Blog – What can businesses learn from the ultimate team sport?
By Steve Benson
Rugby Union Coach / Chief Executive
It’s now been a month or so since my discussion with Penny Aspden about sports coaching that went out as a Distinctive People podcast, so it’s a good time to reflect on how it went and what people have said to me about it.
The main thing people have commented on is how much synergy there is between sports coaching and the way we coach, manage and mentor people at work. This is hardly surprising as in both cases we’re trying to get people and teams to be the best they can to achieve desired outcomes.
One of the differences between sport and many workplaces is the overtly competitive nature of sport and sports people. That said, many aspects of work are very competitive and I find that in the workplace, even people who say they’re not competitive, respond positively to things like team or individual goals, as ultimately, we all like to be successful, albeit in different ways.
Something else that resonated with people was my belief that coaching people to get better and continually improve is often more important than coaching people to win. I used the analogy of a coach developing an individual or a group of players with limited ability to improve and enjoy what they’re doing, being more of an achievement than a coach winning a league or cup with a group of highly talented players.
I also referred to the importance of things like diversity, empowerment, positivity, an environment where people aren’t scared to make mistakes, learning from doing and being judged by what you do, rather than what you say.
My comments linking Rugby’s five principles to the values of an organisation were also commented on – and I passionately believe that we should always measure everything we do in an organisation against our vision, mission and values.
My final point was about making sure that we always enjoy what we’re doing and again, in my view this is just important in the workplace as it is on the sports field.