What we can learn from London 2012 about success

Interview to Dominic Mahony, Olympic team leader for GB Modern Pentathlon for the past four Olympic Games, where he shares his top lessons from London 2012.

Talent identification and development

The success of Team GB was not a flash in the pan. It was the result of 15 years of consistent investment in excellence that allowed 26 sports to put in place long-term talent identification and development programmes that will continue to guarantee success at future Olympic Games.

Business leaders can learn from this – you need to invest in the long-term success of your organisation through your people. Invest in their development and their talent and find ways to stretch and challenge them to perform. But consider your assessment and identification programme carefully – the world is changing at pace, and the skills and competencies your recruit for now may well be completely defunct in five years’ time. In sport, we also assess an athlete’s learning mindset and resilience – their ability, and attitude towards learning new things and being able to not only cope with but thrive in pressured situations. These are skills that your employees will need as well, and can help ensure the future of your organisation.

Make the most of your successes

It is said that you learn a lot from your failures, but you can also learn a lot from your successes. Understanding your strongest skills is important, so that you are able to use them in the future. London was able to project-manage the most complex construction and event delivery programme the country had ever seen, and did it safely, on time and within budget. We utilised our existing skills as a country to demonstrate to the rest of the world what we are capable of. The reputational impact for our civil engineering and construction industries has been significant, demanding a greater worldwide respect for British construction firms. What are your skills as an organisation and are you making the most of them? Can you capitalise on the skills of your workforce or your products to ensure your position in the marketplace is as strong as it could be?

The role of the leader

The coaches and team managers of Team GB had very clear goals – to define the performance required to win; create the environment for the athletes to succeed, and then get out of the way and let them perform.

(From: Lane4 newsletter)

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