feel accountable for this collaboration, and it is still a work in progress. They are much more aware that they need to provide an excellent service for sports to continue investment. The aim is to ensure all employees are clear about what the EIS can offer the NGBs and vice versa.

How accountable do you feel for the success of your internal or external customers?

Consider your performance management and reward strategies - do they generate accountability for the success of your end customer?

Your success should be their success and your team should feel accountable for achieving it.

The result of this change is that the EIS relationship with NGBs has improved. Richard believes that “having worked closely with sports for a number of years that the relationships are as close as they have ever been, indicating a true partnership approach”.

Furthermore, David Faulkner, GB Hockey Performance Director says, “the EIS customer focus

approach has developed a strong integrated partnership where the EIS employees are integral members of the hockey team staff ”.

The EIS are now seen as a partnership, which is working together to achieve the sports’ performance goals, with everything possible being done to satisfy the customers.

1 –Hansen, M.T. (2009). Collaboration – How leaders avoid the traps, create unity and reap big results. Boston: Harvard Business Press

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HOT TOPICS Adrian Moorhouse Managing Director Lane4 It’s easy to be down on the Games so it’s great to see someone from a different domain enthusing about the impact it can have if we get behind it.

I think Garvey’s point about human endeavour is spot on. There are central performance themes that span different contexts: music, sport, art and business are just a few examples. Passion, hardwork and motivation are not limited to the Games but it’s up to us if we choose to be inspired.

What does a summer of sport mean for your workforce?

According to HR magazine, “just 10% of employers will be allowing flexible working for the Olympics… which may suggest employers could be dealing with record levels of sickness during this time.” Half of employers said they would not allow flexible working and the remaining 40% were undecided. http://www.hrmagazine.co.uk/hro/news/1019749/halfemployers-refuse-flexible-2012-olympics

Becky Karver HR Business Partner Lane4

Can the Olympics inspire beyond sport?

The band Elbow have been commissioned to write the BBC’s official Olympics theme. In an interview with The Independent, their singer Guy Garvey spoke about the inspiration he’d found in this opportunity. “We all thought that that was the most exciting thing: knowing that it was going to soundtrack somebody’s dad winning a Gold Medal...We’re very honoured to be doing this. You have to appreciate the endeavour of the Olympics, because endeavour is the best we have, isn’t it?” www.independent.co.uk

Hosting the largest sporting event in the world will undoubtedly bring challenges to businesses across the country, including managing absences from staff who plan to take time off during the Games (either as volunteers or spectators) or those who have no set plans but simply want to watch the coverage. There is plenty of evidence, including recent research by the CIPD, which suggests that flexible working in general leads to higher levels of engagement, commitment and productivity amongst employees. The Games provide an excellent opportunity for businesses to embrace flexible working as a way to proactively manage resource. In addition, putting in place fair and flexible working practices during the Games can generate increased levels of employee engagement by providing a structure in which employees can get involved.

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Is Olympic sponsorship a waste of money?

A recent poll from Ipsos Mori has found that 60 per cent of nearly 2,000 people surveyed could not name any corporate Olympic sponsors. www.ipsos-mori.com

Adam Stuart Client Relationship Consultant Lane4 Surveys such as these are often released before major sporting events with similar findings about the extent of public recall for the event sponsors. What’s different on this occasion is that this is a Home Games and will arguably be the largest sporting event the UK has ever seen. Many of these companies have been executing their sponsorships for a number of years and, for most, sponsorship is about more than simply brand recall. When executed effectively, internal engagement benefits alone can provide a substantial return on the sponsorship.

A company can use it to help them build a great place to work for their employees, create a common language within the organisation, inspire personal best, attract and retain talent and use exclusive rewards to recognise high performance. Sponsorship is about more than plastering your logo across advertising boards and products. The value of these sponsorships are likely to be felt as much within organisations, as a legacy of the Games, through promoting internal employee engagement.

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Zara Whysall Head of Research and Product Lane4 Brilliant! Not only is early experience of adversity a vital foundation for personal resilience, but also, failure is central to learning. We don’t learn by coasting along in our comfort zone. We learn by stretching ourselves, making mistakes and working out what to do differently next time.

