I have an interest in sports psychology. More accurately, I have a fascination in what makes people excellent at what they do, and sports is a good field in which to explore this topic. There is also a strong and well-established link between sports and business, with sporting achievement often being used as a metaphor with which to inspire employees to greater heights of performance.
One very inspirational read is 'Personal Best' by the multi-medal winning Paralympic swimmer, Marc Woods. (He is also a very entertaining conference speaker http://marcwoods.com/ ). I read the book a few years ago and it is his finishing notes that have stayed in my mind. He concludes by asking us to consider at the time when we look back on our lives will we ask ourselves 'I wish I had... ' or 'I could have, but....'. He wants us to live our lives without regrets, but what I find really interesting is the distinction he makes between people who say either the first or second of the two 'regret' statements. The 'I wish... ' group he finds sad, but can empathise. But for the second, 'I could have, but..' group he is less forgiving. His response to people who tell him that they could have been a great athlete but they discovered beer/women/men (you fill in the reason!) is short and to the point. Quite simply he says, 'Look - if you could have been, you would have been. It's as simple as that.'
His point is clear. The world of sports is a hard place in which to achieve. It is brutal and there are many other people out there who are desperate to get what you want too. Gold medals don't come easily. Talent is not enough; it takes hard work and perseverance. Woods also stresses the need to set goals, to keep them constantly in mind and to work towards them every day.
Research from the world of sport suggests that three types of goals are important when working towards long-term performance achievement. Firstly there needs to be an outcome goal. This is the long-term goal that is the desired end-result of all that hard work. For example it might be 'To win a gold medal at the Olympics in 2012'. This should be positive, have a 'towards focus' and be compelling in nature. However, while it is good for maintaining motivation and direction, it has its weaknesses too. It is not entirely within the athlete's control; other people want that medal too! An over-focus on outcomes can also lead to the athlete experiencing unhelpful levels of stress and rigidity in training.
So, a more effective strategy is to supplement the outcome goal with performance and process goals. An example of a performance goal might be to achieve a specific time during training. A process goal is more directed towards the athlete focusing on key elements/skills which ultimately lead to good performance. Using performance and process goals allow the athlete to keep attention on the things that matter in the short term and to work on things that are entirely within his/her control. They also allow greater flexibility during the training phase to allow for temporary setbacks.
But with goals comes sacrifice, and this leads us back to Marc Woods' original claim, 'If you could have, you would have'. The existential view of goal setting is that when you make a choice, by definition you begin to exclude other options. So part of goal setting is knowing what you are prepared to give up in order to achieve your goal. (This is why we talk about SMART goals and Well Formed Outcomes).
Interestingly, much of the early work on goal-setting came from the world of business and then was applied to sports. (Usually the information moves in the other direction). The role of the leader can be to provide followers with an inspiring and compelling vision, but that still needs to be translated into meaningful and manageable goals, which can be acted on day-to-day, by the people responsible for turning that dream into reality. This takes great skills of communication, a personal and sincere commitment to the organisational goal and the willingness to constantly be present and accessible to your followers.
Miles
References
Williams J.,M. (2010) Applied Sport Psychology: Personal Growth to Peak Performance. McGraw-Hill: New York
Woods M (2006) Personal Best. Capstone: Chichester
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