Domination in Tennis and Leadership
Looking back on Wimbledon overall and Murray in particular, the area that keeps arising is the importance of psychological domination in tennis, and how difficult this is to maintain with the challenges placed by different opponents.
Domination
Murray had dominated Juan-Carlos Ferrero in their quarter final match and at Queens, with a high ace count and a game plan that bewildered the Spaniard through variety and aggression. Roddick provided a very different challenge, dominating through awesome serving blunting one of Murray's strengths as the best returner on tour, and backing this up with a game plan that was more aggressive from the back of the court, and looking to get to the net whenever possible. This seemed to stop Murray from spinning his spider's web mixture of guile and power, and seemed to leave him a shade more tentative than normal. Additionally in the face of Roddick's more aggressive plays, reminiscent of Verdasco's big hitting in Paris, Murray's own big weapon his serve, seemed less effective with a big decrease in his 1st serve percentage.
Tennis continues to provide a stage on which each player has to soak up the other's attempts to dominate, and push back with their own, without overextending themselves and giving away free points in unforced errors. With the slalom canoeists I used the concept of how far they could 'push the envelope', a reference to test and fighter pilots looking to explore and extend their own limits and those of their machines, continuing to build their self awareness as they learn.
Domination in Organisations
Inclusive leadership with an emphasis on emotional intelligence can bring with it a reluctance to lead from the front and demonstrate a clear sense of where your team and organisation are going. At the opposite end of the spectrum domination of individuals and teams leaves many casualties and often lower performance. The challenge for leaders is to be clear of their own 'envelope' between the two poles; Providing intelligent authoritative direction and the ability to engage with the individuals and teams on a human level. In our work as coaches we help leaders identify their 'envelope', the strengths they need to build on, and the areas they need to develop. As I said in the interview, the recipe is different for every leader, as it is for every tennis player and athlete.