Of course, care needs to be taken to ensure that failure is translated into a positive learning experience – for instance, we need to check that a person’s goal orientation or interpretation of events isn’t blocking their ability to learn from failure. At the organisational level, non-supportive work environments or reward systems that punish failure also act as barriers. This leads me to wonder how well stretch assignments are used in business – are we really willing to take risks on people to maximise their development? If more businesses were prepared to enable constructive failure, we’d see more people fulfilling their potential.

Do we ne ed order to s to fail in ucceed?

The

BBC rec school, “p ently reported on a lanning a failure we top girls’ pupils to ek to teac embrace h risk, and learn from their build resilience mistakes.”

The head mis said she w tress, Heather Han bury, anted to sh ow that “i complete t is ly accepta ble and co normal n mpletely ot to succ eed at tim e s in life.” http://w ww .bbc.co.uk

/news/ed

ucation-16

879336

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Our CONTRIBUTORS

Dr. Austin Swain Research and Product Director Lane4

Dominic Mahony Client Services Director Lane4

Greg Searle Practice Director, Lane4 and Member of the GB Men’s Rowing Team

Chris Lloyd Senior Consultant Lane4

Janine Belton Management Trainer Lane4

Austin’s approach to people and organisational development is drawn from an elite performance and sport psychology background.

Combining this heritage with extensive experience in the commercial world, Austin specialises in leadership development for senior executives and teams. Austin is also responsible for ensuring that Lane4’s product offerings and consultant delivery are cutting edge in his role as Research and Product Director.

Dominic is Client Services Director at Lane4.

His consulting and coaching work is with senior leaders and teams across a range of sectors with a focus on leadership development and managing organisational change. A two-time Olympian and Bronze Medallist in the Modern Pentathlon, Dominic has been Team manager at 3 Olympic Games and will be taking the team to London 2012 this summer.

Greg is a Practice Director at Lane4, leading consulting teams to deliver performance development programmes for our clients. Greg is currently training as part of the GB Men’s Rowing squad for the 2012 Olympics when he hopes to make history by winning his second Gold Medal 20 years after his first. He recently won a Silver Medal in the Eight at the World Rowing Championship in Slovenia.

Chris draws on his elite performance and commercial background to design and deliver performance development programmes for Lane4 clients. With consulting experience across a variety of sectors, he has worked with a breadth of individuals and teams from contact centre managers to senior leadership teams within FTSE organisations. Prior to joining Lane4, Chris spent four years training alongside the GB Rowing Team at Leander Club, the centre of excellence for GB Rowing. During this time Chris represented England, winning Gold at the Commonwealth Regatta in 2002.

Janine is a former world class swimmer having competed at the highest level internationally.

Whilst being a member of the GB Senior Swimming Team for eight years she competed at 2 Olympic Games, finishing 6th in the Olympic Final in Sydney 2000, and became World Champion and World Record holder as part of the 4x200 freestyle relay in 2001. Janine has an MSc in Sport and Exercise Psychology from Loughborough University.

She has been a member of the Lane4 Training team since 2010.

Dr. Wil James Principal Consultant Lane4

Catherine Jenkins Talent Management and Assessment Intern Lane4

Christian Thing Management Trainer Lane4

Dr. Mark Gittins Consultant Lane4

Mark Richardson Principal Consultant Lane4

Wil has a background in sport psychology and for the past 9 years has consulted within elite sport and business.

He was selected as a headquarter psychologist for Team GB prior to the Athens Olympic Games in 2004, and is now supporting the GB Hockey Squad in preparation for the London Olympics. Wil is also the lead psychologist for the England and Wales Cricket Board.

Catherine is a Psychology student at Loughborough University and is currently spending her third year on placement at Lane4 where she is able to put her psychological knowledge into practical use. Catherine is working with the Talent Management and Assessment team to support in the development of Lane4’s product offerings.

Christian joined Lane4 in 2009 having completed an MSc in Performance Psychology at the University of Edinburgh. As part of the Training Team he works with managers to develop skills that improve team and individual performance. Christian has a keen interest in team dynamics and in particular how teams create environments which allow all members to perform at their best.

