The Wave 2011

‘Psychological gardening’

Blossom under pressure page 26

The Lane4 journal – insights on peak performance

Issue 2 2011 – Inside this journal 06 Star gazing – Talent is closer than you think14 Data-driven development18 Tips for thriving in the face of adversity20 Britain and the Olympic Games 23 Courageous leadership communication36 Performing on the big stage

The Wave. Issue 2 2011 The Lane4 journal – insights on peak performance

Published by Lane4 Management Group LtdSt Marks HouseStation Road Bourne EndBuckinghamshire SL8 5QFUnited Kingdom

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Editorial team Editor Dr. Austin Swain Assistant Editor Kelly Walsh Editorial Assistants Emma WeeksCatherine JenkinsNo part of this work may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means including copying and recording, without written permission from the copyright owner, application for which should be addressed to Lane4. Opinions expressed in The Wave journal are not necessarily those of Lane4. Whilst every effort has been made to verify statements of fact by contributors, no responsibility is accepted for errors or omissions by them. © 2011 Lane4

Design and Art Direction byNeon Design & Brand Consultancy www.neon-creative.com Cover image by John Ross

About Lane4 Lane4 is a leading performance development consultancy with a unique heritage in elite sport and business performance. Our people provide global organisational development services to business and HR leaders across a range of sectors. Lane4 was co-founded in 1995 by Olympic Gold Medallist swimmer Adrian Moorhouse, MBE and leading sport psychologist Professor Graham Jones. Since then it has developed into an organisation with international delivery capability and a network of associates based across the world. Our client delivery is carried out by people with a passion for performance. They include performance psychologists, Olympic champions, organisational development experts and high performance coaches. The company derives its name from the lane in which Adrian won Gold at the Seoul Olympic Games in 1988. The fourth lane is the one allocated to the fastest recorded time in the heats and therefore most likely to produce champions. Further information For further information about how Lane4 can help your organisation, please email

[email protected] GeneralFor website, speaking opportunities and media enquiries email

[email protected] For research enquiries email

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CONTENTS REGULARS

02 News 04 Insights 13 Interview:

Dominic Mahony

30 Performance matters 35 Practitioner perspective 39 In transition 44 Hot topics 46 Our contributers 48 4u: recommendations

FEATURES & ARTICLES

06 Star gazing – Talent is closer than you think

09 Leading with pride 14 Data-driven development 18 Tips for thriving in the

face of adversity 20 Britain and the

Olympic Games 23 Courageous leadership

communication 26 Psychological gardening 32 No step too small 36 Performing on the big stage 42 Sponsorship: more than

just a logo

Welcome to The Wave

In a macro-economic climate where future prospects are so uncertain, we can’t count on the ‘rising tide lifts all boats’ growth of the sort that powered performance for many organisations during more buoyant times. This suggests the need for a more disciplined approach that

recognises reducing timelines and narrower margins for error. It also requires an approach that is characterised by an intensity of focus that ensures organisations fully grab the opportunities that come their way. ‘Intensity’ and ‘focus’ are two words that we will hear uttered on numerous occasions during the Olympic and Paralympic Games of 2012. The Olympic Games present athletes with an opportunity they will have been preparing for and dreaming about for most of their lives. In the fleeting moments that so often define the outcome, the ability to ‘deliver when it counts’ will separate the winners from those who return home disappointed. This edition of The Wave draws on a host of applied insights that will challenge leaders to think about the extent to which their people and their organisation are geared up to deliver effectively when the hard fought for opportunities are there for the taking. For this reason, we have deliberately chosen a number of articles that bring different perspectives to the importance of individuals taking responsibility for their own performance and developing their capacity to perform in tough conditions. The Olympic and Paralympic Games are also the epitome of extreme competition. Every organisation today is facing fiercer and fiercer challenges from the ‘opposition’. Speed, flexibility, resilience and energy are all attributes that companies need to build into their strategic and operational thinking because the rate at which companies can lose their leadership position continues to increase. We live in an era when new technologies eclipse long established champions and competitors with sharper value propositions emerge, seemingly from nowhere, to take their place. The parallel with 2012 is again not difficult to draw. Some reigning champions will be toppled and new heroes will emerge, whilst others will draw on their experience to ‘deliver when it counts’ and retain their status as Number 1. In both these crucibles, equipping individuals to thrive under such conditions will be the differentiator. Please enjoy the array of thoughts and experiences presented in the pages that follow. We have again chosen a cross-section of practitioner perspectives, articles, case studies and opinion pieces and I hope they prompt some valuable reflections that can be shared within your organisations. Enjoy the read!

Austin Swain Research and Product Director, Lane4

The Wave, Lane4 Issue 2 – November 2011 01

The Wave, Lane4 Issue 2 – November 201102

On the following pages we’ve rounded up the best of Lane4’s news and events from the past six months, as featured in our monthly e-newsletter, ‘Engage’. To be kept up to date every month, sign up to Engage via our website.www.lane4performance.com

Lane4 & Loughborough University launch High Performance Leadership Academy

The High Performance Leadership Academy is a four

day residential programme offering senior executives a unique insight into elite sporting performance and its application to business. It will be hosted on Loughborough University’s campus – the official 2012 preparation camp for Team GB. The Academy is an exclusive development opportunity which is distinct from traditional executive education programmes. Facilitated by Lane4 Consultants, delegates will experience Lane4’s approach to leadership development, focusing on personal identity, achieving high performance through others and driving the change agenda. They will gain insights from Team GB Performance Directors, International Athletes and Coaches and have the opportunity to observe elite performance in Loughborough’s world class facilities. They will also hear about applied research in human performance from Loughborough University faculty. See the High Performance Leadership advert on the back cover for more information.

Guy’s and St Thomas’ and King’s College Hospital shortlisted for HPMA award

Lane4 is proud to announce that Guy’s and St Thomas’

and King’s College Hospital

were shortlisted for an HPMA (Healthcare People Management Association) award for their Frontline Leadership Programme, designed in partnership with Lane4. The programme was shortlisted in the ‘Mills & Reeve award for excellence in organisational development’ category. This rewards an OD initiative or project that has significantly benefited the organisation through improved effectiveness or viability.

Adrian Moorhouse named an Official GB 2012 Ambassador

and listed in Top 25 HR Most Influential UK Thinkers 2011

Lane4 Managing Director Adrian Moorhouse was announced as

an Official Team GB 2012 Ambassador who will inspire and guide British athletes in the build up to the Olympic Games. Adrian is one of 27 Official Team GB 2012 Ambassadors who can draw upon experience of winning 51 Olympic medals – including 27 gold medals. The Ambassadors will be an integral part of Team GB prior to and during London 2012. They will help British athletes and the wider


Team GB to achieve their Olympic ambitions, and in doing so, serve as a source of inspiration and motivation for the 60 million Team GB fans across the UK. Adrian has been ranked 24th in the Top 25 HR Most Influential UK Thinkers 2011. Every year HR magazine compiles the HR Most Influential ranking: the definitive list of directors and thinkers who have the greatest influence in the field of people strategy. Ranked by their peers, leading HR directors and management academics, those chosen are helping to drive forward practice and thinking in HR and demonstrating the strategic benefits of HR.

Clare Strange wins Gold at Paralympic World Cup

Clare Strange, Lane4 Associate Consultant and a member of the

GB Women’s Wheelchair Basketball team, won gold at the Paralympic World Cup. The GB Women’s Wheelchair Basketball team were crowned champions of the BT Paralympic World Cup for the first time when they beat Germany 63-52 in the final. The finals were held at Manchester Regional Arena in front of a packed out crowd. This is the team’s first international title and sets them in good stead for the London

2012 Paralympic Games. A big congratulations to Clare, who is the team captain.

Greg wins Silver at World Rowing Championships

The GB men’s eight, of which Lane4’s Practice Director Greg Searle is a member, won the Silver medal at the World Rowing Championships in Slovenia. They were beaten to the gold by a strong German crew, but fought on to win silver. Their performance in the championships now guarantees them a place at next year’s London Olympics. Greg announced his 2012 come back quest in late 2009. He had won gold in Barcelona in 1992 with brother Jonny and cox Garry Herbert, and bronze in a four in 1996. He retired following fourth place in the 2000 Olympics in Sydney. Inspired by the pull of an Olympics on home soil and the twenty year anniversary of his gold medal, Searle’s announcement marks an exciting return to elite performance.

Lane4 breakfast events

On Tuesday 5th April, we held our first breakfast session of

the year at Kettner’s restaurant in Central London. Lane4’s Adrian Moorhouse, Managing Director and co-founder and Natalie Benjamin, Head of Communications explored how Courageous Leadership Communication can build trust and drive employee engagement. Read an article by Natalie on page 23.

At our June breakfast session, Growing World Class Talent, Lane4’s Katie Mahony, Diagnostics Leader and Tom Smith, Client Director explored how to create an environment which builds talent over the long term. They were joined by Alan Olive, High Performance Coaching Manager at UK Sport, to hear how the world of elite sport successfully identifies and develops future talent and how this learning can be applied in business.

Follow Lane4 on LinkedIn and Twitter. Keep up to date with Lane4’s latest news, events, research and thoughts by following us on LinkedIn and Twitter! LinkedIn – Lane4 Twitter - @Lane4Group Let us know what you think, what you want to hear more of, and what works well for you.

“ From your Olympic experience, what is the number one lesson you have learnt about delivering when it counts?”

INSIGHTS


The ability to compartmentalise and stick absolutely everything

that doesn’t contribute to the immediate performance outside the box – this includes any negative self-talk or useless rationalising. Then you focus all energy and attention on the very few things that will make a difference right now. Focus, focus, focus.

Adrian Moorhouse Managing Director and Co-founder, Lane4;Olympic Gold Medallist in 100m Breaststroke at Seoul, 1988.

To deal with the paradox that the Olympics are a massive race where

anything can happen but also to treat it like any other race and to do what you always do to race well. The ability to control the nerves and deliver when it matters is all about being able to ‘compartmentalise’. This is a skill which served me well then and still does now. I focus on what is in front of me now and do it well – in the present tense, one stroke at a time.

Greg Searle Practice Director, Lane4 and Member of the GB Men’s Rowing Team; Olympic Gold Medallist in the Coxed Pair, 1992; Bronze Medallist in the Coxless Four, 1996 and Olympic Finalist in the Coxless Pair at Sydney, 2000.

I’ve learnt that performance and enjoyment go hand in hand. If an

athlete is expressing the best of themselves then they will perform, and so it is crucial that they use the excitement and inspiration of the Olympic environment to perform. Embrace the stage that is given to you and have the best day(s) of your life, because you’ve done all the hard work and shown everyone why you deserve to be there already. Compete as if you have nothing to prove and everything to gain.

Dominic Mahony Client Services Director,Lane4 and Team Manager, GB Modern Pentathlon; Olympic Bronze Medallist in Modern Pentathlon at Seoul, 1988.

Lane4 has a long history with the Olympic Games. From competing to coaching, our people understand the pressure associated with such a huge event. To find out more we asked them:


Stay strong in your self belief and determination, stand tall and smile.

Katie Mahony Diagnostics Leader, Lane4Member of GB Olympic Squad, Modern Pentathlon, 1995-1998.

Be conscientious in your preparation so there are no niggling doubts and

you know you have done everything you can. Then on the day, whatever you have or haven’t done you have to leave all that behind and focus on your state. Think about how you need to be rather than what you need to achieve, no external thoughts and totally in the moment. I used to find somewhere quiet and visualise the race until I felt I was in the right state and then stay in it. On the start I’d visualise the first ten strokes again and again and then the first three. I still do the same thing now for presentations, meetings and anything else where I really need to ‘be on it’. Have the confidence that if you get the first minute right then the rest will flow.

Alison Mowbray Senior Consultant, Lane4Olympic Silver Medallist in Quad Scull at Atlanta, 2004.

For me, delivering when it counts isn’t about a mythical stepping up

above your normal levels, it is about executing your skills that you practice and challenge at the highest level on a daily basis. My recollection was that, in the Olympic environment, I was drawing on the skills that I had worked on for my whole coaching career and therefore I wasn’t out of my depth but in my element.

Brendan PurcellNational Performance Coach, GB Canoeing-Sprint.

A residual echo of winning a silver medal with the 4x400m relay

team in Atlanta is having complete trust in myself to deliver in high pressure moments. A key skill is the ability to filter out extraneous information and ‘zoom’ in on the fundamentals; the aspects that are critical to high performance which sit firmly in my circle of influence.

Mark Richardson Senior Consultant, Lane4Olympic Silver Medallist in the 4x400 relay at Atlanta, 1996.

Star gazing Talent is closer than you thinkARTICLE BY Zara Whysall & Jeremy Cross

In both sport and business, significant time and money is spent trying to identify and develop world-class talent. Each Australian Olympic gold medal between 1980-96 required an investment of approximately A$37 million by the Australian Government1. And last year Facebook spent undisclosed millions on the Web start-up ‘Drop.io’ just to get hold of its entrepreneurial engineer CEO, Sam Lessin. As competition intensifies year on year, so does the importance of identifying and developing talent. Indeed, two-fifths (41%) of organisations report that the current economic situation has led to an increased focus on talent management, whilst more than half (52%) feel that competition for talent is even greater now with the pool of available talent having fallen sharply2. Much has been written about talent management, but a number of key questions remain unanswered, including how to define ‘talent’ and the impact on those not fortunate enough to be labelled as such.

This article explores these issues, and in doing so challenges certain orthodoxies underpinning traditional talent management practices, calling for a shift in perspective.

TALENT: JUST THE TOP 5% OF INDIvIDUALS OR THE ORGANISATION AS A WHOLE?

Only 20% of respondents in a 2007 CIPD survey had a formal definition of talent management, despite 51% of respondents undertaking talent management activities3. So what exactly is talent and, more importantly, how can it best be developed? There are many opposing perspectives on talent, with some making the distinction between giftedness (natural abilities) and the end product of development (superior performance)4. Others refer to “the talent inherent in each person”5. So are talented people born that way, or can talent be nurtured in everybody?

