What can the Olympics teach us about leadership?

With the Olympics underway, many athletes are gearing up for the performance of their careers, what can this teach us about leadership? Craig Johns, leadership and workplace culture expert, explains what you can learn.

I believe that what leadership and athletes have in common is high performance, but what most people describe as high-performance habits is in fact just strong performance consistently achieved.

But high performance isn’t just finishing the race by applying the basics well. It’s also about improving the precision, performance and focus required to increase efficiency, improve success and keep things error free. And we can learn the same lessons in leadership.

As a former triathlete and New Zealand national hockey player, these are the four areas I know high performance athletes excel at and review constantly.

Energy management

Energy management is an athlete’s number one currency.

And just like athletes, CEOs and leadership teams need stamina, precision and focus and to manage  high performing teams.

It starts with applying the four fundamentals required for high performance: exercise daily; fuel your body with the right food; free your mind; and recover with purpose.

In sport, high performance athletes are meticulous in their approach to energy management. They schedule their energy and recovery on a daily, weekly, monthly, yearly and career basis to sustain high performance and inner drive.

Good leaders must also schedule recovery time from the daily demands of their roles, and that includes being an example to your team in how you take your leave.

Mindset and leadership

High performers are known for their productivity, precision, drive and focus.

It starts with a clarity of vision. When Michael Phelps was 12 years old, he visualised standing on the Olympic podium with a gold medal around his neck. As a 19-year-old, at Athens in 2004, Phelps won six gold and two bronze.

When you have clarity of your vision you say no instead of yes.

You say no to everyone that will prevent you from achieving your goal. No to chocolate, alcohol, late nights. You naturally form a disciplined mind. We know that complacency and lack of drive leads to errors and mistakes. So… what’s your vision?

A high performing leader or CEO also needs to be adaptable to changing conditions.

It’s like a Tour de France rider dealing with changing terrain, road surfaces and weather conditions. A disciplined mind needs both focus and adaptability.

What can you control? How can you provide a safe and error-free environment? As a triathlete and cyclist, I always ensured that my equipment was maintained because a tyre blowout, faulty brake, loose pedal or a dry chain could be catastrophic.

Teamwork and leadership

Teamwork in sport can be a matter of life or death and teamwork in business is vital to your success.

Like a Formula 1 pit‐stop crew, how can you work as a single unit to perform a complex task under pressure with minimal error? Meticulous planning, checklists, tight feedback loops, practice and communication are required to deliver.

I was fortunate to be part of one of New Zealand’s best sports team in the 1990s, the Stratford Premiere Men’s Field Hockey Team who went unbeaten for 272 games. That’s right… 16 years without a loss. It might be a world record unbeaten sports streak. What’s even more impressive is the team only lost once in 21 years.

To deliver sustainable high performance over a long period of time this team had to 1. Share their vision – they collectively wanted to excel and win. 2. Focus on seamless teamwork – with a collaborative and competitive mindset. 3. Be disciplined – each member of the team knew when to lead and when to follow. 4. Discipline – they understood that harmony was the handbrake to high performance. To remain united, they needed courage when it mattered.

Performance monitoring

The biggest difference between sport and business is the level of performance monitoring.

High Performance athletes have a tight feedback loop they apply to their performance. They are always focused on how they can receive high quality feedback in real time. They know that constant growth minimises success or failure.

No successful athlete does it on their own. They surround themselves with people and technology who can monitor, tweak and enhance their performance.

And just like Olympic athletes good leaders and CEOs need good support teams who understand their vision and can help them achieve it.

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