Success in Business – A Champion's Mentality

A growing trend in business in recent years has been to look to the world of sport for fresh insight in the areas of team building, motivation and leadership. What's worth knowing is that the factors required for long-term success in both sports and business are strikingly similar.

Below are 10 points that will ensure you and your business have that winning formula.

1. Establish a Culture of Success

What does your business stand for? What are its guiding principles or standards? How does the business demonstrate these qualities? What does it mean to be part of the team? What are the 'rules' of team membership? For example, being on time (or early) for work, sharing successes, being 100% committed. In the world of sport, a champion's mentality is not just for the duration of the game, it is part of who they are. In the same way, a culture of success should be an inherent part of your business.

Organisations that are successful long term have a system and a culture in place where what the team stands for and its commitment to excellence is a legacy, something that endures and is not solely dependent on the team members (employees) at any point in time.

2. Belief

For a team to be successful, every individual team player has to believe in themselves and in the business. Whether the goal is to achieve a sales target or improve customer satisfaction, the mindset needs to be one where success is not just hoped for, but is expected. Managers and employees are not just interested in succeeding, they are committed to it. This confidence does not come from inflated egos, but from a certain knowledge that no element of training and preparation has been overlooked.

Remember that with few exceptions, the most successful teams and businesses are also the hardest working.

3. The Discipline of Continuous Learning

As the saying goes 'it is what you learn after you know it all that counts.' Successful teams and businesses train their thoughts on the process of continuous learning at a team and individual level, asking themselves two questions. What did I (we) do outstandingly well today? With the benefit of hindsight what could I (we) have done differently or better? Or to use the sporting analogy, how did I perform like a champion?

4. Ensuring Change Means Progress

In today's business world, change is automatic, but progress is not. The starting point for building an elite performing team is ruthless honesty. What is working well? What is not working? To get to where you want to go, what are the tough decisions that have to be made? Some organisations take the bandage approach to change when in reality massive surgery is required. Don't follow tradition just for the sake of it; question your business's habits. What can you learn and adapt from other industries?

5. Love Of The Process

Top performers never have to be coerced into doing the work; they want to put in the effort. Their drive comes from within and from their love of what they do. Yes, results are vital, but successful performers know that sometimes achieving their goal is beyond their control. Instead of blaming others for failures, they focus on what they can control and what they can learn from setbacks. To use a sporting analogy, when Tiger Woods approaches a tee, he has a defined routine (posture, stance, swing, visualisation, confidence, mental attitude etc.) that he has full control over. He may not know exactly where the ball will end up, but the more training and practice that goes into the process, the chances of him getting the result he wants escalates. The same holds true for your business.

6. Sustained Focused Attention

"If you surveyed all the successful people in the world, some would be charismatic, some would be not so, some would be tall, some would be short. But the common denominator is that they are all capable of sustained focused attention." (Lance Armstrong) It is consistent daily effort that distinguishes those who succeed in their chosen fields from the also rans. There will be obstacles and challenges, but just like in boxing, those who succeed make sure they just get to their feet one more time than they are knocked down.

7. Emotional Engagement

To achieve success in the world of sport or the world of work, passion is everything. If you show faith in individuals they will repay you. Employees will respond to a manager who believes in them and who is prepared to work with them long term to capitalise on their strengths.

Similarly, commitment from the manager is itself a motivating force. Don't ask others to put in maximum effort if you are not. A strong work ethic is infectious. To engineer real and lasting change you have to win the hearts and minds of others, so even after the process has begun, never stop selling the vision for the business.

8. The Right People

Any team is only as good as its weakest member. Here are some simple rules to remember when hiring new staff:

• Only hire those that will pass the 24 hour plane ride test, that is, could you spend 24 hours on the plane with the potential employee?
• Will this employee be liked by and gel with existing staff members?
• Recruit character as well as skills. You can teach skills but it is very difficult to change mental attitude.
• Lastly, be ruthlessly honest about your own weaknesses and bring in people that will compensate for them.

Teams that are successful long term always invest in their staff and part of the manager's role is spotting and nurturing talent. However, it is also worth remembering that it is not who you hire, but who you fail to fire that can have the greatest impact on the success of your business.

9. Leadership

Responsiveness to different personality types and sensitivities are key leadership talents. As a business owner or manager you need to manage each employee individually to get the most out of them. As the manager it is your responsibility to find out what makes each member of staff tick. If your workers believe that you genuinely care about their welfare and career development and you will do the utmost for them, they will respond accordingly.

Many managers feel threatened by subordinates offering their opinions on the way things should be done. This is a sign of weakness in the manager. If you don't listen to your team and their views you are missing out on vital insights. Equally, never be afraid to hand responsibility to employees, give people a chance to prove themselves.

10. Move Out Of Your Comfort Zone

Nothing is achieved by playing safe. Those who achieve success in sport take chances; they try something new to gain an edge over their competitors. How can you go the extra mile? Successful people and business do the things that most people do not like to do.

In business, there may not be a gold medal, a cup or even a finishing line. It is your accountant who in many ways is the arbiter of your success. However, apply the above concepts to your business and you will be developing the mindset of a champion.

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