This fundamental question is more than just an academic debate; it has important implications for the approaches taken to talent selection and development. In business, talent is often perceived in terms of the ‘top-talent’; those in the upper percentiles (typically top 3-5%) according to possession of, or performance on, a set of criteria identified as critical to success in that environment. In this sense, talent can be considered a ‘social construction’; it is determined by the criteria selected by the organisation, and the extent to which an individual is considered to meet (or have the potential to meet) these criteria. From this perspective then, talent is not only in the eye of the beholder, but it is also relative; an individual might be considered talented in one organisation but not another. What’s important therefore is that we acknowledge the role our own beliefs play in determining who is labelled as ‘talent’. And furthermore, since talent management reflects

1 – Hogan & Norton (2000). The ‘price’ of Olympic Gold. Journal of Science and Medicine in Sport, 3, 203-18. 2 – CIPD (2011) Resourcing and Talent Planning. Annual Report 2011. www.cipd.co.uk/surveys. 3 – CIPD (2007). Talent Management report. www.cipd.co.uk/surveys. 4 – Gagne (1993). Constructs and models pertaining to exceptional human abilities. In: Heller, Monks & Passow (eds). International handbook of research and development of giftedness and talent. Oxford: Pergamon Press, pp. 63-85. 5 – Buckingham & Vosburgh (2001). The 21st Century Human Resources Function: It’s the Talent, Stupid! Human Resource Planning, 24, 17-23. 6 – Blass (2007). Talent Management: Maximising talent for future performance. London: Chartered Management Institute.


“…the additional management processes and opportunities that are made available to people in the organisation who are considered to be ‘talent”’6 what does this mean for talent development itself? A significant risk in the implementation of any talent management strategy is that the concept of ‘talent’ itself often rules out a whole swath of the organisation. If only a fraction of the workforce are labelled ‘talented’ (and afforded special development opportunities), the de-motivating effect on the remainder of the workforce may become self-fulfilling, with them ultimately losing ambition to succeed. This can be likened to Psychologist Martin Seligman’s classic ‘learned helplessness’ studies in the 1960s, where after consistent punishment, both animals and humans tended to internalise failure, giving up, becoming and remaining passive even after changes had been made to allow for success. Research has also revealed that managers tend to place greater expectations on individuals

labelled as talented, affording them more time and attention. Referred to as the ‘Pygmalion Effect’, this extra attention is self-fulfilling, resulting in so-called talented individuals performing better as a consequence7. So, rather than asking ‘how talented are you?’, should we not be asking ‘how are you talented?’8

HOW DO WE MAKE THE MOST OF OUR TALENT?

The notion that superstars are overrated is reinforced by evidence that smaller (not larger) pay differences improve overall organisational performance and great organisational systems trump great individuals every time9. Alternatively, we need to acknowledge the importance of providing an enabling environment, with good coaching and management support, underpinned by a strong belief in potential. Interestingly, a recent influx of evidence-based literature on this topic has broken into popular

science but is yet to fully reach professional practice. Books such as ‘Talent is Overrated’10, ‘Mindset: The New Psychology of Success’11 and ‘Outliers’12 all encourage us to move away from the idea that talent is an innate, inherent and inspired aspect of our make-up and embrace a more grounded perspective in which talent can be created. A break from tradition is evident in certain sports, reflecting a move away from a focus on early selection and close nurturing of potential stars, towards later selection and specialisation, allowing promotion of broader early experiences. The Sporting Giants campaign is a recent example of ‘mature-age talent identification’ by UK Sport, aimed at attracting tall mature-aged athletic talent without necessarily having any prior experience in the targeted sports, and providing the opportunity to develop medal-winning success in rowing, handball or volleyball in 2012 and beyond13. The practice of ‘talent recycling’ has also shown promise in sport,

7 – Livingston (2003). Pygmalion in Management. Harvard Business Review, pp. 97-106. 8 – Robinson & Aronica (2009). How finding your passion changes everything. Penguin Books: London, UK. 9 – Pfeffer & Sutton (2006). Hard facts, dangerous half truths and total nonsense: Profiting from evidence-based management. Harvard Business Press: Boston, Massachusetts. 10 – Colvin, G. (2010). Talent is overrated. Nicholas Brealey Publishing: London, UK. 11 – Dweck, C. (2007). Mindset: the new psychology of success. Ballantine Books: UK. 12 – Gladwell, M. (2009). Outliers: The Story of Success. Penguin: UK.

‘ the current economic situation has led to an increased focus on talent management.’


with some individuals experiencing success in different sports to the one in which they originally set out. For instance, after winning two bronze medals in cycling, Clara Hughes successfully switched to speed skating, winning three additional medals (including gold) at the 2002 and 2006 Olympic Games. Athens 2004 silver medallist rower Rebecca Romero switched to the individual pursuit event in cycling at 25 years of age. Within 2 years, she became world champion and within 3 years Olympic Champion13. Given the much talked about ‘ageing’ workforce in many Western nations, reflecting the baby-boom generation nearing retirement, perhaps businesses should consider whether they can turn “boomers into boomerangs”14. More generally though, the question is how effectively are you developing your employees to meet your future business needs? If your development programmes are focused solely on replicating characteristics that have helped people achieve success in the past, it’s time for a rethink. Talented individuals often stand out because

they innovate; they find a new way of achieving success. This can fundamentally change the nature of the game, leaving competitors unprepared for this brave new world. A flexible and open view of talent development allows for individualised developmental pathways. This approach not only acknowledges the very unique and varied routes that individuals can take to achieve success, but it actually enables them to flourish. How can we promote adoption of new talent perspectives in business? Carol Dweck has demonstrated that a 90 minute workshop is enough to shift manager perspectives from a ‘fixed’ talent mindset (associated with risk-aversion and defensiveness as mistakes imply permanent lack of ability) to a ‘growth’ talent mindset (associating talent with practice, passion and a balanced support and appropriate risk-taking environment).14 This type of intervention should be considered if organisations aspire to shift from outmoded conceptions towards a more evidenced-based, performance enhancing organisation-wide approach to talent.

Fixed assumptions – such as those who excel in the same role display the same behavioural competencies - obscure the complex reality of talent and talent development. Individuals may achieve success in different ways. Their pathways to success are likely to be highly individual. This means that development pathways need to be individually tailored and sufficiently flexible to enable everyone’s individual talent to grow.

Adopt a new view of talent:

Change the belief that talent is fixed and embrace a more flexible talent perspective.

Ensure development programmes are individually tailored, recognising the complexity of talent, and allowing individuals’ skills to develop at different rates.

Implement a talent management system that focuses on developing skills and mindsets that are transferrable such as the ability to learn and adapt, psychological resilience and emotional intelligence.

13 – Vaeyens et al (2009). Talent identification and promotion programmes of Olympic athletes. Journal of Sports Sciences, 27, 1367–1380. 14 – The ageing workforce: Turning boomers into boomerangs. The Economist, Feb 16th 2006 http://www.economist.com/node/5519033

‘ pathways to success are likely to be highly individual’


Leading with pride Liz Campbell and Melanie Wallinger describe a partnership between Lane4 and Nationwide and their leadership development journey

Lane4 and Nationwide Building Society have been working in collaboration to develop Nationwide’s

leaders for the past two years. One of the focal points has been around how to lead authentically through changing circumstances such as the recent recession, which place different demands upon leaders to what they may have experienced in the past. The Senior Executive Development Programme (SEDP), a programme co-created by Nationwide and Lane4, is one intervention that has demonstrated its value in this area. Liz Campbell, Lane4 Consultant Director, reflects

“ It has been an honour to work together with the team at Nationwide in true partnership on such an exciting, challenging and impactful piece of work.”

THE CHALLENGES This harsh environment was not the only challenge facing Nationwide at this point in time – there was also an internal need to boost employee engagement, which had fallen over the past year. The annual

engagement survey illustrated a 38% decrease in the key measures of leadership and indicated that leaders were not always engaging people or delivering to expectations. Leaders across the business were battling with their role clarity in this period of constant change. Staying afloat in a turbulent sea of challenges was going to be no simple feat. Nationwide, however, saw these challenges as an opportunity to improve their performance and push ahead of their competitors. They needed something new from their leaders – something to enable them to differentiate themselves from the competition and improve their commercial focus whilst simultaneously maintaining the leadership qualities that had helped them to reach this point.

GETTING STARTED

Nationwide’s existing leadership capability framework was refreshed in 2009 in order to reflect the updated corporate strategy and the need for a commercial emphasis. Out of the leadership capabilities four leadership principles emerged. Simple yet compelling, these four

leadership principles – Build Trust, Raise the Bar, Inspire People and Think Business – instigated a step change in the requirements of leaders which meant that across the organisation there was not only a clear understanding of what great leadership looked like, but also a shared language which served to unite the leadership community. Nationwide teamed up with Lane4 for the launch of their freshly developed leadership framework and to embark on the journey of developing leaders across the business;

“ We have found an external partner who wow us, have a true cultural fit and whose values really mirror our own.” (Andrea Tully, Learning & Development Manager at Nationwide)

THE JOURNEY

The leadership principles form the backbone of all leadership development initiatives. Working in partnership, Nationwide and Lane4 designed and launched the SEDP with the following objectives:


- To seize opportunities to gain the experience you need to stretch your leadership capability

- To increase your own, your team’s and the organisation’s performance

- To be an active member of the leadership community beyond the programme

- To create a strong cross-organisational network

2010 saw 25 senior executives successfully complete the four-module programme. Before the first module, individuals completed psychometric assessments and had a one-to-one session where they discussed their personal development planning. Build Trust Module one was constructed around the leadership principle of Building Trust, honing in on self-belief, self-awareness and acting with integrity – a key part of which includes aligning behaviour with Nationwide’s values, otherwise known as PRIDE. Activities were employed to enable individuals to really understand themselves as leaders and the importance of leading with authenticity. To some, engaging in personal development and being asked to gain a deeper understanding of themselves was new territory and, understandably, was sometimes met with scepticism and even resistance. Delegates were also put into Action Learning Sets (ALS), groups of about five who would work together during modules and meet in between modules to support one another’s development and work on group projects,

“ Through the ALS I now have a much stronger network on which to draw and I am already benefiting from this” (SEDP delegate)

Raise the Bar To embed the learning in the second module - Raise the Bar - Clare Strange, Lane4 Associate and long-standing member of the GB Women’s Wheelchair Basketball Team, ran a highly impactful wheelchair basketball session, challenging delegates to step out of their comfort zones and succeed in an unfamiliar environment.

This module represented an informal turning point for delegates – with scepticism and uncertainty melting away to be replaced with enthusiasm and vigour. Individuals walked away from the session with a sense of how to step up their own personal performance, to perform in circumstances where they may not have prior experience and to own the results.

Inspire People The third module saw a focus on storytelling and effective dialogue. Delegates were asked to share their ‘why should anyone be led by you’

leadership story in their ALS groups, a stretching exercise requiring personal disclosure. As a result of the strong relationships formed at this point on the programme, delegates were able to provide feedback to one another on the delivery of their story, which they could take away and put into practice back in their roles. The journey for delegates started at an individual level in module one, moving towards leading others in modules two and three.

Think Business The final module, Think Business, encouraged delegates to go one step further and consider implications at an organisational level. During this module delegates reflected on Nationwide’s business strategy and employed Treacy and Wiersema’s three organisational differentiators1 – Operational Excellence, Product Leadership and Customer Intimacy to stimulate their thinking. Delegates reflected on their position in each of the three areas in terms of being market leaders, fast followers, industry average or below. In line with Nationwide’s vision, customer service was a focus in this module. As a way of really bringing the topic of customer service to life delegates were asked to listen to a recorded customer call and reflect on the role that they could play influencing the front line.

Alongside the modular components of the programme, ALS groups were requested to take on the challenge of carrying out a ‘Corporate Raid’ with another organisation. This involved an ALS group visiting an organisation for a day and spending time in several business areas to


1 – Treacy, M. & Wiersema, F. (1993). Customer Intimacy and Other Value Disciplines. Harvard Business Review. Jan-Feb.


understand their key challenges and how they deal with them. visits were approached from an appreciative perspective that allowed various organisations to showcase what they do well with the aim of the ALS group learning techniques that they could take back to Nationwide and share not only with others on the programme but with the wider organisation at events such as Business Breakfasts. This rare opportunity to see another organisation from the inside stood out as one of the greatest learning components of the programme.

Companies raided in 2010:

- John Lewis - Arriva - Citizens Advice Bureau - Macmillan - virgin - Argos

The culmination of the year-long SEDP programme was a final event where in the morning each ALS group presented project ideas to a ‘Dragons’ Den’ panel of Nationwide and Lane4 Directors. A number of these project ideas were inspired from Corporate Raids. ALS groups also presented back their learning journeys in the afternoon whilst illustrator, David Lewis, captured them. Hearing delegates talk about their journeys, describing transformational changes in mindset, confidence and skill was one of the greatest tributes to the success of the programme. Some of the key programme outcomes which were demonstrated on this day included enhanced networking, collaboration and comfort debating and challenging organisational issues.

“ This event was the single most enjoyable day of my working year.” (Executive Director, Nationwide)

EvALUATING THE OBJECTIvES After completion of the programme 93% of delegates agreed that SEDP had supported them in seizing opportunities to gain the experiences they needed to stretch their leadership capabilities and in increasing their own, their team’s and the organisation’s performance. A staggering 100% agreed that SEDP supported them in networking and in being an active member of the leadership community beyond the programme. In addition, over 90% of participants agreed that each workshop was ‘a worthwhile investment of time’. THE BUSINESS OUTCOMES “ Already the networks have allowed key projects to be progressed more effectively.” “ A collective view of what needs to be done was definitely built up during the programme.” (SEDP delegates) When asked about the impact that SEDP has had on Nationwide delegates’ responses described the following: - Stronger within and

cross-functional networks - Improved decision-making

processes - Better customer service - Increased focus on getting

the right environment - Improved engagement

and loyalty to Nationwide

- A more joined up business and less silo driven issues

- Implementation of structural changes

- Collective view of what needs to be done

Stories from delegates are not the only indicator of the success of the leadership development work at Nationwide. Upon completion of the SEDP programme 61% of participants moved role, including 10 promotions. The annual employee engagement survey in December 2010 indicated an 8% increase since December 2009. Not only was this a greater increase than ever before for Nationwide, but it was also the greatest increase the survey provider had ever seen in an organisation from one year to the next. Impressively 98% of question scores improved over this time frame, as did performance against benchmarks and trust in leadership. The Dragons’ Den exercise also produced some tangible business impacts. “ In addition to general improvements in performance, tangible business benefits have been realised (£500k cost savings) as part of the Dragons’ Den exercise” (SEDP delegate)

THE PERSONAL IMPACT

“ SEDP had a greater impact on me and I learned more from it than my MBA.”

“ I think the programme has and will continue to have a major impact on how I perform as a leader throughout the rest of my career.”

