As a nation we’ve all been inspired by the fantastic effort and results of Team GB at Rio 2016. As our athletes have now returned as heroes and celebrities, attention has already started to turn towards training up the next batch to compete for gold at Tokyo 2020. With one of the most successful Olympic funding programmes in the world – and a second-place title to defend – Great Britain certainly has something to prove at the next Games.
But while our athletes return to training, and coaches begin to scout out the next Olympic success story, employers needn’t sit around waiting for their next sporting fix. Instead, this is an opportunity for businesses to apply the various lessons learnt from the games in order to build more successful teams within their organisation. Forget the medal table – this is a chance for any company to reach for gold.
The Cost of Good Results
We all know that greatness is achieved through hard work, commitment and sacrifice, but that’s not the cost we’re talking about here. The BBC recently revealed the increase in revenue streams allocated to elite Olympic sports in the last 20 years. This impressive financial investment has culminated in astonishing results. After getting comfortable at 36th place in the Atlanta Olympics medal table, with just one gold medal, Great Britain is now celebrating 2nd place, with our highest number of medals since our only first place victory in 1908.
There is a clear correlation between medals won and funding invested in our athletes through UK Sport. Following the disappointment in Atlanta, a thorough change in Olympic management was introduced, as well as increased funding. The most recent cycle’s funding figures reached close to £350m.
Some have argued that spending £350m of public funding on ‘winning medals’ is outrageous. In response, the BBC noted that this figure equates to £1.09 per taxpayer in Britain. Framed this way, it feels like a fair and wise investment in order to achieve our status as ‘Sporting Superpower’. The public can feel like they’ve contributed towards the country’s victories, and we enjoyed Team GB’s success at a time when the nation really needed some good news stories to celebrate. We should really be proud of what our small island has achieved.
From the sporting world’s approach to funding, we can learn a very simple lesson to apply to our teams: investing in people and skills pays in the end. If businesses don’t accept that people at every level of the organisation are a great investment, then there’s a chance they’ll lose those people to employers who do, or that they’ll simply miss out on developing a skill that could provide the business with the competitive edge it deserves.
The Importance of Team
Although it makes sense to invest where you want to see success, investing in teams financially doesn’t necessarily guarantee great teamwork between individuals. Instead, we need to look to the mind-set of the world’s Olympians – rather than the financial support they receive – to understand what the games can teach us about success.
“Watching from the sidelines, through the lens of the world’s media, we see the hero-athletes competing for ultimate sporting glory. It is easy to have the false perception that the great performances are only due to the hard work and talent of the athletes. This isn’t true.” Heerdan Herman, SA swimmer at London 2012
In an article written before Rio 2016, former Olympic swimmer Heerdan Herman, wrote about the importance of teamwork, trust and distributed leadership. In the lead up to London 2012, Heerdan found himself at the centre of a large team of people, all invested and sharing his personal information. Each individual represented a different set of skills and expertise. For Heerdan, it was an exercise in trust. If he didn’t fully trust these individuals, their advice would be wasted. For us in business, having a team we can trust is also crucial, otherwise you will feel the need to check their work. In times of added pressure, doubt, or where your own knowledge is lacking, you need to have the trust and the confidence to approach the other members of your team for help. This definitely requires humility.
Surround yourself with people who know more than you and who can help you reach ever better levels of personal performance.
Although there are many solo competitors and competitions within the summer games, Olympians rely on teamwork from a network of trainers, coaches, assistants and fellow athletes – as well as support from the country they’re representing. It’s a team built on foundations of encouragement and expertise, support and movement towards mutual goals – every member of that team wants the same thing and has adjusted their personal goals to fit this shared ambition. Applying this model of successful teamwork can go a long way to inspiring organisations to develop better collaboration amongst employees.
Encouraging Competition
Cycling and gymnastics give us a great examples of athletes who compete and train as a team – working together and encouraging one another – but who remain individual athletes, competing against each other. It was painful to see Louis Smith lose out to team mate Max Whitlock, but perhaps it was this very rivalry that motivated Max to achieve the standard that he did.
Speaking with HR Dive with authority on the subject, former Team USA Olympic boxer Angel Bovee recently highlighted how employers need to look to harnessing each individual’s skills, as well as their competitive nature and adaptability, to generate successful teamwork – a fact she picked up from her experience representing the United States on the international stage.
Although the idea of a ‘competitive nature’ may make employers assume that this trait would encourage employees to work against each other, the opposite is actually true. The ‘harnessing’ Bovee mentions means finding the balance within the team which ensures that every individual is applying their various skills to move the team towards a shared goal – in addition to their own career goals – all the while channelling their ambitions into overcoming industry competitors and any other challenges standing between the team and success.
In conclusion, the games may be over, we’re still learning from our athletes every day. Let’s not forget, the Paralympic Games are on their way and I have no doubt the Superhumans will inspire us again. To build successful teams, we need to follow in the footsteps of the games and be prepared to invest in and develop individuals. For organisations who can take on board what we see demonstrated every four years on the international sporting stage, the results include added value, happier employees and the opportunity to go for gold in their industry – a chance which is well worth the extra work.
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