Lessons from Team GB for your high performers. Are you Atlanta or Tokyo?
Image by xvector on Freepik
Derek Robertson , CEO
(Chartered FCIPD, MCMI, MInstLM, NLP Practitioner and Coach)
Author of The Great Cape Escapade (A Fable about effective meetings)
8 min read
Introduction
Love or hate sport there are lots of lessons and comparisons for your organisation – if you want it to perform well. Put it another way, in the end its the elite athletes’ performance that wins the medals just like your high performers (top 5%) have arguably the greatest impact on your organisation’s performance.
Out of interest, think for a moment how much time, effort and resources you devote on below standard performers and how much on your high ones?
Let’s use team GB’s journey to prompt thought, reflection and actions for your organisation. I agree there is probably a PhD here so I’ve prioritised for you.
Team GB and the medal table
| Year | City | Golds | Medals | Medal table |
| 1996 | Atlanta | 1 | 15 | 36th |
| 2000 | Sydney | 11 | 28 | 10th |
| 2004 | Athens | 9 | 30 | 10th |
| 2008 | Beijing | 19 | 51 | 4th |
| 2012 | London | 29 | 65 | 3rd |
| 2016 | Rio | 27 | 67 | 2nd |
| 2020 | Tokyo | 22 | 65 | 4th |
Action
Review key outcome metrics for you company and chart them over a time period relevant to you.
A review frame
Taking any successful organisational people initiative I’ve always found it valuable to use this image. Most notable is that all four inner ingredients need addressing or success is unlikely.
Successful people development
As you read on keep thinking about additional connections between this blog and your approach with your high performers.
Leadership
No question that strong leadership was needed to achieve the transformation in Team GB. Leadership involving:
- A compelling vision and plan
- Lobby for your vision
- Secure funding
- Make evidence based decisions
- Cojones for big decisions
- Stick to the plan in the face of push back
- Leave the spotlight on the performers
Cojones is best illustrated by the athletics chief admitting to 'crapping himself' at London 2012 needing Mo Farrah to win the 5,000 metres to achieve their target.
Action
What is your plan for your high performers? Are you playing to win or not to lose?
Resourcing
The United Kingdom could not take on the sporting superpowers by supporting everyone. It had to prioritise. Basketball and gymnastics funding went away to give more to better potential medals like cycling.
Once already known medal potential athletes were done, the team looked for potential ones in a targeted succession plan.
Action
What big decisions will you need to make to best support those with the biggest impact on your business success?
Focused people development
Beyond training in the specific discipline, the elite are supported with coaches, psychologists, dieticians and so on. Shauna Coxsey the elite climber has a forearm and a finger coach to name but two. Point is laser like focus on the elite.
Helen Glover (double gold in rowing) for example attended an event to try different sports. She had no inkling for rowing till then.
| Team GB | Your elite and high potentials |
| Gatherings for people to try out | Development centres to assess potential |
| Core skills development for future success | Leadership, technical brilliance, skills for the future like EQ |
| Pin point focus on areas that make a difference | Coaching, challenging conversations, influence |
| Supporting expertise, dietitians, sports, psychologists, etc. | Personal development coaching, mental strength conditioning |
| Visit global centres of excellence like Cycling’s Kierin facility in Japan | Exposure to global award winning businesses such as secondments |
Action
Review the people development focus on your high performers and potentials.
Recognition and reward
Obvious are the individual medals and total medal horde.
Less obvious but still in the results mix go from the individual to the Country. Jade Jones (Taekwando) freely admits she was going down a wrong path from missing school, smoking and shoplifting. Now she has Olympic hero status, inspiring others to take up sport.
| Team GB | Your elite and high potentials |
| Medals and Team GB performance |
Individual metrics shift Contribution to the organisation performance |
| Individual transformations |
Mavericks become key specialists Retention of more high potentials than industry average |
| Inspiring others to take up sport | Others within your business see the rewards for the efforts and are energised |
|
Ripple effect from sporting participation
|
Ripple effect on focusing on elite and high potentials
|
| National pride |
Your elites are raving fans for your organisation Your brand gains polish |
Remember gymnastics? Louis Smith under his own steam (and his Mum) won four medals in three Olympics. His first medal changed the game for athletics funding and so future results. Same in business. Someone comes through without the same support but takes your business forward.
Action
Notice how switched on your reporting results is from the obvious ones to the ripple effect.
Your takeaways
Think about the transformation of Team GB. In particular the conections between what they did with their elite and potentials to create a stream of people capable of delivering results for Team GB.
Final thought
Don't get side tracked with issues of budget, time and the obstacles you may face. Instead develop your vision for your top performers and high potentials. Make special emphasis on the organisational results you'll improve when you harness their capabilities and talent.
Start today.
Your next action
Check out the following sources and downloads:
- The simplest way ever to see where your training budget goes
- Take the stress out of securing leadership training budget
- 5 useful tips from the experts to get passed "No".
- 5 traps to avoid wasting your training budget