(SEDP delegates)


Senior executives on the SEDP programme also describe the following impacts that the programme has had on them personally:

- Increased energy and self-awareness

- A strong can-do and driven ethos

- Increased confidence and effectiveness

- Enhanced coaching ability - Greater reflection before acting - Greater connection to networks - More challenging of self

100% who completed a post-programme evaluation questionnaire

agreed that the programme had made them a more confident, effective, knowledgeable and connected (to the organisation, their team, colleagues etc) leader.

THE PRESENT AND THE FUTURE

Alongside the SEDP programme Lane4 and Nationwide also run half-day Hot Topic sessions around each of the four leadership principles, providing a combination of theory and practical tools for leaders. Other current work includes the recently launched development work with the Divisional Directors, sessions with various teams and extended

teams and executive coaching. SEDP was re-launched in 2011 with another cohort of 34. Feedback for improvement from the 2010 cohort was taken into account in the design for 2011 such that this year’s cohort will have an equally invaluable experience and contribute to Nationwide achieving their vision of becoming the UK’s number one retail financial services provider.

July - August 2010 September 2010 October 2010 November 2010 2012

>>

>>

July 2010

CORpORATe RAIDS

DRAgONS’ DeN pROJeCTS

Action Learning Set

Module 3INSpIRe peOpLe

Building positive Relationships

Module 4THINk

BuSINeSS

Drive a Competitive Advantage

CONSOLIDATION eVeNT

Sharing of Corporate

Raids

ALuMNIpROgRAMMe

gRADuATION eVeNT

- Dragons’ Den- personal Learning Journeys

December 2009January 2010

February 2010 March 2010 April 2010 June 2010November 2009

CORpORATe RAIDS

Development, Diagnostics& planning

Module 1BuILD TRuST

Learn from the Inside Out

Action Learning Set

Action Learning Set

Module 2RAISe THe BAR

Striving for High performance

LAuNCH

PROGRAMME STAGES AT A GLANCE

INTERVIEW


When it comes to pressure, Dominic Mahony, our Client Services Director, has seen it all; from active service in Bosnia to competing and managing at the Olympic Games. ‘Delivering when it counts’ is a theme that runs throughout this edition of The Wave and we could think of no one better to question on this topic than Dominic.

What does ‘delivering when it counts’ mean to you?

“ When you need to give your best, you do give your best and you can anticipate or even create these moments and prepare accordingly.”

You’ve faced a number of different high pressure situations. What would you say is common to all of them?

“ The need for focus – the ability to focus is crucial regardless of the context. I think keeping control of your thoughts is the most important mental skill for performing; knowing what is important to concentrate on and being able to apply yourself to that – in doing so you create time for yourself to think and adapt accordingly.”

How do you prepare for a challenging ‘performance’?

“ Firstly, I draw on my life experiences. The first time I competed in a race as a schoolboy and failed to perform was a lesson as to why I’d failed and what I’d avoid the next time. Secondly, deliberate practice gives me confidence that I can transfer across contexts. This kind of repetitive action comes naturally to athletes as it’s an integral part of training. When you’re doing something that is demanding and interesting over and again, adapting and learning as you go, you find a kind of ‘flow’ state in which high performance comes naturally.”

As a leader, what’s the secret to helping others to ‘deliver when it counts’?

“ You need to allow and enable others to own their performance. To perform at a high level people need to want it and they need to believe in themselves. The leader’s role isn’t to ‘play the match for them’, it’s to challenge, support and enable them to be at their best.”

What’s the funniest thing that’s happened to you in a high pressure situation?

“ The funniest moments I’ve had mainly involve falling off horses! Modern Pentathlon requires that you ride a randomly selected horse on the day of competition – this is unpredictability at its most extreme. But it’s one of the greatest lessons in life; being dumped on your backside is humbling and you have to just get back on and make it happen.”


MRI

Body position

in boat

Blade positioning

GReG SeaRle’S MeaSuReS:

Physio screening e.g. Stretch levels

Weight, body fat composition

Time performance (rowing machine/ boat - boat= less controlled environment)

lactic acid, urea levels, hydration levels (blood and urine)

Force time curve (force of the oar vs time)

VO2 Max: Heart and lung performance (Oxygen efficiency)

Data-drivendevelopmentARTICLE BY Hannah Hemmingham

Our measure of success usually lies in the result; if we have achieved what we set out to we have

done a good job. Yet, when it comes to development, this does not always hold true. Success can be the result of hard work, determination and great skill but it can also be a fluke enabled by the right circumstances. If we do not understand the process we have gone through we cannot replicate, adapt or improve, which leaves us at a considerable disadvantage. Sport can provide us with great insights here. Athletes are of course judged on their achievements but their day-to-day focus is on the process. They understand the

intricacies of their performance through the effective use of data and a continual focus on learning. In business, it can be difficult to take this approach as busy schedules mean there is little time for practice and risk can discourage experimentation and stretch goals.One way that business can simulate the ‘Training Camp’ approach in sport is through development centres. These provide an intense but safe way for individuals to fully focus on their performance using techniques that drive self-understanding. Throughout this article I will draw on Greg Searle’s development journey to the Olympic Games in 2012 and the lessons that can be applied to

business with specific reference to Development Centres. Although much of Greg’s data is physiological as opposed to the behavioural feedback that is more relevant to the workplace, the process of understanding and applying the knowledge is much the same.

GETTING THE FACTS

Firstly, you need to identify what data is already available, what is relevant and where are the gaps?

G.S. “We use a variety of data to help our performance,

from MRI scans to videos of us on the water. The key things that data and measurement give me are confidence, focus and something of a


more irrefutable nature to work with. Whatever I’m doing there is some form of measurement involved. An example is the physiological measurement when I’m on an ergo for performance testing, I have my oxygen usage efficiency measured via a tube in my mouth and lactic acid levels measured using a small blood sample. By doing these measures I can basically say how much my body is hurting when I’m producing 400w of power, so how my heart and lungs are doing and how much my body is coping with my muscle use. Because we’ve been measuring this since the beginning I can see that this year my body is working more efficiently than last year. Having this information enables me to have confidence going into races as I know I have improved, it’s lots of small ticks to say my heart and lungs are in great shape, therefore I’m going to be able to do the race.”

GREG SEARLE’S MEASURES:

- MRI - Physio screening –

e.g. Stretch levels - vO2 Max: Heart and lung

performance (Oxygen efficiency)

- Lactic acid, urea levels, hydration levels (blood and urine)

- Weight, body fat composition - Time performance (rowing

machine/boat - boat = less controlled environment)

- Force time curve (force of the oar vs time)

- Body position in boat - Blade positioning

We can see that Greg uses a number of different measures to support his performance, ranging from physical to observable measures. Within organisations we can also measure performance in a number of ways. We can look at ‘outputs’ such as sales targets and we can measure ‘inputs’, i.e. the behaviour that creates these outputs. Greg can easily know if he has won a race or not (output), but what is crucial is knowing how he did it (input), in order to repeat that performance or change something that didn’t quite work. There are a number of measures that you will be familiar with for use in the workplace. Specifically within a Development Centre we utilise the following:

Development Centre Measures

- 360 Degree feedback

- Personality feedback

- Mental Toughness feedback

- Real Life Exercises – Competencies and Behaviours

ExPLORING YOUR PERFORMANCE

Having data alone, however, will not change performance. Creating an environment in which participants feel safe to explore the feedback is crucial.

G.S.“We use measurement throughout our training,

but the environment where this is truly heightened is training camps, which really ups my focus. We use video footage and force time curve measurement to an even

greater extent to understand our performance and make adjustments. During the training camp there is an increased level of performance focus through the use of data and intensive practice. In order to use deliberate practice we make an adjustment, measure it, and make some more adjustments until we feel we’ve moved on. This all adds to my raised focus on performance and the data I have brings that focus. We really look to move on during these periods of time.”

Greg’s experience within training camps can be emulated through development centres. We aim to provide individuals with the level of intensity provided within a Training Camp to really drive performance forward. Development Centres create a performance focused environment in three ways:

Delivering Feedback

- A Development Centre provides an intensive feedback environment to support individuals in creating a personalised picture of their strengths and areas for development.

Coaching for Performance

- During a Development Centre individuals are paired with an observer-coach with whom they work for the entire duration. This one-to-one attention enables participants to really get under the surface of their performance, through objective feedback, support and challenge. In addition, peer and leader coaching is encouraged to create a sustainable support



network after the Development Centre has ended.

Deliberate Practice

- Multiple realistic scenarios allow participants to practice key skills in an environment that feels similar to their real world but contains a low level of risk.

Deliberate Practice

- Sharp focus on clearly defined performance aspects

- Performance is stretched beyond current performance level

- Repetition of performance

- Continual, clear, specific feedback

This coaching environment enables participants to engage more fully with their own developmental direction and make sense of this in their own way.

G.S. “Once I have all the information, I work on

strength and development areas. I will look at my performance with my coach and team, challenging the data with how it actually feels and then come to a final conclusion. It is important to have this time to challenge and understand the data; it’s a balance between using the science and not being a purist... I feel like I have a clearer picture of who I am now and where I can be in future. Along with my coach, or the team I can look at what I’m doing with my body that’s causing things to happen on the water. At a training camp, as a result of the data,

I may decide to square my blade earlier, which then gets measured through the force time curve and video so I can actually see the impact on what I have changed. This means I can go through ‘plan, do, review’ a number of times, improving my performance as I go.”

The intensive Development Centre process enables participants to run laps around the ‘plan, do, review’ process that Greg refers to. After each exercise participants have time for feedback and coaching in order to make sense of their performance. They then plan for the next exercise where they can make a behavioural adjustment and deliberately practice this.

CREATING A PLAN

Similar to Greg’s experience participants gather a range of data about themselves. With the help of their observer-coach they are able to pinpoint key areas of strength and development but the important thing is translating these into effective goals.

G.S.“When I am setting my goals using all the data

I have received I consider my main over arching goal to tie everything into what I am most motivated by. I then consider the performance and process goals that I need to put in place. For example I have a performance goal of 6 minutes or below on the 2 kilometre test on the rowing machine. In order to do that I know based on feedback and data that I need no alcohol, 8 hours sleep, to refuel after every training sessions (all my physiological measures check against these things), follow the training programme to the letter,

show up on time, take a positive approach to everything as well as to have a learning mindset. These form some of my process goals for that specific performance goal.”

Working with their observer-coach, participants develop their goals relating to their future direction and ambitions. Participants leave the Development Centre with an increased understanding of themselves and clear goals for increasing their performance. They will then need the support of their organisations, particularly their leaders to fulfil their potential. In summary, there are a number of lessons from elite performers’ use of data in training that can be applied to people development in business. Development Centres are an excellent mechanism for applying this learning, providing the rare opportunity for individuals to reflect, practice, experiment and ultimately deliver their best performance.

Moving Beyond Resilience Tips for thriving in the face of adversity

ARTICLE BY Ross Wadey

…is part and parcel of life. Whether it’s organisational (e.g. being promoted or fired) or non-

organisational stress (e.g. getting divorced or moving house), it has the potential to do extraordinary things to people. It can make people think and behave in quite uncharacteristic ways that can affect everything from our sleep cycles to our relationships to our day-to-day functioning. But although we all experience stress, we don’t all cope with stress in the same way. Some struggle in the face of adversity, whereas others effectively manage or even thrive under stress. How one copes will have an important influence on the eventual outcome an individual experiences following a highly stressful encounter. There are at least three outcomes. The first, returning below baseline, reflects that adversity is harmful to the individual, resulting in suboptimal performance and well-being; the second, returning at baseline, reflects resilience, the ability to ‘bounce back’ to normal after experiencing adversity; and

the third, returning above baseline, reflects thriving, the idea that we can benefit in some way from our struggle with adversity. Although increasing one’s resilience to cope with stress is highly sought after by individuals and organisations to prevent significant reductions in productivity and general well-being, this article aims to move beyond resilience towards thriving in the face of adversity. Indeed, thriving is more than simply resilience in that it involves transforming potentially debilitating situations into opportunities for growth and development. This article will describe some dimensions of thriving and provide useful tips on how to thrive in the face of adversity. RETURNING ABOvE BASELINE: DIMENSIONS OF THRIvING Research shows that all sorts of difficult, tragic, catastrophic, and horrible events (e.g., plane crashes, car accidents, earthquakes, military combat, cancer, injury, illness, parental divorce, relationship breakdown, and bereavement)


can yield benefits to the person who experiences them in three primary ways. Enhanced relationships with others: Although adversity has the potential to impair or destroy relationships, it can also extend or refine our support networks and strengthen existing attachments with others (e.g. greater intimacy and closeness with others and an increased empathy and compassion for others). Personal development: After struggling with adversity, people often report that they gain a number of benefits personally, which include becoming less selfish, physically and mentally stronger, and more emotionally intelligent. Positive changes in life philosophy: Perhaps one of the most reported areas of growth following trauma is an increase in one’s appreciation of life. People often report gaining a sense of perspective and finding a fresh appreciation for each new day and of the value of everyday things. USEFUL TIPS FOR THRIvING IN THE FACE OF ADvERSITY Considering that it is now becoming increasingly accepted that people can yield benefits from their struggle with adversity, research attention has now moved towards how this feat is possible. Below are the three main strategies that are emerging from research to help people transform adversity into opportunity. Expressing emotions: People often suppress their emotions following trauma for fear of negative evaluations from others. However, research has shown that suppressing one’s thoughts and feelings can take

a devastating toll on one’s health and can also lead to emotional outbursts that threaten valued relationships. A more effective strategy is to disclose one’s emotions, either through talking or writing them down, which not only helps people to make sense of their emotions, but has been shown to boost one’s emotional and physical health. Building and investing in one’s social support network: During tough times, people often isolate themselves as they don’t want to become a burden on others or lack the courage to ask for help. Although sometimes effective in the short-term, it can lead to negative thought patterns such as catastrophising, over generalising, and taking things personally. It is important, therefore, that people take the time to raise their awareness of who can provide help and then to seek this support or accept the support offered to them from others. This can include emotional-support (e.g. listening and emotional comfort), informational-support (e.g. advice and guidance), and esteem-support (e.g. instilling feelings of competence). It is also important that people recognise that seeking or accepting support is a strength and not a weakness and by doing so it is likely to extend and/or strengthen one’s social network. Engaging in reflective practice: People often fail to learn from stressful experiences as they struggle to find the time to ‘stop and think’. During the adversity they are often engulfed by negative emotions, and afterwards they fall back into their day-to-day routines, focusing on the future rather than reflecting on the

past. However, research has shown that it is not just the experience of adversity that will enable people to generate benefits, it is stopping and taking the time to reflect on the incident itself and discovering the lessons that have been learnt. To enhance the quality and depth of reflections, people should engage in the process of reflection during and after the incident. This process can be done through the use of reflective diaries and journals and engaging in reflective conversations that promote the qualities (e.g. open mindedness) and skills (e.g. critical analysis) required for reflection. SOME FINAL WORDS OF CAUTION! Despite the desirable appeal of thriving in the face of adversity, I offer some final words of caution: a) It is important to remember that

thriving is neither inevitable nor universal; it would be a mistake to assume that everybody will experience benefits following their struggle with adversity.

b) Failing to thrive is not a bad thing and nor should it lead to negative judgements towards those who don’t.

c) People need to be careful of when and how they approach thriving with those who are experiencing adversity, especially during the early aftermath of a traumatic event (e.g. well-meaning individuals are likely to increase a person’s distress by suggesting all the benefits they are going to gain!).


