Business Lessons from the world of High Performance Sport. Looking at the areas of motivation, mindset, goal setting, visualisation and team spirit.

1. business
Healthy Mind,
Healthy Business
WORDS I DONALD MACNAUGHTON
port psychology is recognised as an member or of an entire business. What Visualisation
S important cog in the wheel of improving
sports performance. The study of how a
motivates an athlete to stay in their sport
through months or years of training?
Visualisation techniques allow a
sportsperson to ‘see’ a winning
Learning to understand what motivates you performance through their minds-eye.
sportsperson’s mind can affect their body
(and your staff) is a way to get on track to Learning how to visualise a positive
has grown from the ‘healthy mind, healthy
realising your full potential. outcome under a variety of potentially
body’ philosophy which dates back to
negative circumstances is an important part
ancient Greek and Chinese civilisations. The
Goal setting of an athlete’s preparation for competition
techniques used today to improve an
In the sports world, a series of smaller goals and is a proven coping strategy when used
athlete’s performance in sport have evolved
are used as stepping-stones in training in stressful situations. Knowing how to use
from the ancient methods developed
towards an important competition, the big this technique will reap equal rewards in the
thousands of years ago and can equally be
goal! These goals help to prepare the high pressure world of business.
applied to other areas of life.
You may not be aiming for Olympic gold athlete physically and mentally by boosting
confidence and maintaining motivation. Developing team spirit
but could sport psychology improve your
Learning how to set SMART goals will be of Team-building and developing team spirit
business performance?
equal benefit in the business world. doesn’t need to include a group bungee
jump in the deepest Cairngorms or even the
Think of your business arena as an Olympic
Mindset compulsory purchase of a fluorescent
stadium. If you are in business, you are a
An individual can be in either a fixed or a kagoul but it does need good
competitor in that business arena. You may
growth mindset. In a fixed mindset, the communication. Improving the performance
be competing as an individual - a sole-
individual believes that the skills and ability of team members with the goal of
trader; as part of a team; or as the coach -
they have are just what they were born with improving performance as a team requires
the manager, but the techniques used by
and nothing will change that. In a growth open, honest communication as feedback.
competitors to create winning
mindset, the individual believes that change Learning how to provide positive feedback
performances in the sports environment can
is always possible and that nothing is set in as the team leader and how to promote the
also be used by competitors in the business
stone. An athlete, and equally a use of feedback among team members
environment to achieve the same winning
businessperson, in a fixed mindset will encourages the growth of team spirit.
results.
struggle to improve on a mediocre
performance but in a growth mindset, the So, if you want to give yourself a head start
Understanding motivation
world is their oyster! in business, get your toe on the start-line by
An athlete lacking motivation will under-
utilising some sport psychology techniques.
achieve so the same can be said of a staff
Get ready to react to the ‘b’ of the business
world , “bang” and don’t get left behind!
Donald MacNaughton is available for
consultation, coaching and workshops for
individuals and organisations.
email: donald@zonedinperformance.com
www.zonedinperformance.com