Competing with the best
Earlier this month I had the pleasure of meeting the regions
first 7 Investors in People Gold organisations at a small
presentation ceremony. It's a great achievement and something to be
very proud of.
We will be releasing more details of their experience and good
practice in the coming months. A number of these organisations have
also agreed to be Investors in People Champions, so you'll have the
chance to meet them too. Their experience got me thinking about the
many references there are these days to gold in our lives,
particularly in sport.
We are all aware of the Olympics coming to London in 2012 and
our hope that our athletes will bring home a gold medal. It's been
a fantastic year for sports achievements, notably this summer with
the Ashes being won, a fantastic British Lions rugby tour in South
Africa, England's women's football team reaching their European
Championship final and the men's team qualifying for the World Cup.
Sadly this success has been against the backdrop of a recession
which has affected us all.
Like it or not professional sports standards are constantly
being raised, with new world records being set and then smashed
again and again. The dedication and competitiveness of top sports
people is phenomenal and their mental and physical prowess far
exceeds those who they succeed. Their technical ability and skill
is also much higher, perhaps driven by the technology available to
analyse their performance in minute detail. Behind each athlete,
including amateurs, is a coach encouraging them.
My passion is golf, a sport which I enjoy for its mental
challenge as well as it enduring attractiveness to just play better
and be outdoors. The world of golf has been dominated over the last
10 years by one man, Tiger Woods, a name I'm sure you know. He is
both physically and mentally fit, attributes which allow him to
perform at the highest level and be arguably the best golfer ever
seen. Despite being one of the best and having skills the envy of
amateurs and professionals alike, he still has a coach! Why? It's
simple, he needs someone to give him feedback and encouragement, to
stay on form. Most of us are not considered the best in our field,
so why don't we have a coach, surely it's more important to us in
our work and lives?
A coach not only delivers ideas for improvement and advice when
it's needed but they listen, empathise and above all encourage. We
all need encouragement from time to time, to be told we're
improving and we can achieve more. In hard times, such activity can
be lost due to other pressures but it's important more than ever to
maintain our confidence and morale. So if you're a coach, official
or unofficial, be more active and make more time to listen and
help. If you don't have a 'coach' try and find someone who will be
that for you. It could be a two-way thing. If you've never
considered having coaching skills in your organisation, find out
more about them as they are a very valuable way of helping others
achieve their 'gold'. After all we're all human and as the advert
once said 'it's good to talk' but at times even better to
listen!