Britain and the Olympic Games: Innovation at a Time of AusterityARTICLE BY Matt Rogan


In January 2012 we will be only 200 days away from the Opening Ceremony of the London Olympic Games. On one level,

the six years since Britain won the right to host the Games in Singapore have flown by. That said, the scale of the challenge Seb Coe and his team have faced on their journey has become even greater as the years have progressed. Domestically, the economic model for the Games and delivery of a ‘legacy’ plan is today challenged by staggering levels of public debt on the back of financial meltdown. Commercial purse-strings have become increasingly tight, which has made balancing the books through sponsorship a huge challenge. Incredibly, Britain has seen it all before. When Britain last hosted the Games in 1948, they were following on from Hitler’s theft of the Olympic ideals in Berlin. The Berlin airlift was beginning as the Games began. Public debt was far higher than today’s levels, running at 200% of GDP. The Government did not contribute in any way to the Games, and there was no blueprint for commercial funding of any sort. Rationing was far worse than even during the war years and Britain’s working population was malnourished and disillusioned. Despite the incredibly challenging contexts, British Olympic leaders delivered in 1948, and they are showing every sign of doing so again in 2012. This has been possible because of the unique ability of two sets of Olympic leaders to innovate at a time of austerity,

and to challenge the status quo. Arthur Elvin was the driving force behind London 1948. Elvin was a former Royal Flying Corps observer for whom the context of austerity created permissions for creativity and entrepreneurship. He started out as a tobacco kiosk proprietor at the 1924 Empire Exhibition, and made his initial money from taking down the stands and re-assembling them elsewhere so they did not become white elephants. He understood that the Games needed to be run on a shoestring – and did so. Once the swimming was finished at what is now Wembley Arena, he hoisted a boxing ring above the still-full pool and hosted the boxing. Britain was too busy re-building its critical infrastructure to finish the Stadium refurbishment before the Opening Ceremony, so he borrowed some German prisoners of war to finish the job. This pragmatic creativity is also seen today in the way that Paul Deighton (Chief Executive) and Seb Coe (Chairman) of the Organising Committee have approached the delivery of London 2012. Their energy is infectious – not just for delivering a great Games, but in what it can do for our nation. A good example of this is the Lakshmi Mittal funded ‘Orbit’ tower which will sit above the Olympic Park in the same way the ‘Bird’s Nest’ did in Beijing. It would be easy to write this off as a victory for naked ego over financial common sense. In fact, the £19.1m costs of the tower have been covered by Mr Mittal (to the tune of £16m) and the Greater London Authority

(the remaining £3.1m). Additionally, and most critically, the tower is also expected to generate a minimum of £5m towards the Organising Committee’s budget from sponsors keen to wine and dine clients in a genuinely unique environment. Coe and Deighton have created a culture where this level of creativity is embraced as a way of both balancing the books and reinvigorating an area of East London along the way.

Of course this requires far more than just wily entrepreneurialism. Where Coe, Deighton and Elvin before them have been so successful is in bringing others along with them to follow their vision. When the London Games of 1948 were beginning, the BBC had no plans to show them beyond as a news feature. However, Elvin realised that broadening the sporting message beyond the physical spectators was going to be paramount in delivering the morale boost he wanted for the nation. He single-handedly persuaded the BBC not just to cover the Games, but also pay £1,000 for


the privilege. He persuaded the Rank film company to pay ten times that figure for the rights to make a film of the Games. This not only swelled the coffers of the Games budget but had longer term knock on benefits for British culture. The BBC’s coverage was hugely popular – by the end of the Games five hours a day of live sport was being shown and the morale boost was genuinely felt nationwide. More people saw the benefit of having the action close to home, which drove the affluent to buy their own television sets. Ever since, live sport has been a key lever for encouraging uptake of new technology – as we witness with pubs up and down the country now showing Premier League football on 3D channels. Unsurprisingly, selling this to a conservative BBC was not straightforward. Fortunately Elvin was a leader who understood how change really happens in organisations. Initially the biggest blockers in the BBC discussions were its senior leaders, who refused to sway from their belief that Tv would only ever be a vehicle for ‘serious’ news. Elvin took it upon himself to create the pressure to innovate from within the BBC’s team of engineers, who needed little encouragement to lobby their leaders. Once Elvin had invested in the facilities for the engineers to deliver astonishing pictures from the Opening Ceremony, the internal and public pressure on the BBC’s leaders to throw out their existing programming schedule and focus on the Games was impossible to counter. Paul Deighton’s influence in the planning of London 2012 at a time

of austerity has been similarly astute. For example, Deighton understood that in order to generate the required levels of sponsorship to balance the books, he needed to change the rules of sponsorship. London 2012’s commercial team has been the first required to deliver £700m of sponsorship without being able to bundle in Tv advertising around the Games, since the event is screened on the BBC. In response to this challenge, Deighton’s team have created business models for each potential sponsor looking at the impact a Games sponsorship might have across every element of their business. One example of this new approach has been truly understanding the impact of the Olympic Games on corporate HR strategy, an area which has traditionally been a complete after-thought. Since signing, partners such as BT and Lloyds Banking Group have gone on record as to how they are using the Games as a metaphor for cultural change in their business. BT recently won an Award at the European Sponsorship Awards with Lane4 based on the performance of a programme ‘The Difference Is You’. The programme was designed to drive key engagement and customer service metrics in BT’s business by drawing on athlete stories and performance psychology to explore lessons from elite level performance with employees. Similarly, Sally Hancock, who leads Lloyds’ relationship with London 2012, has said, ‘This is not a sponsorship for us, this is not even a marketing partnership, we view our Olympic investment as a catalyst for the change we are looking to achieve in our business.’ In a harsh

commercial environment, London 2012’s commercial fundraising team will close their books early next year, ahead of schedule and with their job done. The Olympic Games are a unique event. The leadership challenge which underpins delivering them successfully is not just to build an organisation from scratch to deliver them, but also to break it down in such a way as to facilitate the delivery of an appropriate legacy. In 2012, as in 1948, Britain is stepping up to the challenge. Seb Coe has said,

‘ We meet today in another time of adversity. But in that adversity lies opportunity. Never let a good crisis go to waste.’

This gives a great insight into the mindset of Britain’s Olympic leaders. Instead of shying away from the reality of public debt, financial recession, international instability and a creaking Olympic movement, they have embraced this dire context to drive a culture of innovation at the heart of their strategy. This has demanded significant challenge not just to the traditional model of delivering an Olympic Games in rosier economic times, but also to themselves and their teams to focus on alternative ways of working. It has required not just personal self-belief on behalf of the leader, but also the sheer passion and vision to build a culture of creativity and resilience within the broader organisation.


Reprinted by kind permission of Human Resources Magazine. Copyright to Human Resources Magazine, A&D media and cannot be reprinted without permission.


Courageous leadership communicationARTICLE BY Natalie Benjamin

It was management consultant, Tom Peters, who said that there’s no such thing as a great leader who communicates

poorly and I couldn’t agree more. Communication doesn’t just lie at the heart of great leadership; it’s the lifeblood running through any organisation. Communication makes or breaks organisational change, employee engagement and getting that well-crafted strategy off a piece of paper and into action. But, despite communication’s importance and inherent familiarity with us all, it takes particular skill and courage to communicate with employees clearly, passionately and sensitively each and every day! Before we look more closely at leadership communication and the role that courage plays, it’s worth taking a step back and thinking momentarily about courage itself. History shows that courage ranks people morally. In fact, Aristotle recognised courage as a cardinal virtue – a golden mean. Alongside prudence and justice, he named it as a habit of the soul. Aristotle

considered that, to be truly brave, one must have fears and the ability to recognise them with ease through deep self-awareness, a well-trodden concept in leadership commentary. It doesn’t take a deep dive into the literature to recognise how much emotion that courage and its quest evoke and that’s not surprising when you look to its linguistic roots. The word courage comes from Latin ‘cor’ which literally means heart. There are always multiple definitions in any tale of courage but fear and risk are always the central characters. I would argue, therefore, that courage doesn’t just lie at the heart of leadership; it’s the backbone to impactful communication. This article aims to link some of the thinking about courage explicitly to communication and specifically to leadership communication in organisations. Surprisingly, courage appears largely unexplored in the communication discipline. So, firstly, what is courageous leadership communication? In Lane4’s experience of working with senior leaders, HR professionals

and internal communications practitioners over the last sixteen years, we’ve noticed six consistent themes requiring courageous communication.

1. Ownership of the message It is inevitable that leaders will, at some stage, deliver something that they don’t like or haven’t created. It won’t always be easy to really ‘own’ that message and to deliver it with authenticity to others.

2. Giving tough feedback Giving tough feedback often takes courage. Many of us will have an impulse to tell people what they want to hear because it may evoke fewer or more favourable reactions. But courage is not about not being scared. It’s being scared and still doing it anyway. Courageous communicators don’t allow their actions to be influenced by fears of reaction or disappointment.

3. Sharing bold decisions There’s a reason that leadership is not always easy. At the crux of

it lies making tough, bold and often unpopular decisions that people won’t always like. This is synonymous with courageous communication.

4. Against preferences Going against your natural personality traits can take courage. For example, a natural introvert might find standing up in front of a group difficult. Everybody’s looking at them. They’re visible and vulnerable to employees’ comments and views which can often evoke fear. But introversion is a preference, not an excuse when it comes to communicating courageously.

5. Really listening Standing up and speaking takes courage but so does sitting down, really listening and helping people to make sense of organisational messages. It’s one thing perfecting a presentation, it’s another to open the floor up for questions, giving people a voice and really meaning it. What if they ask you something you don’t like or, worse still, to which you don’t know the answer?

M.A.D. – MESSAGE, AUDIENCE, DELIvERY I’ve written previously about the full spectrum of communication approaches available to leaders and, critically, the often overlooked informal and everyday conversations that can really influence organisational change1. I’ve also suggested that operating in your ‘safe’ communication forum (an email, for example, rather than getting out among employees to have real conversations) is a preference or an act of convenience rather than an excuse when you’re

a leader. It certainly takes courage to operate outside your preference but that’s no excuse. It should be a non-negotiable requirement of all leaders, particularly at the most senior level, to operate outside their communication comfort zones. As important as the delivery mechanism of any piece of leadership communication is, truly great leadership communication is about more than powerful delivery. Two key things must happen before – working out your message and understanding the needs of your audience. In fact, I often say that it’s M.A.D. to think about where you’ll tell your story before you think about what your story is and who needs to hear what from it. Crafting a compelling message was the first thing I learnt at journalism school and it didn’t stop there. It was drilled into us by some of the most respected news journalists in the industry – who, what, why, when, where and how. In fast paced-news journalism the message serves primarily to inform. The newsworthy element is if it’s the first time something’s happened, if it’s had the biggest impact or if it has the potential to affect many people’s lives. But, in my transition from news journalism to business communication, it didn’t take long to appreciate that leadership communication or a leadership message isn’t news reporting. In fact, in many ways, it’s far more complex. It’s not there just to tell people about issues and what they need to do (inform). It’s there to get people involved by getting their input (involve), capture people’s imagination (ignite) and invite participation (invite)2. No small feat then.

So, if we think broadly about why leaders may need to be courageous (tough message, against preferences, fear of feedback) then it’s important to think closely about what makes for an effective message. As hard as leaders must focus on how they want to be when they stand up in front of people, they can’t afford to forget the message. An effective message is free from ambiguity. Its intent is clear. And, let’s not confuse this message with its content. A leader’s message is the whole reason for communicating. It’s the 30 second take away. If they had to strip everything out of a half an hour team meeting except one sentence, it’s what would remain. It’s the opening line of an email rather than the closing line. An effective message takes preparation, even for the most experienced and skilled leaders. This is even more important when it’s a tough or seemingly complicated message requiring courage. Thinking about the message, asking trusted and expert views (including peers, Internal Communications and HR) and gathering feedback are all vital preparation points.

CRAFTING AN EFFECTIvE MESSAGE

- Why am I speaking?

- What do I want people to do, think, feel?

- If it’s a tough message, how might they react?

- What does the audience want to hear?

- What is the audience afraid to hear?

- What can your communications do to create unity and engage?


1 – Contact [email protected] for further details.2 – Baldoni, J. (2003), Great Communication Secrets of Great Leaders, McGraw-Hill, New York.

TOP TIPS FOR TOUGH TALKING Many of us have an impulse to tell people what they want to hear, often convincing ourselves that it’s better for them that way. But, I have seen too many leaders soften a message to make it easier for them to deliver and to avoid a difficult reaction. Courageous communicators deliver tough messages despite discomfort, often finding that once they develop a reputation for straight talk people will return the favour and trust is built.

1. Think about verbal and non-verbal

communication and its impact on message effectiveness. Arriving late to a meeting can seem relatively mundane but alignment between actions and words, known as behavioural integrity, helps to build trust. Do you or your leaders say they care and then vanish for days? Is there an open door policy to discuss change but closed doors throughout the business? Do you or your leaders say information will be shared next Monday and deliver it on Friday with no explanation? These things matter. People are perceptive to, and critical of, any mismatch between words and actions.

2. Leaders are responsible for creating conditions for other people to be courageous, including meaningful opportunities to make sense of

tougher messages. Being honest is more difficult than it sounds but leaders have to make conscious and courageous decisions to support transparency and create a culture of candour in their teams and throughout the organisation. Their positions as chief role models for candour should not be underestimated.

3. Practice having tough conversations because, as necessary as honesty is, inadvertent damage happens when leaders speak honestly about difficult subjects without due preparation and consideration.