Mark is a Lane4 Consultant and completed an awardwinning PhD in High Performance Environments.

He currently leads the Lane4/Middlesex University Coaching Accreditation Programme and works as a Sport Psychology Consultant to elite athletes and teams.

Mark is a former world class 400m runner who has won honours at all the major Athletics Championships, including an Olympic Silver Medal in the 4x400m relay at Atlanta. Before joining Lane4, Mark worked in Rights Marketing for one of the country’s leading events and sports marketing agencies.

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Katie Hooper Communications Consultant Lane4

Louise Oliver Senior Communications Consultant Lane4

Kate Dermody Business Development Manager Lane4

Rachel Arnold PhD Research Student Loughborough University

Richard Parker Regional Director English Institute of Sport

Katie is a Communications Consultant at Lane4.

Specialising in Lane4’s blended learning approach, Katie’s expertise lies in developing compelling workshop and online collateral to support transformational performance development programmes across a range of sectors. Katie has a first class degree from Bath University and represented Great Britain for nine years in the sport of Synchronised Swimming, becoming twotime British Champion and Commonwealth Games Silver Medalist.

Louise is a Senior Communications Consultant at Lane4. She has over ten years of experience in corporate communications and specific expertise in developing internal communications, employee engagement and change management strategies.

Louise has a BSc in Psychology which has informed her approach to business communications challenges helping organisations to tell their stories in a compelling way to deliver tangible business results.

Kate joined Lane4 in 2008 following completion of a Psychology degree and experience working in New York. She consults with potential clients to understand their needs and how Lane4 can best support them to achieve high performance.

Following a period in Lane4’s Research & Product Team last year, she has a particular interest in the role of leaders in the 2010s.

Rachel is a final year PhD research student in Sport and Performance Psychology at Loughborough University.

Her research focuses on the psychology of sporting excellence, with specific reference to performance leadership, management, environments, and cultures.

Drawing on this research and her own current experiences as an elite-level hockey player, Rachel provides psychology-related support to various sport performers and organisations.

Richard is Regional Director for the English Institute of Sport – the ‘team behind the team’ who provide performance impacting sport science and medicine to Olympic, Paralympic and professional sports. He is responsible for the strategic direction of the organisation, managing relationships with key clients and leading his team to exceed the expectations of coaches and athletes.

Jonathan Zneimer Consultant Director Lane4

Patrick Mammone Communications Executive Lane4

Dr. David Fletcher Director of the Sport Psychology Support Service, Loughborough University

Mustafa Sarkar PhD Research Student Loughborough University

Jon joined Lane4 10 years ago and is a Partner at Lane4.

He manages consultant and senior consultant teams.

Jon has a heritage in sport psychology and is working with the GB Hockey squad in preparation for 2012.

His consulting work is with senior leaders and teams across a range of sectors with a focus on leadership development and managing organisational change.

Patrick joined Lane4 having completed an MSc in Sport and Exercise Psychology at Loughborough University.

Working within the Communications team, he supports the delivery of blended learning elements for our clients. He is a keen sportsman with a passion for golf, which has seen him spend time caddying on the professional European and Challenge tour circuits.

David is a distinguished sport psychologist, having published ground-breaking research in the area of elite performance and consulted with world and Olympic medal winners.

Since receiving his doctorate degree, David has worked as the Director of the Sport Psychology Support Service at Loughborough University – The Official Preparation Camp Headquarters for Team GB prior to the London 2012 Olympic Games.

Mustafa is a PhD researcher in Sport and Performance Psychology at Loughborough University. His research provides an insight into how high achievers deliver sustainable performance in pressured environments.

He has worked closely with sport organisations including British Triathlon, the England and Wales Cricket Board, the National Health Service, and the Youth Sport Trust.

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The Wave, Lane4 Issue 3 – June 2012

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Please find below a selection of interesting articles, urls, recommended reads, conferences and exhibitions to attend or just stuff we at Lane4 think is interesting.

