No-one could mistake the doom and gloom of the headlines this morning. Not only do few people think Andy Murray can win Wimbledon but we also found out that the UK economy contracted by 2.4% in the first quarter of 2009, its biggest decline in 51 year. Let’s link these stories.
When people are faced with bad news like the economy what do they do? Well some people do start running around like a headless chicken in the hope that just something, anything, of the many things they start will stick and make a difference. Others simply bury their head in the sand and hope that when they come up for air it will have all been a bad dream. Yet others, and these are the people on whom the development of our world has been built, others, dig deep and become the most resourceful they have ever been.
Andy Murray last night was one of these people. He faced Wawrinka who desperatley wanted to win and was prepared to do whatever it took to achieve that goal. There were times when many thought that he was going to suceed but what did Murray do – he dug deep. Murray constantly adapted his play from calm, speed outing ground strokes to, angular back hand killers with a little drop shot thrown in here and there. Now many people will agree it wasn’t his best game and his opponent was outstanding on the night but he wasn’t prepared to lose. Throughout the game he demonstrated his mental toughness. How many times after a poor shot late in the game did you see him mouth the word FOCUS? How many times did you see him clench his fist in his Murrayesque anchor – he drew on the tools he knew he needed to get him through this game.
So how do you apply this lesson to your business right now?
As a professional in a professional industry you know that success leaves clues and you can draw on these lessons to help you succeed.
1. FOCUS – they say that what you focus on is what you get so what will you focus on? Visualise what success is for you – what do you see, hear and feel – capture that picture then translate it into actions. What are the actions you must take to get the results you want?
An example. A client of ours wants to enhance their culture to encourage ownership and service. They say “it’s not only about sales, why does everyone think it is is?” Yet what do they measure? Sales, that’s it. So everyone focuses on what is being measured rather than the verbal message. The lesson – if you want something to happen make sure that what you say and the way you behave is completely consistent. Think back to your visualisation of success and challenge yourself about whether your actions today are completely consistent with that picture? if not change them! It really is as simple as that.
2. Anchors – anchors come in many disguises. Some people have an action or movement. Sometimes it is called a power move. Others have daily discplines – this is the one I want us to focus on right now. What 3 daily actions can you dig deep to complete every day that, if completed each day will significantly improve the effectivneess of your operation?
Take 5 minutes to help yourself build that inner resourcefulness that will ensure you are not the headless chicken but instead you are the one who can dig deep and turn things around! And do you think Andy Murray can win Wimbeldon? Well who knows but you know what, wouldn’t it be outstanding if he did. So let’ sput this into practice for Andy this week – focus on him winning and let’s all just get behind him and support him on the way rather than crticising him for standing up and being counted – Go Andy GO!
So what is the commentary now? What a clinical execution. The comments from “never” to “legitimate contender” have changed in 24 hours. How quickly we are prepared to change our minds and believe. In business, you are only as good as what you are doing today and tomorrow – past successes count for little – the world is constantly changing and it is up to us to keep up and respond – just like Murray did. He has a team supporting him, he is more experienced, his body fine tuned and mind is focused. “The boy has become a man” says the bbc! What will you need to do in your business to get your team behind you? What focus do you need? How will you ensure that you are in peak conidtion to execute your next ‘match’?
The comment regarding focus is all important. When we take our eye off the ball (no pun intended) we spend too much time doing unproductive activities. Focus IS all important. Rgds Vince
One of the things I love about Andy Murray’s advance thought the ranks is that he is doing it little-by-little.
Tennis rankings are based over a rolling 12 month period – in theory all you have to do is perform better at any tournament than you did the year before and you’ll progress. It’s a bit more complicated but this is the bottom line.
I’m impressed that Andy seems to have put the hype and expectation to one side and simply focused on the next tournament.
Progress through one-small-step-at-a-time means that it’s possible to travel a long way over time.
My take-away from this is…
Stop preparing for the quantum leaps and take one-small-step at every opportunity you have.
I’m not a great tennis fan so can’t say I’ve seen much of the action. But I was sad to hear a radio programme yesterday starting every intro after the news with statements such as ‘Murray – love him or hate him?’ ‘Murray – he won, but do we want more?’ Murray – are you egging him on through gritted teeth’. I know they want to generate discussion but can’t we just celebrate what he’s achieving rather than his berate him for his ‘lack of personality’ or for being a ‘dour Scot’ (not my words!!).
So, the link to leadership? In challenging times we need to allow people to do what they do best – and really focus on that. We would all love our senior leaders to be charismatic, entertaining and articulate as well as having the focus, drive and determination to steer us through the toughest of challenges. But if you could choose right now which set of talents would you go for? So rather than dwell on shortcomings (so long as it doesn’t affect their abilty to do their job) lets allow people to succeed by playing to their strengths.
inspriational and thought provoking – my father once said about buiness that if you are not doing well out there,there will be others out there who are – so let’s be creative, use all our fantastic resources, go for every opportunity and win!!!
Like all great athletes Andy has the ability to find a way to win. This is the difference that makes the good great, even when not playing at their best the great athletes do what they need to do to cross that line. Brad Gilbert wrote a book on it and called it ‘Winning Ugly’. In the tough business conditions we find ourselves in we need to do the same, work out what works, find the key areas of focus that are producing the results. In true Leyton Hewitt style…C’mon… Andy!
Federer will probably win but it would be great for the British people if Andy Murray won. But it is not always the best player who wins the match or the tournament. When someone is playing well, he or she makes few unforced errors. When they have a bad day, the number increases rapidly. In tennis, an unforced error is a mistake or bad shot made by a player without any reason other than his or her lack of skill or composure. Unforced errors “are the ones you make regardless of the actions or skill of your competition”. How can we translate this to our daily life?
Really interesting Mariela. I’m already thinking about the ‘unforced errors’ I’ve made at work due to a lack of composure.
I guess the key is recognising when that’s happening to you and taking enough time out to refocus – we’ve seen Murray do that really well. At L&B we talk about a three step plan of:
Stop, work out what you can do, and then get your thinking right to make it happen