Simple Secrets a Paralympian Can Teach Managers About Team Management..
Image Source: http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk
I attended a local Chartered Management Institute meeting last night to hear Marc Woods, a world class paralympian, speak about how, after losing his lower leg to bone cancer at the tender age of seventeen, he then went on to lead the GB swimming relay team through 3 Olympics, achieving a gold medal in Sydney.
I was mightily impressed, and moved by his story; but also couldn’t help but note some of his comments about team work, emotional intelligence and leadership – and the parallels in our work places.
Three things Marc said really struck a chord:
1) Athletes are good at receiving feedback – indeed they actively solicit it.
(Why in the workplace is feedback something we often feel so uncomfortable about?)
2) Athletes continually review their own performance
(What stops so many of us from regularly reviewing and tweaking our own performance, outside of the formal, and expected, performance review?)
3) As leader of his team, he made it an absolute commitment to regularly talk to his team about their feelings. I was particularly struck by his comment:
“…just basic conversation really; anything they wanted to talk about, anything they had on their mind, we discussed. Basic conversation is the glue that holds people together when things go wrong.”
As someone passionate about improving workplace relationships, I couldn’t agree more. (In fact, worth trying to improve any relationship!)
When was the last time you had a “basic conversation” with any of your staff?
Maybe time to put the kettle on and have a friendly cuppa!
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