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Autumn 2007

Welcome to our autumn newsletter. I've been working closely with UK Sport's Mission 2012, a major culture-change initiative designed to help British sports both map out their route to success in the Olympics and build a sustainable legacy thereafter. Given the huge investment and Britain’s aim to be in the top four in the medal table, this is an exciting project that fits well with Performance1's focus on increasing the speed of our clients’ ability to adapt to their challenges.

Having worked directly with some eight Olympic sports over recent weeks, I’ve been struck by two recurring themes: talent; and coaching. Both offer insight and challenge for anyone interested – as P1 is – in improving performance in any context.

1. The need for talent
In the hunt for talent, sports are becoming more focused on spotting it early and then identifying a ‘performance pathway’ that will transform young enthusiastic amateurs into podium-level athletes. Some innovative sports are even seeking to draw in people from outside their own patch - if you’re not going to make the grade in professional rugby, how about judo? It’s an idea that headhunters stuck in the rut of considering only candidates with a track record in the same field might usefully take on board.

Similarly, many businesses could win by rethinking their own performance pathways. Old linear patterns of predictable departmental promotions have been eroded over the past three decades or so by delayering, virtual teams and remote networking. So it’s become harder to attract, retain, promote and motivate ambitious young people - the so-called Generation Y who are less interested in committing to a long-term career than in furthering ‘Me Inc’

We’ve been helping the regional managing directors of one FTSE100 firm better understand how to find and keep exactly this target group. And we’re working with another FTSE100 client to develop a talent strategy that will make it easier for people to develop a broader perspective earlier by moving between specialist disciplines.

2. The need for good coaching
The new ability of sports administrators to afford the best coaches from anywhere in the world is throwing up an uncomfortable truth: exceptional coaches are rare. Whilst there are excellent technical coaches, few have two key additional skill-sets:

• the ability to co-ordinate a range of specialist inputs
• the ability to adapt to different cultures

Even the best technical coaches will struggle to lift performance if they can’t attune to the cultural subtleties of their athletes. And we’ve all seen the blocks that people can hit when they’re pushed beyond their comfort zone without support. Our organisational work is increasingly focusing on the evolution of performance - helping people grow their capacity to manage increasingly complex environments.

Not all our clients have the same unambiguous targets as British sport in 2012. But whether it’s in the public or private sector, everyone is grappling with the challenge of improving performance. And we’re happy to be there alongside them.

Jonathan Males