4. Set information free. Absolute transparency is neither possible nor desirable in organisations. People know and understand this. Too often, however, it’s easier to not share than make tough decisions about what can be shared and the impact it may have. Silence is not a strategy, however, and deciding what information is withheld sits at the heart of courageous communication.

Leadership communication is complex, requiring both courage and thought to deliver messages that engage employees in the direction of travel of an organisation. Without effective communication, leadership severs its connection with the people who make organisations perform. Communication drives engagement and, it’s through engagement, that organisations maximise the potential of their most valuable assets – their people.


TALKING TOUGH:

HOW I PREPARE TO GIvE DIFFICULT MESSAGES

Delivering tough messages can strike fear into the hearts of even the most experienced CEO. Getting instant reactions to your words and seeing the immediate impact on the faces that gaze back at you can make for uncomfortable conditions. However, in a senior leadership role, the need to deliver tough messages is inevitable and our own insecurities shouldn’t get in the way. When faced with difficult communication, like any other pressurised situation, I find that preparation is key. As well as being clear about the message I want to give, my expectations of the audience and how I want to deliver the message, I spend time getting into the right frame of mind. It’s natural to sometimes question ourselves but I find that drawing on four key resources helps me shake off the doubts:

1. I remind myself of past successes I’ve done this well before, so I can do it again.

2. I think about people who are good at delivering difficult messages I’ve experienced this done really well and seen the positive impact it can have. What were they doing and what can I bring to my own performance?

3. I listen to the positive voices I listen to people telling me that I can do this and make sure I’m telling myself the same thing.

4. I get myself in the right mental and physical state I take deep breaths, clear my mind of unhelpful thoughts and use the adrenaline to my advantage.

These four steps strengthen my belief that I can deliver the message to the best of my ability, remaining true to myself and giving the audience the respect that they deserve.

Adrian Moorhouse, Managing Director and Co-founder, Lane4

Making the grass greener:

using ‘psychological gardening’ to blossom

under pressureARTICLE BY Faye F. Didymus

& David Fletcher


1 – Dewe, p. J., O’Driscoll, M. p., & Cooper, C. L. (2010). Coping with work stress: A review and critique. Chichester, uk: John Wiley2 – Travers, C. (in press). unveiling a reflective diary methodology for exploring the lived experiences of stress and coping. Journal of Vocational Behavior.

“ As individuals with fast paced, demanding lifestyles where the emphasis on productivity at work is as prominent as ever, it is vital that we understand our thoughts about and reactions to stress.”

A garden can be a beautiful place; a haven for peace and tranquillity. Yet it can quickly turn into

a mass of weeds and brambles if it is not adequately looked after. The mind is very similar; ‘psychological gardening’ is an analogy used here, which views the mind as a garden that should be nourished, cropped, and harvested to support ultimate functioning. The focus of this article is on the ways in which we can prune ineffective thoughts to allow more effective ones to become entwined with our beliefs about stressful events. In today’s economic climate where financial instability and job uncertainty are rife, stress is becoming more abundant. Thus, stress in the workplace, or job stress as it is more commonly known amongst psychologists, is becoming an increasingly hot topic. It is generally agreed that job stress impacts on our well-being and social and personal lives, as well as on labour turnover, employee absence, and presenteeism1.

When we understand these wide reaching impacts of job stress, it is easy to appreciate why it is crucial that we understand how stress affects us and what we can do to blossom when we are under pressure. In order to wilt the negative impact that job stress has on our lives, we need to understand how we react to the events that cause us to feel stressed and begin to approach them in a more fertile way. The key to achieving this begins with understanding how stress affects us as individuals.

HOW DOES STRESS AFFECT ME?

Psychological gardening begins with spotting the weeds. Psychological stress occurs when we believe that we cannot cope with some kind of demand. In order to understand how job stress affects us, we should begin with three simple Cs:

1) Identify the events that Cause your stressful reactions.

2) Get to know your Character and how it affects your reactions to stressful events.

3) Learn the Consequences of the events that cause you to feel stressed.

This boils down to knowing ourselves and beginning to recognise the negative thoughts that occur automatically, without conscious effort.

WHAT MAKES US BLOSSOM AND WHY DO WE WILT?

Thought diaries are a powerful tool for unearthing how stress affects us2. These can be flexible in the form of a diary, a notepad, or a note-making application on your mobile phone; any means of recording your thoughts that works for you is suitable. Once you have your thought diary tool, the aim is to intentionally increase your awareness by recording events soon after they have grown into situations that have caused you to feel stressed. Your thought diary can be as detailed or as brief as you like and may contain branches of notes around, amongst others, the following areas and questions:

(please see overleaf)


The event that Caused my stressful reaction: - What happened? - When did it happen? - Who was involved?

My Character and what this event means to me: - Why is this event causing me

to feel stressed? - What do I think about the event? - How do I feel about the event?

The Consequences: - How did I react to this event? - What impact will this event have

on me and my performance?

My Patterns: - Is this event similar or different

to other events that have caused me to feel stressed?

HOW WILL I BENEFIT FROM MAINTAINING A THOUGHT DIARY?

Thought diaries have been tried and tested in a variety of domains including psychology, geography, and medicine, and the benefits have been well documented3. They are a useful tool that can aid psychological gardening in a number of ways:

1) By allowing the identification of stressful event patterns and thus, highlighting the types of events that cause us to feel stressed.

Example event patterns:

- The events I usually find stressful are those that are new to me

- The events that I often find stressful are those that are imminent

- The events that I usually find stressful are those that are unpredictable

2) By providing an opportunity to cultivate optimism through recognition of the situations where we have room for positive growth.

Benefits of Optimism:

- Increased psychological well-being - Less distress experienced after

difficult situations- Decreased chance and severity

of physical and mental illness

3) By increasing awareness, or what psychologists refer to as mindfulness, of negative thought patterns about stressful events.

Benefits of Mindfulness:

- Stress reduction - Elevation of positive emotions - Elevation of positive outcomes

To elaborate briefly on mindfulness, it refers to the art of bringing your complete attention to the present experience. The aim is to develop a non-evaluative, non-judgemental awareness that allows thoughts, feelings, and experiences to be acknowledged and accepted for what they are. Once we are aware, or mindful, of the events and thought patterns that cause us to feel stressed we are equipped with the knowledge to address them. Our brains are wired to make us behave in particular ways when responding to the events that we encounter. If the behaviours we display are unhelpful, we are likely to feel stressed by the situation and there is an increased chance that we will become unproductive. By developing our mindfulness we can learn about how our brains are wired to make us behave and then begin to change this programming and start to blossom when put under

pressure. One way of doing this is by using a technique called cognitive restructuring. This technique challenges you to address and change the roots of your fruitless, negative thoughts and nurture a more positive outlook. If you effectively employ these psychological gardening techniques, you may train your mind to begin viewing stressful situations in a more positive light and begin to experience the notion that the grass really is greener on the other side! Notwithstanding the above, the plethora of factors that affect our experiences means that there may never be one quick fix solution to the question of how to reduce the negative outcomes of stress. Indeed, the practise of thought diaries is challenging and requires determination and dedication, particularly at first. However, they become increasingly natural as time passes and they provide a promising tool for the promotion of psychological well-being in every area of our lives. As individuals with fast paced, demanding lifestyles, where the emphasis on productivity at work is as prominent as ever, it is vital that we understand our thoughts about and reactions to stress. Fundamentally, we have a choice. We can choose to be stressed by the events that present themselves or we can decide not to be stressed and strive to live a calmer, healthier, and ultimately more productive life.

“ Between stimulus and response is our greatest power – the freedom to choose”4

3 – pennebaker, J. W., & Segal, D. (1999). Forming a story: The health benefits of narrative. Journal of Clinical psychology, 55(10), 1243–1254.4 – Covey, S. (2004). The 7 habits of highly effective people. Bath, uk: Bath press.


Top Tips for psychological gardening

The Three Cs 1) Get to know your

Character and how it affects your reactions to stressful

events 2) Identify the events that Cause your stressful

reactions 3) Learn the Consequences of the events that cause you

to feel stressed

Understand how stress affects you (e.g.

by using thought diaries) and allow yourself to plant the seeds that will enable

you to flourish

Become mindful and optimistic by

consciously challenging your thoughts if they describe an event in

a pessimistic and unhelpful way

First become mindful (focus your awareness on

the present moment), then cognitively restructure (learn to evaluate and respond to events in a more productive way)

Take time over your thought

diary to contemplate, reflect, and learn



BUSINESS – PUTTING BUSINESS PERFORMANCE AHEAD OF HR ‘BEST PRACTICE’ ARTICLE BY: Simon Brocket International HR Director of Twinings Ovaltine

Ulrich’s seminal work on the role of the HR function undeniably

transformed the HR landscape, as company after company adopted the structure suggested by the model. We now accept shared services, centres of expertise and business partners as the building blocks of HR structure pretty much everywhere. As the motivation for changing the structure of HR was generally driven by improving efficiency (i.e. saving cost) and dressed up as improving effectiveness (e.g. developing deeper expertise in specific aspects of HR) it has become common practice for HR people to spend lots of time and energy justifying staffing levels through benchmarking and shaping the way they do things with reference to ‘best practice’

More often than not the pursuit of best practice simply leads to organisations having pretty much the same approach to most HR practices. How many organisations look at their talent these days by using a ‘nine box grid’, how many of us are measured by ‘SMART’ objectives, how much have we all paid for pretty similar sets of ‘competency frameworks’…this is the path to mediocrity. A failure to think hard enough about the model and to interpret it for our own environments has led to many HR functions missing the point. Benchmarking and best practice comparisons have their place but this type of ‘vicarious learning’ is only useful when tailored to the specific context in which it is to be applied. And therein lies the challenge: How well do we, as HR professionals, really know our own organisations? – Are we really clear about the

business aspirations of our organisations?

– Do we know what type of

growth our organisations are trying to achieve (if any)?

– Do we understand the market conditions that our organisations are operating in?

– Do we understand the historical performance of our organisations – failures and successes?

– If we were to design inspirational HR practices to support our businesses, in our specific contexts what would they look like?

These questions, in my opinion, are at the heart of a much needed shift in HR. We need to stop copying each other and pay attention to what really matters for our businesses. We need to be rigorous in driving out what will help improve the performance of the organisations we support. Let’s not paint the world magnolia. Inspire your organisations by bringing in HR practices that motivate, stretch and bring colour to your organisations!

At Lane4, we learn from research and experience across different performance domains. To reflect this, we asked individuals across Sport Psychology, Occupational Psychology and Business to share what is going on in their worlds


SPORT PSYCHOLOGY – TAKING CONTROL OF YOUR PERFORMANCE ARTICLE BY: Wil JamesPrincipal Consultant, Lane4 We’ve all been in a situation when the pressure becomes too much and our rational selves go out of the window. But we shouldn’t beat ourselves up about it too much – it’s how we are designed to function. Our brains are programmed to look for danger and whenever we detect a threat we are at risk of an emotional hijack. Our emotional brain switches on the fight or flight response and our logical brain is pushed aside. Until we take back control of our logical brain, we give in to emotionally charged behaviour; some withdraw, others become aggressive and many struggle to think clearly and perform at their best. So how do we overcome this? In my work with both high-level cricketers and business leaders I recommend the ‘four Rs’.

The first R is to RECOGNISE that you are not coping as well as you would like when under pressure. What are your warning signs? What behaviour, feelings, and thoughts do you associate with a build up of negative pressure?

The second R is to REGAIN CONTROL. This could be taking time out or ensuring you have an effective relaxation method. There is plenty of research evidence that reinforces the benefits of simply slowing and deepening your breathing to 6 breaths a minute (5 seconds in and 5 seconds out). If you combine this breathing with positive emotional thoughts you can shift

your state from one of chaos to one of coherence.

The third R is to RATIONALISE and regain perspective. Now that you have calmed the emotional brain you can start to engage your logical brain and cope by thinking differently. What opportunities (rather than threats) might this situation present? What will you learn from this experience? In the grand scheme of things how much could this really be negative? Surely you have dealt with something like this before?

The fourth R is RE-FOCUS. Get your mind back on the ‘controllables’ and on the process or routine that you have prepared and practiced in case of facing such a situation.

Ultimately, the ability to re-engage your logical brain can make the difference between crumbling under pressure and performing at your best. Surely that’s a skill worth developing?

OCCUPATIONAL PSYCHOLOGY – HOW SMALL THINGS CAN LEAD TO BIG PROBLEMS ARTICLE BY: Tom Smith Client Director at Lane4 I’ve been attracted to the work of Prof. Dave Denyer at Cranfield University, working in high hazard environments such as nuclear power and wondered if banking should be added to the list. While errors and mistakes in banking do not cost lives their impact on the markets and in organisations are severe. Take UBS’ recent scandal, all because of the performance of one trader. Based on his work, Denyer has identified eight key behaviours that increase and lead to organisational

resilience1 but I’m particularly interested in the importance of ‘noticing’ and the psychology that gets in the way of people ‘noticing’ that something is about to go awry. The suggestion from the research is that subtle psychological factors are in play – cognitive tricks that we play on ourselves that get in the way of making the right decisions especially under pressure. These include: Normalisation of Deviance – When anomalies in the system become accepted as ‘the way things are’ and over time they become viewed as harmless or even safe. I wonder how often this has been a feature in risk assessments in banks that suddenly went wrong? Outcome Bias – An elaborate mind game of the ‘ends justify the means’. We tend to regard success as an indication that the decision or process that led to it was good. In banking, a healthy bottom line may be disguising unhealthy practices. Risk Homeostasis – In a counterintuitive way, very often the more safety and control measures in place the more risks people take. In the banking world, is the control environment making people less risk aware – if things go wrong it’ll get picked up anyway? Leaders have a role to play in minimising the impact of these cognitive biases. It is about a constant search for improvement and not being bound by old ways. From a behavioural point of view it’s about encouraging difficult conversations and in particular being open to challenge. Create an environment where these features are cherished and you will ‘notice’ the little anomalies that could lead to big failures.

1 - The Organisational Resilience Framework was adapted from research conducted by Dr. David Denyer. This work was supported by the economic and Social Research Council [grant number ReS033102700045}

Alison Mowbray was on the British Rowing Team for seven years competing in five

World Championships and the Sydney and Athens Olympics. Her sporting background and Olympic journey is not the one that people usually expect to hear. Rather a sporting disaster area at school, she was certainly not one of the sporty kids on all the school teams that people pointed to as being future Olympic material. Alison discovered rowing when she went to Liverpool University to study Microbiology at the age of 18. She loved it from the start but even then was not the best or the first on the team. Alison describes her journey from that point, to her single Olympic Silver medal 15 years later (at the age of 33) as a story of ‘mindset not muscle’. She tells many of these stories in her work with Lane4 clients and this is perhaps one of their favourites.

