Knowing your limits, focusing on goals, avoiding routine, forming a team. Sports teaching also works in the company. Especially in times of crisis. Word of 2 experts
Approaching work and daily life with a professional athlete mentality is the key to feeling better, focusing on your goals and achieving them more easily . Few rules, the same ones that apply to those who train. On a physical level , eat well, sleep a lot, take breaks, change your routine. On the mental one , the most important: identifying one’s weaknesses, concentrating on goals, raising the bar a little more every day. On that of relationships : learning that teamwork is fundamental but it only works if everyone shares the same goal and there is a figure, the boss, who manages to coordinate us by making everyone express at their best.
All useful information, in “normal” times, which are at the center of manuals and training programs. But what happens if a pandemic upsets our habits and questions every goal? How is it possible to plan one’s efforts in a moment of crisis, or to team up in front of a monitor? We asked 2 great experts in the sector : a successful coach lent to business and an entrepreneur who imported the sports mentality into his company.
Alberto Calcagno
Alberto Calcagno
CEO of Fastweb (sponsor of the National Artistic Gymnastics), runner and author of Get in the game (Oscar Mondadori).
How does the sporting mentality matter in a large company? «Sport and the working environment are two sides of the same coin. In both cases we need the sharing of objectives and responsibilities, the desire to improve, ambition – which is something different from achievement – and the ability to enjoy victories and accept defeats ».
That said it’s easy. But how do you make it work at your desk, especially now? «With entrepreneurship, which is the other point in common between successes in the field and those at work. The objectives can of course change, but if everyone has the opportunity to express themselves, the result becomes higher than the sum of the individual talents ».
And what should a good boss aim for? «About mistakes. As a coach insists in training on the weaknesses of an athlete, I always start my meetings from the queue, asking those who submit me an idea which are the difficulties we are likely to encounter, rather than the benefits. It is an approach that is also valid in everyday life, today when our priorities are distorted ».
Here, in fact: isn’t it more difficult for a worker to feel part of a common strategy in times of smart working? “If by smart working we mean that the company limits itself to handing you a laptop before abandoning you to yourself, yes. If, on the other hand, remote work becomes an opportunity to take responsibility, dialogue better, free more creativity, reconcile commitments and reduce stress, there are advantages for everyone. A walk in the park below the house frees more endorphins than a coffee break in the office, for example! ».
In your book there is a striking parallel with Filippo Tortu. «In 2019, at the World Athletics Championships, the Sardinian sprinter reached the semifinals despite a couple of performances not up to par. Many thought that this was the maximum achievable result for him. Instead he set an excellent time and did not disfigure even in the final. This is what champions do: they find a nervous glue that solidifies the belief in their own means, even when others would throw in the towel. And this is what those who, in the company, today find themselves facing new obstacles such as Covid or the economic crisis must do “.
Mauro Berruto
Mauro Berruto
Former coach of the national volleyball team and coordinator of the archery team, business coach, in the bookshop with Masterpieces. Train, train and look elsewhere (EdiDi).
Can you really improve by treating an office as if it were a team? «A group is not a team, it becomes one when it has a common goal. It is as valid on a football or volleyball field as in a company, small or large. Pointing out that goal to everyone is up to the leader, who also has the responsibility to change it if conditions have changed, as is happening now. But the biggest contribution must be made by all the others ».
How? «Like an athlete who in recent months has been forced to train alone, those in smart working must strive to change mentality, work rhythms and find new solutions. If he doesn’t, he risks being left behind. And a good boss must become a coach by coordinating these individual efforts, recognizing their contribution to everyone: something that often doesn’t happen in the workplace ».
What else do you need? «Fatigue and organization. Returning to Covid, we all appreciated the sacrifice of doctors and nurses, but we also saw how it is more effective where hospitals and health systems are better equipped to react to unexpected events “.
Is there a sporting story that can inspire those who face these scenarios today? «At the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games Josefa Idem found herself competing in the semi-open sea, with rough water and very strong gusts of wind: she thought for a long time to retire. But, as a great athlete she was, she adapted to get the best out of that situation. And he won gold. Anyone in the workplace today sees that the picture has changed and the difficulties have grown. But we must not lose focus, setting realistic goals and making the most of it to achieve them. If it cannot be 100% but only 95%, it will be fine too.
