Wednesday 26 June 2013

Leadership Lessons From Wimbledon

Yesterday I was at Wimbledon for day 2 of the tennis.

I watched Serena Williams, Novak Djokovic and David Ferrer all pretty much cruise to victory despite each of their opponents pulling off some fantastic shots.

Even at this early stage it's an amazing experience and there's a lot to learn from the live action when it comes to what makes people successful.

Here's what all three winners had in common.

The ability to stay focused
Whenever they played a shot that didn't win a point, they moved on quickly.  They didn't dwell on any 'mistakes' but quickly took the learning from the experience and moved on to what was happening next.  By contrast, each of their opponents was clearly haunted by losing strokes for a little while after they happened.

Confidence in their skills
Although they didn't dwell on the fact that a particular shot had lost them a point or let this distract them, they were all very quick to play that same shot again as if to prove to themselves they knew how to do it right. Each time they corrected a wayward shot you could see it boost their confidence.

Know when to take things to the next level (and have the resources to do it)
They were all playing extremely well but whenever required, for crucial game or set points, they were all able to up the tempo.  And for each there were visible signs when this was happening - a more purposeful walk around the court, some breathing techniques, subtle physical gestures or a clear pause for thought.  All small indicators to themselves that it was time to take things to the next level.  Which they subsequently did.

How can we use these observations to help us work, lead and perform better?

Even in the most emotionally charged situations, we must always look and move forwards without distraction.  It's a great skill to be able to quickly assess what was supposed to happen, what actually happened and how this feedback will affect what will happen next.  We can then decide to try the same approach again with subtle improvements or we adopt a new approach altogether.  Either way we avoid dwelling on whatever didn't go as well as we'd hoped and focus instead on behaviour that will achieve the desired results.

When it comes to the need to raise our game, much depends on experience but there's also an awful lot that can be achieved with practice and preparation.  This is one area where athletes traditionally focus more attention than business people.  At work we're often too busy dealing with what's current to spend a great deal of time working on what's to come, although many people do manage to carve out the time when the stakes are higher.

Preparation is often much more considered when presenting projects to key stakeholders or public speaking than it is for departmental meetings or conference calls, but most people have powerful examples of when they spent a little extra time prepping and achieved a much better result.  So, although we don't feel we have the time to prepare, doing so can save an awful lot of time and effort further down the line.  It's a good habit to get into and some would say it can be the difference between success now or your desired results taking longer than you would like.

There's still a long way to go in this year's Wimbledon so keep your eyes on what the winners do best and think about what other aspects of successful behaviour on the tennis court can be translated into success in the workplace.


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