Aged 21 I was rowing with Bedford Rowing Club while I worked as a research assistant for Unilever and took a year off after my degree to apply for a PhD. I still thought my future lay more in the pursuit of science than sport. As a club we’d been to the National long distance trials in our singles that winter. I did really well everyone was quite surprised about that. I vaguely thought I’d be ‘spotted’ and someone might call me up and offer me more coaching or something, but I went home and nothing happened. I sort of wondered what the trial had been for then, but just got back on with my training. But it did make me think. I would be 22 years old that summer and so eligible for the Great Britain Under 23 team for the last time. I’d been rather cruelly denied the opportunity to compete at Junior (under 18) level because they had a rather strict entry qualification that

stated that all prospective candidates should actually have started rowing by this age. I’d just beaten a lot of girls who you’d have thought would make up the team so it didn’t seem entirely unrealistic that if I trained hard enough I could go too. If I thought about it at all I suppose I thought that if I could represent GB at U23 level that would be the summit of my rowing ambitions. I never really thought about where my rowing was taking me or where I could get to. I’d had a mantra that I’d been repeating since I left Liverpool that went:

“ As long as I’m still getting better and still enjoying it then I’ll keep going”.

I thought I could still get better (I didn’t even try and think about how much) and I was still completely loving it so I was just looking for the next logical step. Representing Great Britain


No step too smallARTICLE BY Alison Mowbray

in any capacity did seem a rather inaccessible dream but I just wanted to know I’d tried.

“ What would I feel like for the rest of my life if I didn’t try?” – “What would it feel like to look back and never know if I could have done it or not?”

It would be unbearable, that’s what. I couldn’t even make myself go there in my head. I didn’t so much care if I did it or not but I wanted to be able to look back for the rest of my life and know that I’d done everything I could; that I had reached the limits of my capabilities. I never wanted to be a “I could have been but…” person. I didn’t feel like a natural athlete (or an athlete at all) after being so poor at sport at school so felt I’d have to train harder than everyone else. The Bedford women’s squad trained four evenings a week and four more sessions over the weekend (two each on Saturday and Sunday mornings) with our coach Gus but I felt I could do more, would need to do more. A couple of mornings a week I’d get up early to go sculling or running before work, or if I didn’t do that I’d cycle the ten miles to work and back, or if I didn’t do any of that I’d get to training early in the evening and do an extra sculling session before everyone else arrived. On our day off on Friday, I used to go to the club and row for sixty minutes as hard as I could on the ergo before going to my Friday night bar job. I tried to do at least one extra session a day. I’d always be tired in the mornings and sometimes in the evenings I’d have to go home after

work to pick up kit and I’d make the mistake of sitting down on the sofa and then I’d be so tired I didn’t know how I’d even get off the sofa, let alone do the session. And your brain can play tricks on you when you get tired like that. I think that sometimes we have physical capability left but we are just too mentally tired to access it and when you are sat on the sofa, physical and mental tiredness feel the same. It is only experience that tells you that mental tiredness goes away when you exercise but I’ve not found any level of experience to tell me whether it is my brain or my body that has had enough while I’m still sat on the sofa. And that is dangerous because if you want to be the best you have to access all your capability. No one gets to compete at elite level let alone win medals on anything less than 100%. And I already felt that my 100% was going to be less than everyone else’s so I couldn’t afford to miss a single fraction of a percentage, not a single session I was capable of completing. Strangely it was never the mornings that were the worst for me. They were bad but at least then I’d had some sleep and was in the habit of just getting up before I’d had the chance to think about it. It’s after I’d got up early to train before work, then worked a full day that getting myself to do that evening session (when often there was no-one waiting to hold me accountable) was some sort of purgatory. I’d be sitting on my lab stool with my head on the bench, my kit ready in the car so I wouldn’t have to go home and face the sofa. Or I’d be sitting on the sofa because I’d cycled home and had to come back to pick up more kit. And the voice in my head would say:

“ There is no way you can do this session, you are too tired today, it will do you more good to go to bed and get some extra sleep.”

And I’d have to fight the voice in my head so I’d tell it two things. The first one was:

“ What will I feel like if I race at the trials and lose out on a place by a couple of feet and then remember that I skived this session? Will I still be thinking about what would have happened if I’d not missed this session when I’m 80?”

And the second one was:

“ I don’t think I can do this session but if I want to do all I can then I can do some of it. I can’t do the session but I can get up, pick my kit up and get in the car.”

So I’d pick my kit up and get in the car. Then I’d think:

“ I’m too tired to do this session but I don’t have to do the session. All I have to do is drive to the club and sit in the car park.”

So, I’d drive to the club and sit in the



car park. And then I’d think:

“ I can’t do this session but I can get my kit out of the boot and go and sit in the changing rooms.”

So I’d get my kit out and climb the stairs and just sit in the changing rooms, sometimes for several minutes. And then I’d say to myself:

“ While I’m here I might as well just put my kit on, then I can go home if I’m still too tired.”

So, I’d do that. And often that would do the trick and I’d feel a new sense of purpose with my kit on and quit my moaning and go do the session. But sometimes I’d still be too tired. And I’d sit a bit more in the changing room with my kit on. Then I’d think:

“ Well now I’ve come all this way and I’ve got my kit on I might as well just get my blades and boat out and put it on the water. If I’m still too tired when I’ve done that then I can go home.”

So, I’d go down to the boat house and get my blades out and put them on the bank and go back and carry my boat out and put it on the water and put the blades in the gates and then I’d tell myself:

“ Since it’s all set up I might as well go out and row for 20 strokes. I’m not

going to do a full outing, just 20 strokes.”

So I’d get in the boat and push off and do my warm up and row 20 strokes and then of course ninety-nine times out of a hundred I’d say:

“ Well now I’ve got this far I may as well finish”

and found I was fine to continue. I think there were maybe only a couple of times in my whole rowing career when I’ve used that tactic and still felt so dreadful that after 20 strokes I turned round, put my boat away and went home to sleep a totally guilt-free, I know I’ve done everything I can, sleep. That is how I tell the difference between physical and mental tiredness. And it’s not just sport that it works for. I now use this approach in almost everything I do and certainly anything I’m struggling to start. It seems to me that sometimes we make life so complicated. We set our aspirations so high or make projects so big that we don’t know where to start and scare ourselves into immobility. When that happens I find it’s best just to begin and work out how to start later on. I stop worrying about how or where to get started and just do the most obvious next smallest step. No goal is too big and scary that we can’t at least do the next small step before we give up on it and no step too small that we can’t feel good about having done it. It seems to me that as long as we keep moving forward these small steps can take us just about anywhere. So I worked pretty hard and I can’t quite remember how it all

happened but my winter trials performances had been good enough to get me invited to the Under 23 selection trial in Nottingham. I loaded my boat onto the top of my car (Gus stayed behind in Bedford to coach the rest of the girls), drove up by myself and raced in my single and won. Everyone was quite surprised about that. I was a little annoyed at their surprise this time as I’d already done pretty well that year and no-one seemed to have remembered. Still, surprised or not, I got the place and my first GB colours and raced in the Under 23 Regatta in Greece that summer. It was awesome. I came 10th. When I came home, I somehow thought that I’d be taken into the fold, looked after a bit, given some coaching and funding. I expected to have ‘my talent nurtured’ but again I heard from no one and nothing happened. I started working on my PhD still thinking I was following the Science route and although I rowed in two Women’s Boat races it was the PhD that increasingly consumed me for the next four years. I didn’t really know what was next if anything for my rowing but I was still enjoying it and still getting better so I thought I’d just keep going.


At the beginning of 2010 Lane4 embarked on a new venture expanding its offering to include Training which I was lucky enough to be a part of. What we wanted to create was the essence of our Consulting offering with middle manager populations, developing skills that would improve individual and team performance in a learner-led way. So, what is it we mean when we talk about learner-led training and what impact does it really have? We believe that learner-led training provides the opportunity to tackle broad development areas (e.g. coaching) in a way that meets the needs of each individual delegate. Everyone leaves with something different, personal to them, to aid their own learning and development pathway. At the heart of this approach is an understanding of the different ways in which people learn. Trainer-led training on the other hand makes the assumption that the audience, whoever it comprises, have the same development needs and everyone will walk away with the same pre-planned learning. To develop a learner-led experience the facilitator of the session would contract with the delegates across three main areas:

- Practical – this provides direction e.g. where and when the training is to take place

- Professional – this creates boundaries e.g. what content is to be covered and what is not

- Psychological – this empowers delegates e.g. building trust, tackling hopes and fears and surfacing underlying dynamics

The practical and professional contracting can be extremely time-consuming without dealing with the real underlying psychological issues that, if not addressed, can build tension and result in delegates not taking ownership of their own learning. Questions that tend to be asked of the delegates to provide empowerment for the session are:

- What do you want to get out of today?

- How do you need to be to achieve this?

- What support do you want from others?

What I have experienced thus far is that taking this approach in our workshops has had a profound effect on delegates and even “reinvigorated” their desire to further develop

themselves. Some of the feedback has talked about how their experience exceeded their expectations as they have felt empowered to actively engage with a learning journey instead of having something done to them. This approach encourages people to figure out the gaps for themselves, engage with their own journey and take responsibility for reaching their goals. We are enabling delegates to use their natural insight into areas of performance improvement and their desired outcome. In sport, the role of a coach is to facilitate an athlete to perform at their best, raising awareness of what and how they do things – the coach doesn’t come and do the race for them. This is true in the workplace.We know how and what we’re doing but how often do we raise awareness of the small changes that could make a big difference? When we’re internally motivated to do something we seem to sustain the behaviour over longer periods of time. This is why I feel it is so important to allow people to take ownership of their learning as this will have the greatest impact on their performance.

Learner-led training

Fiona joined Lane4 in 2006 as part of the Research and Diagnostics Team, supporting clients to identify strengths and development areas. She then branched into Consultant Development before moving into the Training Team as a Management Trainer. Fiona has an MSc in Sport and Exercise Psychology from Loughborough University and a passion for both playing and coaching netball.

PROFILE:

FIONA MCPHEEManagement Trainer Lane4

Performing on the ‘big stage’ is demanding. Whether it’s a challenging sales pitch to potential clients or a pressurised Olympic final televised across the globe, high performers require strategies to get themselves in the right mindset for performing at their best. As Sir Chris Hoy (four-time Olympic cycling gold medallist) has acknowledged, pre-performance routines were key to delivering his ‘ultimate performance’ in Beijing 2008. “In the heat of the moment, I found that I was able to rationalise it (the Olympic Final) - I knew I could go through my routine... So I didn’t panic. I didn’t rush. This was my moment, and I wanted everything to go exactly as I’d rehearsed it, on the track and in my head.”1

WHY ARE PRE-PERFORMANCE ROUTINES IMPORTANT?

In a highly pressurised business environment, most performers will try to do everything in their control to deliver outstanding performance. You may be trying to sell a product to a potential client, negotiate on a business deal, or deliver difficult messages to staff (such as redundancies). In preparing for these demanding scenarios, it is possible to inadvertently focus your attention on the step-by-step procedures of your actions, which may have a detrimental effect on your performance. In addition, distractions, intense nerves and subsequent poor preparation are key factors which may also prevent you from performing effectively

Performing on the big stage What can business learn from sport about preparing to perform?ARTICLE BY James L. Rumbold & David Fletcher

1 – Hoy, C. (2009). Chris Hoy: The autobiography. Hammersmith, London: HarperCollins publishers. 2 – Mesagno, C., & Mullane-grant, T. (2010). A comparison of different pre-performance routines as possible choking interventions. Journal of Applied Sport psychology, 22(3), 343-360. 3 – Cotterill, S. T., Sanders, R., & Collins, D. (2010). Developing effective pre-performance routines in golf: Why don’t we ask the golfer? Journal of Applied Sport psychology, 22(1), 51-64. 4 – Martin, g. L., Vause, T., & Schwartzman, L. (2005). experimental studies of psychological interventions with athletes in competitions: Why so few? Behavior Modification, 29(4), 616-641.


under pressure2. To combat these challenges, sport psychologists have developed the use of structured routines prior to performance, which are believed to help individuals perform to a high level. These pre-performance routines can serve a variety of functions, such as: improved concentration, overcoming negative thoughts, and preventing ‘warm-up’ (preparation) decrements3. Such functions can also shift our focus to controlling for the environmental factors that can be controlled for. These outcomes are key to performance success in both business and sport. So what specific techniques could be incorporated to help you perform at your best in business? Below, we provide an overview of how you could use pre-performance routines for optimising your performance in business. Furthermore, we outline tips for identifying when these strategies may be suitable in preparing for pressurised business environments.

EFFECTIvE PRE-PERFORMANCE ROUTINES

Research evidence from sport psychology has indicated that the following psychological techniques are the most effective in optimising athletes’ performance: relaxation, positive self-talk and imagery4,5,6. However, while these are relatively commonplace strategies in the fields of business and sport psychology, the power appears to be in the combined use of these techniques. Indeed, it has been reported that routines combining these strategies enable athletes to sustain control of their concentration on task-related thoughts and improve

their performance in pressurised environments5. Anecdotally, rugby World Cup winner Jonny Wilkinson has described how his pre-performance routines for goal kicking are based on applying a combination of these mental techniques: “I’m going to concentrate on this… and if I get this right and another part right, then the end result will take care of itself (positive self-talk)... You must visualise where the ball is going to go... and imagine the sensation of how the ball is going to feel when it hits my foot for the perfect strike (visual and kinaesthetic imagery)... So I drop back, take a few steps to the side, focus on the posts, pick everything out, hit the ball and that’s it (p. 47)7”. Integrating pre-performance routines in this way could indeed help to enhance your performance, but in what other ways could you incorporate these techniques in business? Outside of the core pre-performance routines, performers can also find their own strategies that suit them. For example, novel research in sport psychology has indicated that listening to motivational music prior to sport performance can achieve similar objectives to the routines previously mentioned. For example, music can stimulate positive trigger words (e.g. ‘are you ready?’) to facilitate one’s focus on a task, or encourage images of successful performance8. Music can also facilitate deep and sustained breathing to follow the rhythm of a motivational or relaxing song9. In this way, performers should incorporate music tempos that simulate the energy of the activity being undertaken8.

