All Blacks' red-blue thinking lights a path everyone else should follow – Mindset Drives Performance.

New Zealand were comfortably the best team in the tournament, if not necessarily in the final in which France again confounded all opinion and put in a massive performance.

Post World Cup final interviews with New Zealand head coach Graham Henry and Captain Richie McCaw talked about the mindset the All Blacks had been developing to ensure they were in a position to deal with adversity in a positive manner.

Mindset drives performance - it glues together all the thinking elements and maintains the route to success in hostile, pressurised environments.

Adversity certainly appeared to envelop the No 10 jersey, from the loss during the qualifying pool stages of Dan Carter and the subsequent injuries to two successors. But New Zealand coped, and their fourth incumbent, Stephen Donald, kicked the winning points.

McCaw spoke about the adaptability of the squad when adversity struck and of dealing with it, using clarity of thought and execution that enables a group to get back on task and, more importantly, remain there.

Graham Henry made several references to the world of blue and red-headed behaviour that helped the group to recognise and understand early-warning signs of negative developments.  There are triggers that, if left to fester, can cause disruption, even to the best prepared team or individual.

Mental skills must be an integral part of preparation on a regular basis. They are not a one off intervention and they do improve with practice – look at world class golfers, who will spend up to six hours a day on the putting green conditioning their minds to sink the put.

With the 2011 World Cup still 12 months away, Graham Henry, through the All Blacks' mental conditioning coach, enlisted the help of Gazing Performance Systems, to assist in mentally preparing the All Blacks, not just for the World Cup Final but during the lead up to it.

The fundamental premise of Gazing Performance Systems is to provide a framework and tools that help people to think clearly and correctly under pressure by stripping away any mystique and complexity, for example making it readily accessible to all in any organisation.

The approach was easily understood and had practical applications. This was not generalisation about having confidence and belief, nor did it attempt to compare with neuro-biological science. It involved a common-sense approach, applicable to all areas of preparation.

Mental skills are integral to preparation and success in all areas of life. Perhaps we should pay them a little more respect.

Winning In Business - Winning In Sport: The Link?

WRITTEN BY MARTIN FAIRN, CHIEF EXECUTIVE,

GAZING PERFORMANCE SYSTEMS INTERNATIONAL LTD

Strategic themes such as ‘high performing environment’, ‘going for gold’ and ‘the winning mentality’ are increasingly commonplace in corporate communications and motivational company seminars.

The world of business is desperately trying to emulate the characteristics of motivation, determination and commitment that are so evident in sporting success. There is little chance of this happening. As we encounter businesses across the world it becomes clear that whilst these lessons of sporting triumph are engaging concepts, the possibility of replicating them in business is a remote one.

The visible end of sporting success is truly intoxicating, for example, the gold medal, world record or team trophy. But what is less visible is the years of dedication and discipline that goes into the preparation of those individuals or teams for their moment of glory. The problem with business is that the focus on these ‘winning’ outcomes reduces the energy and commitment needed to allow those results in the preparation to be achieved.

This lack of attention on the consistent execution of key processes undermines the performance that could be achieved by most businesses. Discipline is often only related to punishment for poor performance and supervision is a ‘dirty word’ in the newly empowered business environment.

The business world is increasingly dynamic with global competition being part of the prevailing environment as opposed to a desired objective. Subsequently the challenges faced by businesses come from many angles and appear to be evermore complex. So has sport really got anything to teach the business world or should it remain as a rousing battle cry at the beginning of a new quarter or year?

The answer lies, we believe, in the unstinting dedication to the development of simple basics in order that they may be executed superbly. In sport when the pressure is at its greatest, it is more often the individual or team that is able to execute their basic skills most effectively who will triumph.

Athletes and their coaches know this and therefore willingly accept the discipline required to attain those levels of execution under pressure. Perhaps it is a form of intellectual snobbery that prevents senior management teams and leaders from either recognising or accepting that ‘simple things done consistently well’ is the answer to their complex business challenges. Maybe they feel that the answer must be more complex than the basic elements which are in front of their noses.

Gazing Performance Systems have developed an approach which aims to address the challenge of implementing basics within a business. Unfortunately there is no ‘silver bullet’, just a disciplined application of several key building blocks.

They are as follows:

1. Direction – being clear about the strategy and ensuring people are aligned to it.

2. Skills and Knowledge – providing people with the necessary knowledge and developing their skills to the required level.

3. Discipline – tracking performance with clear indicators and a consistent process of supervision.

4. Threats – assessing potential risks to performance and developing contingency plans.

5. Motivation – creating an environment which fully captures the motivation of all the people in the business.

Overly simple you say? Maybe, but a close examination of many businesses indicates a consistent gap in all or some of the basic building blocks outlined above. Gazing’s simple ‘1-page performance maps’ and their associated tools offer one perspective on effective implementation of the basics when under extreme pressure.

Perhaps the link between high performance in sport and business is there if only we can look beyond the outcomes to the consistent execution of the basics!!

In fact the unique ‘1-page map’ format used as the platform for this perspective prompted Sally Gunnell to describe it as a “description of what happened to her mentally when she was both winning and losing!”

Contact Gordon Holmes - a partner of Gazing Performance Systems UK Ltd for more information.

Email: gholmes@pengor.com