Adaptable Business Concepts: August 2012

Monday, August 13, 2012

Olympian advice for business leaders

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/4a1b82a6-e251-11e1-be25-00144feab49a.html#ixzz23U00c2cb

By Anthony Goodman

On Sunday it will all be over. The Olympians will start to leave London and, after taking a well-earned break, begin to prepare for the next challenge.

For some, it will be a second chance in Rio at the 2016 Games. For others, such as swimmer Michael Phelps, it will be retirement from active competition. And for a few, a new career beckons advising business leaders on what it takes to succeed.

For those who choose this latter option, they are following a well-worn track. Roger Black, the British athlete who won a silver medal in the 400 metres at the Atlanta Olympics in 1996, runs a training and development business. He says: “Everything we do in our business is about transferring the experience that we have as high-level performers in sport into business.”

Some observers, however, are sceptical that much can be transferred. Octavius Black, co-founder of performance consultancy Mind Gym, recently wrote in the Telegraph that “athletic sport is primarily about completing a single task to an exceptionally high standard. Business is invariably a multi-task, multi-layered affair . . . Yes, to be successful in business or sport you need determination, the trust of your colleagues and a good coach, but you need these just as much in ballet.”

Nonetheless, there is appetite among business leaders to learn from the Olympians. Even the late Stephen Covey’s last column, which was written last month and published posthumously, was called “How to succeed like an Olympian”.

Read more here - http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/4a1b82a6-e251-11e1-be25-00144feab49a.html#ixzz23U00c2cb

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