EFFECTIvE PRE-PERFORMANCE ROUTINES

RELAxATION:

Physical, mental, or both, this technique is very powerful in relieving stress symptoms, enabling individuals to focus on the here and now, stay composed, and think rationally under pressure. This technique is particularly effective when slow, deep breaths are combined with visualisation and positive self-statements.

POSITIvE SELF-TALK:

These are positive statements which help to build your confidence prior to performance. Choosing an appropriate time for using self-talk will also enhance your ability to focus when it matters. You can internalise these statements to guide your desired behaviours prior to performance.

vISUALISATION:

This is the ability to create images in your mind, in the same way as when you dream. This technique can be used to help calm your mind of thoughts, or imagine a successful outcome, giving you confidence in your ability to perform.

5 – Cotterill, S. (2010). Pre-performance routines in sport: Current understanding and future directions. International Review of Sport & Exercise Psychology, 3(2), 132-154. 6 – Jones, G. (2010). Thrive on pressure: Lead and succeed when times get tough. New York: McGraw-Hill. 7 – Wilkinson, J. (2003, October). How to be the best kicker in the world. The Observer Sport Monthly, p. 47. 8 – Bishop, D. T., Karageorghis, C. I., & Kinrade, N. P. (2009). Effects of musically-induced emotions on choice reaction time performance. The Sport Psychologist, 23(1), 59-76. 9 – Dileo, C., & Bradt, J. (2007). Music therapy: Applications to stress management. In P. M. Lehrer, R. L. Woolfolk, & W. E. Sime (3rd ed.), Principles and practice of stress management (pp. 519-544). New York: The Guilford Press.


Certainly, this type of routine could be included as part of everyday preparation prior to high level performance in business. While these techniques are clearly important, the key to performing at our best is recognising when such strategies are required for pressurised business environments.

HOW DO I IDENTIFY WHEN PRE-PERFORMANCE ROUTINES ARE REQUIRED?

We have highlighted below some key tips for identifying when pre-performance routines may be most appropriate for your objectives, and how to practice these techniques in the lead up to performing on the ‘big stage’. 1. Keep a log:

Keep a retrospective log of when you previously encountered performance pressure. In addition, make a note of the mental and physical symptoms you felt in response to this pressure (e.g., nerves, anger, over-excitement, sweaty palms) and the overall performance outcome. From this, you will be in a better position to rationally identify when you may require routines prior to future performances.

2. Ask for constructive feedback: Ask colleagues to observe and provide feedback on your preparation prior to and during performance. Using problem-solving with colleagues will help you to work out a game plan for preparing for the ‘big stage’.

3. Model the routines of successful leaders: Observe and practice the pre-performance routines and behaviours of successful business leaders. How do they prepare for pressurised environments? Effective modelling of routines and behaviours will not necessarily require you to directly imitate the behaviours of business leaders. Rather, it is important to elicit and tailor routines that you think will be effective within your specific performance context10..

4. Plan your preparation: Whatever strategies you adopt, you will need to plan your preparation time. Similar to successful Olympic athletes, this could include what you will do the night before performing. Once you have identified your performance objectives, you can then plan how long you need for effective mental preparation. Furthermore, research from sport psychology has concluded that greater preparation time with a pre-performance routine is associated with greater performance success5.

5. Practice simulating performance at the ‘big stage’: Simulating pressurised business situations (e.g. decision making with ambiguous information and time constraints) enables you to practice and refine an appropriate routine in the presence of similar physiological and emotional states, which you could encounter on ‘the big stage’. In addition, create a log of how successful these routines were for improving your

performance. As a result of this practice, when that pressurised sales pitch arises, you will feel ready and confident to perform at the highest level.

CONCLUDING REMARKS Undoubtedly, those who will win gold at next year’s Olympic Games are already planning, practising and refining their pre-performance routines. As Sir Chris Hoy once said: “...it’s part of the process of preparing to produce the ride of your life1.” This way, when it comes to the day of competition, these high performing individuals are prepared because their routines act as a buffer against anxiety. In business and sport, every controllable factor counts so you should never leave any stone unturned in terms of preparation.


10 - Manz, C. C., & Sims, H. p. (1981). Vicarious learning: The influence of modeling on organizational behaviour. Academy of Management Review, 6(1), 105-113.

As a boy I was always interested in what makes some humans more effective than others.

Somewhere within the complex web of things we say, do and think lie the individual differences that makes some kids more ‘successful’, whether that be performance on the sports field or popularity and influence in the playground. For me, many of these musings went on in the context of a highly competitive family; my father a former England and Lions rugby player and a brother, equally as talented, who would ritually beat me with various bats and rackets. As a result, I was more interested in applying psychology from the positive context of performance rather than the remedial context of clinical psychology. Whilst sat in lectures at Durham University, little did I realise that I would have the opportunity to experience performance psychology in action from three very different perspectives; the military, elite sport and business. Each bought a very different perspective to human performance.


In transition… We explore how members of Lane4 transfer their skills, learnings and approaches into the principles of high performance business practices. FEATURING Charlie Unwin

MILITARY

Many people have an idealised notion of the Army being made up of disciplined robots split neatly into those who bark out orders and the rest who obediently carry them out. Despite structure and hierarchy being unquestionably clear, the reality is very different. Soldiers, like any other human, will operate inefficiently under poor leadership – with potentially devastating consequences. There are many principles and values that go into producing a leader who can hold the operational integrity of a team as effectively under fire as they can in the office, but two really stood out for me; humility and team-mind – the team members’ shared understanding of how to work together. Despite the implications of rank, as an officer you were very much

there to serve your soldiers, not the other way round. The opportunity to serve some of the world’s finest soldiers was not a right for the well educated, but a privilege. Saluting an officer was not a mark of respect to that person, but respect for the values and sovereignty that they represented – there is a subtle but profound difference. With ego out of the equation, soldiers could trust the intentions of their commanders even if their decisions put them under significant stress. Similarly, you had to be equally prepared to endure discomfort yourself if the situation dictated. As a platoon commander in Iraq in 2004, I made some difficult decisions that no doubt made me unpopular at the time, but at no point was the commitment from my soldiers compromised thanks largely to the open and collaborative relationship we held.


“ There are many principles and values that go into producing a leader who can hold the operational integrity of a team as effectively under fire as they can in the office”

With no end of role models around you, these values become culturally engrained leading to close knit teams who understood each other wholly and would sacrifice a great deal for the mission and one another.

SPORT

On return from Iraq I was lucky enough to be seconded into the GB Modern Pentathlon Team in Bath. An Olympic sport with a strong heritage in this country, pentathlon is made up of swimming, fencing, riding, shooting and running. I will be honest, the sense of team was not what it was in the Army. Perhaps this was to be expected in an environment where individual ambition is sometimes in direct conflict with other members of the squad. I would now have to consider very different elements of performance psychology. In particular, as a relatively ‘untalented’

member of the squad (from a physical perspective) my results relied upon one fundamental principle – to perform more consistently than anyone else across the five events, even if I was never the best at any one. This was learnt the hard way in the shooting phase of my first World Cup competition. Shooting was my strongest discipline in training but on this occasion – stood next to the Olympic Champion on the range – I fell apart and came last. I realised that training for this event had little to do with improving my capacity to shoot well and far more to do with thinking clearly and systematically whilst under pressure. This had massive implications for the way I conducted my practice (inviting many jibes from my training partners) but the result was returning to the same competition a year later and winning the shoot!

BUSINESS

Whilst helping other athletes embed these principles, most of my time now is spent transferring the principles of performance psychology into business where the cross-over is remarkable. The performance criteria may be different, but the principles of performing and leading effectively whilst enduring time constraints, emotive states, difficult people and performance expectations still remain the same. Indeed, this was much like the appraisal I made as the young boy in the playground, except now I have a little more knowledge and experience of how our personality, environment and goals influence the things we do, say and think!


®

More than just a logo

ARTICLE BY Mark Richardson & Adam Stuart

Organisations have traditionally viewed sports sponsorships as an opportunity to

engage new and existing customers and clients. Until recently, what has been largely overlooked is how sports sponsorships can also drive organisational performance through their people. Lane4 has worked with a number of current sponsors to help them engage their workforce through the use of their sponsorships. In doing so, we have identified some of the key factors which we believe are essential to ensuring the successful internal leverage of a sponsorship.

Firstly, be sure you have a clear understanding of the purpose of the sponsorship internally. What are the internal challenges this sponsorship will overcome? How can this sponsorship inspire greater performance in your organisation? It is then possible to evaluate the potential return- on-investment.

BT is the official communications partner to the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games. Every image from the Games, every sports report,

every visit to the London 2012 website and millions of calls, emails and texts will be delivered over BT networks. BT wanted to change employee behaviour and performance (with particular emphasis on customer service metrics), whilst driving a closer connection with the individual Olympic and Paralympic athletes it had sponsored. With a clear brief in mind to link up with the sponsored athletes, in partnership with Lane4, ‘The Difference is You’ (TDIY) programme was designed and implemented.

Match organisational vision and values to those of the sponsored sport or event in a deliberate and strategic way. This means embedding performance-orientated values, such as excellence and teamwork.

Lane4 has worked with a number of sponsors to align their vision and values to real-life examples and stories from their sponsored sport or event. In partnership with one global sponsor, we developed a series of 24 stories connected to their sponsorship, each with key themes aligned to learning and development objectives. The stories were written

to enhance and complement the sponsor’s employee development programme, with course facilitators able to weave stories into their workshop content. The overriding aim was to encourage a sense of pride for employees, helping to drive engagement and excitement with the sponsorship campaign. The other significant project aim was to bring learning to life for course delegates, using powerful sporting metaphors as a context for talking about performance and personal growth in the workplace.

Build a great place to work by bringing your sponsorship alive. Your employees can live and breathe the sponsorship campaigns to drive their understanding of why the sponsorship is happening and clearly communicate this to customers.

Coca-Cola has supported the Olympic Movement since 1928 and is the longest continuous sponsor of the Olympic Games. For the first time, in 2012, Coca-Cola is also an official supporter of the Paralympic Games. The organisation has a clear objective “to prepare our London 2012 leadership legacy team as


Team GB would prepare, aspiring to win gold in 2012.” This involved developing a shared vision and legacy plan which would motivate and inspire the Coca-Cola Company’s leadership, engage employees across North West Europe and Nordics, and deliver the strategic business plan with a long term focus on what is left after the Games. The organisation feels it is of fundamental importance to excite, enthuse and make their employees feel wholly connected and passionate about the journey to 2012. Earlier this year Lane4 staged an event for Coca-Cola GB’s 200 employees on site at their Hammersmith office to celebrate the year-to-go milestone. The level of engagement that the event created was palpable. The employees were literally on the edge of their seats as they tuned into the insights of Olympic/Paralympic panellists who provided three contrasting lenses: athlete, coach and team manager. There were audible intakes of breath during a live fencing demonstration where no quarter was given. Watching the competitiveness bubble to the surface during the experiential Olympic and Paralympic activities, including 10m sprint starts, fencing duels and a 60 second wheelchair basketball challenge, was awe-inspiring.

Olympic sponsorship can provide a powerful mindset and context for talking about performance. It creates a common language for all individuals within a team or organisation.

BT has an ongoing relationship with a number of Olympic athletes

who act as Ambassadors for the organisation. A key objective of the TDIY programme was to inspire pride and create a working environment where people can fulfil their potential. TDIY drew on athlete stories and performance psychology to explore lessons from the Olympics with employees. Olympians, Sport Psychologists and Performance Directors’ experiences brought theories alive and were applied to BT’s world. Content included the Olympic goal setting strategies used by these athletes, handling pressure, maintaining focus, motivation and building belief. The programme also included creative tools (e.g. videos, workbooks) to enable managers to apply insights and cascade learning to their teams. One specific area for BT Retail was to improve their ‘Right First Time’ contact centre KPI – i.e. the number of customer complaints solved first time. Results from the programme showed that those who took part had accelerated improvements compared to matched control sites. In partnership with the client, Lane4 won a European Sponsorship Award for this piece of work in the Business to Employee category.

Attract, retain and uncover talent by bringing individuals closer to the world of elite performance and identifying ‘Personal Best’. Use exclusive rewards and activities to recognise high performance and key behaviours.

Athletes of all ages and standards crave the same thing; the euphoric moment of standing on the podium after winning a medal and achieving a ‘Personal Best’. For Mark, it was when he ran his personal best of

44.37 seconds defeating ‘Mr. Invincible’ himself – the 400m World Record holder Michael Johnson. We have worked with numerous clients to help them bring this notion of ‘Personal Best’ into their working worlds. For clients in all sectors and industries (regardless of whether they are Olympic sponsors or not) we have engaged with their top talent to develop them with the same approach as that of an elite athlete. With one client we embarked on an 18-month programme to help develop and retain high-performing employees. As part of the programme, participants explored how to prepare for peak performance, supported by analogies from sporting leaders. Programme participants developed skills to recognise their own cycles of performance and personal strategies to proactively manage them. Since the start of the programme, retention levels within participants were five times higher than historic levels. In our experience we have found that the successful engagement of employees through sponsorship can make a dramatic difference to the return-on-investment of a sponsorship and the difference between its overall success or failure. At Lane4 we understand that times have changed, organisations have changed and as a result sponsorship has changed. If you would like to speak to us further as to how we could help engage your employees using your sponsorship please contact either: Mark Richardson ([email protected]) or Adam Stuart ([email protected]).


Women in the BoardroomPeople Management reported that vince Cable and Theresa May have urged FTSE 350 companies to sign up to a target of 25% for females on their board. Despite support from some top companies the idea has been met with opposition by many senior women, “as they do not want to be seen as getting jobs because of their sex rather than talent or hard work.” A survey by The Guardian in February 2011 showed further opposition reporting that only 25% of people agreed that there should be quotas for female directors.

People Management, Cable and May call on firms to adopt boardroom gender quotas. 29 July 2011. The Guardian, Women in the boardroom: should there be quotas? 24 February 2011

Are We Over Engagement?In a recent article, HR Magazine asked, has engagement become nothing more than a cliché? In response Helen Giles, HR Director, Broadway Homelessness thinks that this is certainly the case, “The engagement industry has taken on a life of its own; we are in danger of breeding a workforce of high maintenance namby-pambies to make life at work engaging.”

HR Magazine, Beyond fluffy: has engagement become nothing more than a cliché? 8 Aug 2011


Lane4 would argue that there is still a strong case for measuring engagement but that there are two critical factors:1. The questions used to measure engagement are

linked to performance of the organisation;2. That engagement results are used to inform

and direct strategic initiatives in a balanced, co-ordinated way.