Our resident Tweeter, Emma Weeks recommends:

Life-Changing Conversations: 7 strategies for talking about what matters most (Watkins) Sarah Rozenthuler

Twitter

@TLNT_com TLNT is about The Business of HR, with news, trends, and insights from experts in HR, talent management, and areas related to managing a workforce. @Edge_magazine All the latest leadership news from the magazine of the Institute of Leadership & Management (ILM)

BLOGS

Follow the journeys of our own Greg Searle (Lane4 Practice Director, Olympic Gold medallist and athlete training for London 2012) and Dominic Mahony (Lane4 Client Services Director and Team Manager for the GB Modern Pentathlon Team) on their blogs available through the Lane4 website.

Follow Greg: www.lane4performance.com/GregSearles-blog-Journey-to-London. html Follow Dominic: www.lane4performance.com/ Dominic-Mahonys-blog-LeadingPerformance-GB-ModernPentathlon.html

BOOKS

“This book will inspire and enable you to have a big conversation, be it in your personal or business life. It is packed with practical guidance, exercises and stories that bring to life the power of skilful conversation. Sarah’s critical reflection on her own story, as well as those of the people she has coached, is truly compelling.

A really good read.”

Dominic Mahony Client Services Director Lane4

Mindset: How you can fulfil your potential (Robinson) Carol S. Dweck “Dweck’s simple yet powerful portrayal of fixed vs. growth mindsets is essential reading for anyone interested in the development of people (or even just people). Whether it’s as a coach, manager, teacher, colleague, parent or friend, this book highlights, amongst other things, how the type of feedback you

give others affects the extent to which they will embrace challenges and strive towards pursuit of their potential.”

Zara Whysall Head of Research and Product Lane4

The Language of Leaders (Kogan Page) Kevin Murray “Murray reflects the increasingly blurred boundaries between our external and internal communication landscapes skilfully, punctuated with a nice mix of fresh and timeless anecdotes. In a world where expectations of good, if not impeccable, corporate behaviour are at their highest, Murray makes a compelling argument for communication as the ‘glue that binds strategy and delivery together’. Murray’s book was informative and, in spells, inspirational. It reminds me that being a great leader communicator is tough and in no way a ‘bit part’ of the day job!”

Natalie Benjamin Head of Communications Lane4

Lane4 Management Group Ltd St Marks House Station Road Bourne End Buckinghamshire SL8 5QF United Kingdom t +44 (0)1628 533 733 f +44 (0)1628 533 766 www.lane4performance.com twitter @Lane4Group

Coaching Performance Excellence Programme Accredited by Middlesex University, our Coaching Performance Excellence Programme is designed to help individuals implement and promote effective coaching within their organisations.

Our programmes are flexible and can be tailored to individual or organisational needs. Course content combines experiential, conceptual and reflective workshop learning with 1:1 coaching, action learning sets and the development of a personal portfolio.

Our programme has been awarded the European Quality Award, Practitioner level, conferred by the EMCC (European Mentoring & Coaching Council). Participants will receive a certificate of credit from Middlesex University worth 40 postgraduate points, which can be transferred or used towards further postgraduate or undergraduate courses.

For 2012 dates, programme and pricing information, please visit: www.lane4performance.com

Bringing the Games inside‌ Do you want to gain a winning advantage in 2012?

We can give you the edge by engaging individuals and teams in your organisation with lessons from high level performance.

Countdown to the Games From key note presentations to group learning sessions, we can deliver experiential and impactful events to bring the Games alive inside your organisation.

During the Games We can help your people stay engaged and learning during the Games themselves by giving them the inside track. This can range from facilitated team sessions to online toolkits and webinars.

Topics include preparing for peak performance, thriving under pressure, winning by the smallest margins and recovering from setbacks.

Lessons from the Games Whatever happens at the Games, there will be lessons learnt that are transferable to business. From executive team development to large-scale employee events, we can help deliver a performance legacy in your business. Topics include leading performance excellence, competing to collaborate, team dynamics and assessing and developing talent.

Ready to find out how Lane4 can give you the edge?

Please contact: Adam Stuart adam.stuart@lane4.co.uk or call +44 (0)1628 533777