SUSTAINING Hi-PERFORMANCE IN THE LONG HAUL

Learning from Competitive Sports

Have you ever wondered if the similarities between performing in Businesses & performing in Sports? Aren’t both about delivering results in a competitive setting? Are there lessons we could learn from professional athletes & sports that would be useful for helping career professionals in businesses?

Jim Loehr a Performance Psychologist and Tony Schwarz, a thought leader researched this question and came up with following thought-provoking observations

Hi-performers in the Sports World	Hi-performers in the Corporate World
Active career of ~ 10 Years	Active Career of ~ 40 years
Train 90% & Perform 10% of the time.	Perform >90% & Train <10% of the time.
Training is systematic, focused, customized & precise	Training is sporadic and rarely focused or customized or precise.
Manage their “Energy”	Manage their “Time”
A planned approach to “Recover Energy”	No plan to “Recover Energy”
World Class nutrition, exercise, sleep & rest	Poor diet, little exercise or sleep or rest

They then go on to suggest that leaders like you, see your high potentials, as Athletes in the Corporate World and provide the following inputs.

1. Train them systematically the way World Class Athletes are trained.
2. Encourage them to Manage their energy, not just time. Give due importance to recovering & renewing energy, too.
3. Get them to focus on all four levels of the Performance Pyramid; Physical, Emotional, Mental & Spiritual. (Remarkably similar to Lord Krishna, coaching & energizing a physically worn out, emotionally upset and mentally exhausted Arjuna in The Bhagwad Geeta)
How is your organization helping your hi-potentials train and perform as World Class Corporate Athletes? What more would you like your organization does for them?

– by Ravi Santhanam for Zeus

For more:

https://hbr.org/2001/01/the-making-of-a-corporate-athlete
https: //www.amazon.de/Power-Full-Engagement-Managing-Performance/dp/0743226755
https://www.amazon.in/Holy-Geeta-1-Swami-Chinmayananda/dp/817597074X

Next: Win Commitment of Hi-Potentials