Too often companies who “have an engagement survey” are unwilling to examine the questions or really consider whether it is actually worth the paper it is written on because to change it means that they would no longer have comparison data. In reality this means that corporate engagement surveys are often box ticking exercises rather than something more meaningful. At Lane4 we have developed a scan which measures more than just engagement, focusing on factors which have proven links to high performance: people, performance enablers, leadership and the performance climate.

Katie Mahony, Diagnostics Leader, Lane4

Tara Jones, Principal Consultant, Lane4

I’m not surprised that this issue has arisen again, and again received opposition! Angela Merkel and Hillary Clinton have achieved politically, whilst PepsiCo’s CEO, Indra Nooyi, and Facebook’s COO, Sheryl Sandberg, are just a couple of examples of women reaching the top spots in organisations all on their own merits – not to hit a quota. Our own research explored how females rose to the top and identified several things, including how successful women see and focus on the opportunities rather than the obstacles, having the belief in themselves to achieve and having people around who believe in them. Surely developing these skills and beliefs is a far more effective approach to take?

HOT TOPICS

Working RelationsA poll by job review site TheJobCrowd.com suggests that 29% of workers believe having a good relationship with their colleagues plays the biggest role in job satisfaction. This made it the number one factor.Management Today, Bosses not fit for the fight, say workers. 17 May 2011


Austin Swain, Research and Product Director, Lane4

The finding that good relationships with colleagues play the biggest role in job satisfaction is not surprising but no less interesting. Ask 10 people what brings them joy, and chances are that many will refer to the people they love. Despite increasingly competitive and isolating work settings, much work has to be accomplished with others and within teams. Building professional friendships where ‘banter’ can flourish will impact engagement and performance in a host of ways. I firmly subscribe to the view that high performing teams are high relating teams and this data reinforces the message.

The Rise of Social Media

Just under a quarter

(23%) of internal

communicators surveyed

in a poll by Melcrum

predicted that social

media will dominate the

function in 10 years time.

Melcrum, Social media to dominate internal

communication in 10 years. 25 July 2011

Natalie Benjamin, Head of Communications, Lane4

Once labelled a fad in the mix of sophisticated mainstream communication strategies, social media has become business as usual in many organisations. It has changed how we communicate in and out of work – of that there is no doubt. The onus is on organisations, and notably communications practitioners, to establish what that means for the way they communicate with customers, stakeholders and employees alike. There are also a number of common barriers to the effective use of social media including lack of understanding, deployment without clear purpose and poor technological infrastructure. Until these are overcome, its dominance is risky and questionable. Social media is still a developing concept for internal communicators and must continue to be viewed as a delivery mechanism or facilitator of a message rather than key to solving all of our internal communication challenges!!

OUR CONTRIBUTERS

ADRIAN MOORHOUSE Managing Director and Co-founder Lane4

Adrian co-founded Lane4 in 1995 and is now Managing Director. As a business leader and Olympic gold medallist in the 100m breaststroke, he draws upon his extensive commercial expertise and elite sporting background to balance his MD role with delivering performance solutions for our clients.

DR. LIz CAMPBELL global Consulting DirectorLane4

Liz joined Lane4 in 1997 and now leads our Consulting business. Previously a lecturer in sport psychology at Loughborough University, she has numerous publications on stress and performance, her specialist field. Liz was psychologist to the Great Britain team at the 1996 Paralympic Games in Atlanta, working closely with the GB Wheelchair Basketball squad.

NATALIE BENJAMIN Head of Communications Lane4

Natalie trained as a journalist at Cardiff School of Journalism, moving into marketing, PR and public affairs within agencies before transitioning into employee communications roles. She has competed for Great Britain over 1500m and also competed for Wales at the 2002 and 2006 Commonwealth Games. Natalie leads Lane4’s Communications business.

DR. ALISON MOWBRAY Senior Consultant Lane4

Despite not stepping into a rowing boat until the age of 18, Alison competed in five World Championships and two Olympic Games, winning a silver medal in 2004. Throughout her rowing career, she also taught science part-time in a secondary school. Alison is still actively involved in sport from coaching children to commentating at the World Rowing Championships and volunteering at the Junior World Rowing Championships and London 2012.

GREG SEARLE practice Director, Lane4 and Member of the gB Men’s Rowing Team

Greg is a Practice Director at Lane4, leading consulting teams to deliver performance development programmes for our clients. Greg is currently training as part of the GB Men’s Rowing squad for the 2012 Olympics when he hopes to make history by winning his second gold medal 20 years after his first. He recently won a silver medal in the Eight at the World Rowing Championship in Slovenia.

MATT ROGAN Commercial Director Lane4

Matt is a Director and Board member at Lane4 as well as a Director of the European Sponsorship Association. He is responsible for Lane4’s commercial activities and has expertise in Commercial and Financial Management, Business Strategy, International Marketing and Sponsorship Strategy and Activation. Matt has recently co-authored a book with his father, Martin Rogan, entitled Britain and the Olympic Games: Past Present Legacy. Matt co-authors a blog on the Harvard Business Review site with Adrian Moorhouse and Dr Mark de Rond from Judge Business School, Cambridge University (blogs.hbr.org).

CHARLIE UNWIN Consultant Lane4

Charlie has commanded front-line forces in Iraq as an Officer in the Royal Horse Artillery, as well as competing as part of the GB Modern Pentathlon Team, taking part in World Championships and becoming British Champion in 2007. He gained an MSc in Sport Psychology at Brunel University and is currently the sport psychology coach for the GB Olympic Fencing Team.

DR. zARA WHYSALL Head of Research & product Lane4

Zara is responsible for the ongoing, innovative development of Lane4 Research and Product, in alignment with market and client requirements. She has an MSc in Occupational Psychology from Nottingham University and a PhD in Applied Psychology (Behaviour Change) from Loughborough University. Zara has recently been appointed a visiting Fellow of Loughborough University in recognition of Lane4’s close work with the School of Sport, Exercise and Health Sciences.

DR. JEREMY CROSSSenior Consultant Lane4

Jeremy is an accredited sport psychologist with a range of 1:1, team and organisational experience with national, international and Olympic clients. He has a Ph.D. in Performance Psychology from Loughborough University and was a former professional tennis player, coach and coach educator. Jeremy joined Lane4 in 2004 and, alongside his consultancy work, is currently undertaking an MBA at Henley Business School.

MARK RICHARDSON Senior Consultant Lane4

Mark is a former world class 400m runner who has won honours at all the major Athletics Championships, including an Olympic silver medal in the 4x400m relay at Atlanta. Before joining Lane4, Mark worked in Rights Marketing for one of the country’s leading events and sports marketing agencies.


TOM SMITH Client Director Lane4

Tom is a Chartered Occupational Psychologist, an Associate Fellow of the British Psychological Society and a member of its Division of Occupational Psychology. He draws on his early career as a prison psychologist with the Home Office, and his leadership roles in Learning & Development in J.P. Morgan and HSBC, in his consultancy work at Lane4.

ADAM STUARTClient Relationship ConsultantLane4

Adam graduated from Reading University with a degree in Psychology before starting his career at the international sports marketing agency, Octagon. He then went on to work for two of London’s foremost brand consultancies where he cultivated his interest in business development. Adam now works as part of Lane4’s business development team to help develop new client relationships and opportunities.

MELANIE WALLINGER Client Services ManagerLane4

Melanie joined Lane4 in 2010 and ensures that our service offering is operationally fulfilled by providing administrative support across client programmes. Melanie recently completed a Masters in Occupational and Organisational Psychology and holds Level A and B in Occupational Testing as certified by the British Psychological Society. She is also a keen dressage rider.

HANNAH HEMMINGHAM Diagnostics Consultant Lane4

Hannah is passionate about using diagnostics tools to increase individual, team and organisation awareness in order to plan for development and recognise strengths. She is an Occupational Psychologist, currently on route to gaining her full chartership, and holds Level A and B certification in a number of psychometric tools including NEO PI-R, Hogan and Dimensions. Hannah also acts as an observer-coach within Development Centres, providing high challenge and support coaching.

DR. WIL JAMES principal Consultant Lane4

Wil has 15 years experience of sport psychology consulting. Selected as headquarter psychologist for Team GB’s holding camp prior to the Athens Olympic Games in 2004, he is now working with the GB Hockey Squad in preparation for 2012. Wil is also the lead psychologist for the England and Wales Cricket Board. He joined Lane4 in 2005.

SIMON BROCKETInternational HR Director for Twinings Ovaltine Lane4

Simon has extensive experience in leading organisation development, change and transformation in major global corporations. He spent 17 years with Procter & Gamble in a variety of HR leadership roles in the UK and in Europe prior to spending 7 years with Coca-Cola Enterprises. Two years ago Simon joined ABF as the International HR Director for Twinings Ovaltine.

DR. DAVID FLETCHER Director of the Sport psychology Support Service, Loughborough university

David is a distinguished sport psychologist, having published ground-breaking research in the area of elite performance and consulted with world and Olympic medal winners. Since receiving his doctorate degree, David has worked as the Director of the Sport Psychology Support Service at Loughborough University – The Official Preparation Camp Headquarters for Team GB prior to the London 2012 Olympic Games.

FAYE DIDYMUSphD Research StudentLoughborough university

Faye is a doctoral candidate under the supervision of Dr. David Fletcher at Loughborough University. Her research focuses on the psychology of sporting excellence and in particular, on developing strategies for thriving under pressure. Faye’s experiences as a former international athlete complement her applied work, which includes Performance Sports Mentoring and consulting to British Paralympic Triathletes.

JAMES RUMBOLDphD Research StudentLoughborough university

James is a PhD researcher in Sport and Performance Psychology at Loughborough University. In his applied research, he draws upon his experiences as a former international junior athlete, his early career within J.P. Morgan and his current psychology support to professional sport organisations.

DR. ROSS WADLEYLecturer in Sports and exercise psychologyuniversity of Roehampton

Ross is a Lecturer in Sport and Exercise Psychology at University of Roehampton and a registered Chartered Psychologist with the British Psychological Society. His main research interests focus on resilience and post-traumatic growth following stressful situations. He consults with national and international able-bodied and disabled performers from a variety of sports.



Please find below a selection of interesting articles, urls, recommended reads, conferences and exhibitions to attend or just stuff we at Lane4 think is interesting.

4UTWITTER @GregSearle2012 and @GBMens8

“ GB Rower aiming to win second gold at London 2012. Should be older and wiser than 20 years ago but am probably not.”

Follow the journey of me and my team.

Greg Searle, Practice Director, Lane4 and Member of the GB Men’s Rowing Team @ResearchDigest

“ The British Psychological Society’s Research Digest keeps you up-to-date with psychology research and news.”

Written by the brilliant Christian Jarrett, this is a great resource for those interested in accessible and relevant psychology.

Lane4 Research Team @BBCLdnOlympics

“ Summer Hurwitz and Adrian Warner are the BBC London News Olympics team, working on any stories related to London 2012.”

Great for keeping up-to-date with the latest news on the Olympics.

Matt Rogan, Commercial Director, Lane4

@HarvardBiz

“ The latest Harvard Business Review blog posts, Management Tips of the Day, Daily Stats, and more.”

A classic daily fix of the latest business research.

Dominic Mahony, Client Services Director, Lane4

BOOKS Icononclast: A neuroscientist reveals how to think differently(Harvard Business Press)Gregory Berns

“ This book takes an intriguing look at the neuroscience of ‘iconoclasts’; the unique individuals who tread their own path to success often shunning authority and conformity. It also provides a great tribute to the late Steve Jobs who gained mass following to become an icon.”

Austin Swain, Research and Product Director, Lane4

The Talent Code: Greatness isn’t born. It’s grown(Bantam) Daniel Coyle

“ A fascinating book about talent. I love it because of its descriptions of how deliberate practice changes the brain and increases our ability to perform.”

Hannah Hemmingham, Diagnostics Consultant, Lane4 Great Communication Secrets of Great Leaders (McGraw-Hill).John Baldoni

“ Through leadership examples, this book shows how effective communication skills can impact on the bottom line; and how to develop, deliver and sustain your messages. It is a great read for any leader or communicator.”

Natalie Benjamin, Head of Communications, Lane4 How We Decide(Mariner Books) Jonah Lehrer

“ This book provides useful insights into why we make the decisions we do. It is an easy-read that brings key points to life with stories and anecdotes.”

Wil James, Principal Consultant, Lane4

Lane4 Management Group LtdSt Marks HouseStation Road Bourne EndBuckinghamshire SL8 5QFUnited Kingdom

Telephone +44 (0)1628 533733

Fascimile +44 (0)1628 533766

Website www.lane4performance.com

SIgN up FOR THe LANe4

COACHINg peRFORMANCe eXCeLLeNCe pROgRAMMeAccredited by Middlesex University, our Coaching Performance Excellence Programme is designed to help individuals implement and promote effective coaching within their organisations.

Our programmes are flexible and can be tailored to individual or organisational needs. Course content combines experiential, conceptual and reflective workshop learning with 1:1 coaching, action learning sets and the development of a personal portfolio.

Our programme has been awarded the european Quality Award, practitioner

level, conferred by the eMCC (european Mentoring & Coaching Council).

participants will receive a certificate of credit from Middlesex university worth 40 postgraduate points, which can be transferred or used towards further postgraduate or undergraduate courses.

For 2012 dates, programme and pricing information, please visit

www.lane4performance.com

SIgN up FOR THe LANe4

HIgH peRFORMANCe LeADeRSHIp ACADeMyLane4 and Loughborough University, the UK’s premier university for sport have launched an executive education programme.

The High performance Leadership Academy is a four day residential programme offering senior executives a unique insight into elite sporting performance and its application to business. It will be hosted on Loughborough university’s campus – the official 2012 preparation camp for Team gB.

Facilitated by Lane4 Consultants, delegates will:

– experience Lane4’s latest thinking on senior executive leadership

– gain insights from Team gB performance Directors, International Athletes and Coaches

– Apply the latest research in human performance to their own organisation

Benefits include:

– Increased ability to lead under pressure in a tough market

– Deeper understanding of what it takes for an organisation to sustain elite performance

– Tools and techniques to translate this understanding back into the working world

For dates and pricing information please visit www.lane4performance.com or contact Adam Stuart on +44 (0) 1628 533733 / email [email protected]

The Wave 2011

Documents

Transcript of The Wave 2011