“Top performers are those who believe in themselves the strongest”

The author of The Executive Athlete (HRD Press, 2008) and one of the nation’s foremost sports & business psychologists sits down with us to take five of our most pressing questions on workplace performance:

 Q: How does a leader prepare themselves mentally for success in uncertain times?

 A: Well, it’s always going to be different for every person. But there are certainly things that a leader, or anyone for that matter, can do to get themselves into the right frame of mind – a place that makes it more likely to achieve success. It is proven that top performers are those who believe in themselves the strongest.  If we are in tight economic times and one leader believes, and is giving off the impression, that they can make things right and the other leader is showing fear because deep down he believes he can’t do anything to change the course it becomes pretty apparent who the more effective leader will be.

 Q: In The Executive Athlete you talk about links between sports and business, what are they and how can they be important?

 A: Sports, like business, is very results oriented. Actually, more so. Over the course of a season a basketball team will compete at least 82 times, and each time they will either win or lose.  Each of those performers is judged daily in a newspaper, with their statistics in box scores. It’s a lot of pressure. One thing that top athletes and business people share is that the best practice more. It’s really that simple. If you want to excel as an employee, just like an athlete who wants to out-perform, you’ve got to be practicing more than the guy next to you.

 Q: Are there any psychological exercises we can do to improve our performance?

 A: Plenty. There are books and books on the subject. But try this one, next time you are on the train or driving your car into work affirm your belief in yourself. Psychologists call this “self talk” or affirmations and it’s an incredibly powerful form of self-suggesting training. Tell yourself “Every day, in every way, I’m getting better and better.” The brain doesn’t distinguish the difference between real and imagined events automatically. If a field goal kicker comes out onto the field thinking “I hope this doesn’t go wide right” he’s at great risk of kicking it there.  You’ve got to head out onto your field, the business field, thinking “I’m going to put this day, or project, or presentation, right through the center of the uprights.”

 Q: How about improving the performance of others, what can we do there?

 A: As a leader or manager it’s painfully simple. Make them feel important. Boost their self-esteem, take a break from criticizing and heap praise. It’s really quite amazing how many stories we all hear from friends and relatives who only get negative feedback at work from their bosses. Never anything positive. That kind of environment feeds itself, negativity creates negativity and the same can be said for positive behaviors. The number one reason that people leave jobs is not money, it is their relationship with their direct supervisor. An ineffective leader bleeds out the talent in an organization.

 Q: Last Question; Is workplace pressure good or bad?

 A: You’ve got to turn it into a positive, because it’s going to be there. If your workplace has no performance pressure then it’s likely you should be looking for employment elsewhere because your company is no longer in business. Any of your best performances have come under pressure, without an obstacle there is no achievement. Even with something as simple as walking, your best performance as a walker likely came under duress – trudging through a hailstorm to save a baby animal or some such situation. Nobody ever came back to their television from getting up for a snack and says “I think that trip to the pantry may have been my best walk ever.” It is, and will always, be a matter of harnessing the positive power of pressure and coming out with great results.