Elite Thinking: Building mental strength

 

 

“Winning doesn’t just begin in the locker room; it also begins in the mind.”

 Jon Gordon, Bestselling author.

 
“How do I get my players to be the best example of themselves each day?” Elite Thinking coaches wake up each day and ask themselves this question. Any coach as leader wants their players to be their best versions of themselves on and off the field. There are simple yet powerful strategies that when performed with intent and regularity have the potential to transform teams and players. These are strategies employed by some of the most successful teams on the planet to build mental strength through the power of positivity.

 “To build a winning team, you must help your players and staff have amnesia about past outcomes and remember all the little things they did to get better.”

The world view shift
Something powerful happens when a coach shifts their world view from seeing players and teams from problems to be solved to solutions to be uncovered. This differs from the belief that problem solving will lead to something better. The world view shift is more powerful because there is a move away from the traditional focus on eliminating performance problems towards using “reflective practices which provide a more sustained focus on performance successes and strengths.” (1) The strategies a coach can use are:
a) Emphasizing success of a player.
b) Focusing on the strengths of the team.
c) Highlighting best practices on the field.
This is different to stressing the problems and seeking solutions for them. Issues and weaknesses are not neglected. This is an important point. The difference is in the balance. A culture of success is created when the coach and players spend more time celebrating, unpacking and analyzing the positive so that it may be replicated.  Jon Gordon states, “To build a winning team, you must help your players and staff have amnesia about past outcomes and remember all the little things they did to get better.”(2)
Coaches can use the 5 Powerful Questions to guide conversations: 

What was going on when we were on top? 

What worked well when we were under pressure? 

How were we feeling? 

What was creating our successes? 

How can we do more of that?

“Visualization is an important tool for me.”  Phil Jackson

You move in the direction of your thoughts
Successful athletes envision themselves winning and coaches play an important role in giving the players permission, time and a safe environment. Coaches draw pictures of the plays on whiteboards to show each player how they should execute their moves in order to be successful. Players visualize themselves implementing the right moves.  They see themselves making the perfect pass, the perfect tackle, or the perfect block to make the play exactly as it was outlined on the board. Phil Jackson took the Lakers to three titles as head coach from 1999-2004. He then led the Chicago Bulls to six NBA championships from 1989-1998.  In his book, “Sacred Hoops,” he wrote “Visualization is an important tool for me.”  Jackson helped his players visualize their success winning games, and he gave them guided meditations called the “Safe Spot” during half times to help the players calm down and regain the focus necessary to achieve success.
 
Three simple game visualization strategies to create positively powerful players are:
 

Visualize success: Before the game, involve players in visualization. This is one of the most underutilized methods to create a winning mindset. I was first introduced to this 25 years ago by sports psychologist, Dr. Ken Jennings, who was an early pioneer in this area. I have used and honed this methodology over years to good effect. At a high level, simply have players be quiet and begin to visualize success on the field. This takes repetition and practice. Players over time will learn to see the minute details (the spin on the ball, the seam on the ball, feel their fingers on the racquet, feel their shoulders in the tackle, the touch of foot on ball etc.) This is a quiet moment that puts the players into a space of powerful positivity; into that Elite Thinking zone.

Visualize competence: Have players close their eyes and visualize situations or areas of their game where they feel less confident and uncomfortable. Coaches have the players spend time imagining, in vivid detail, how to get out of tricky situations and make the difficult play. It may be a quarterback throwing to his right under pressure, a soccer player seemingly stuck on the sideline on her left foot, catching a ball on the boundary, or a tennis player returning a kicking topspin serve on their backhand. Whatever the challenging situation is, the player has to now visualize a way to get out of trouble and emerge successfully. (The bigger goals of winning the title or being on top of the league are also examples of what to visualize). The more detail and regularity coaches allow their players to perform this visualization practice, the more natural it becomes and the better players are at it.

Visualize to re-energize: The two most decorated rugby sevens teams in the world, the Fijians and the South Africans use a technique to great effect. At halftime, the Fijian team comes together on the field. Halftime is only two minutes, but they take the time to turn towards the sun, close their eyes and stand in silence taking deep breaths for about 20 seconds. Only then do they have their team talk. The South African team, known as the Blitzbokke, huddle together in complete silence at halftime. The coaching staff are several meters back. The team hears from the captain and team members, and only then does the coach step in to provide his perspective. These teams are going through the 3C’s: Compose, Consider and Commit.
                     i.     They compose themselves by being still, standing in silence and breathing deeply. Sevens is a fast and physically demanding game. The breathing and silence brings an element of calm to the brain. The heart rate slows leading the brain to release endorphins, which are chemicals that have a calming effect reducing anxiety, anger and fear allowing for smarter decision-making on the field.
                    ii.     The players now have the mental space to consider their own and the team’s performance. They consider the extent to which they are executing the strategy, what areas they are performing well in and what needs to be changed. Because the players are in a calm state of mind, they are more open to ideas.
                   iii.    Finally, the players commit to the plan for the second half. They also re-commit themselves to each other and the bigger goals of the team.
 
Conclusion
The strategies are simple, take very little time and are highly effective. By using these Elite Thinking strategies, the coach is able to establish an environment where players can be the best example of themselves each day.  They do this by being enveloped in a culture of positivity where the coach intentionally develops the players’ mental strength, calmness and visions of success. The more regularly and intentionally these practices are employed, the more positively contagious the culture and team will be and the greater the opportunities for success.
 
Dr. Peter Dry
March, 2021
peterdry@thepdlearninggroup.com
 
This is part 4 of “Coaches as strengths-based leaders”.
Peter uses his Elite Thinking methodology to unleash the potential in teams across all sectors. It is a framework that emerges from positive psychology designed to build a world champion mindset. The framework is grounded in the belief that greater levels of self-awareness around the strengths of an individual builds sustainable success for individuals and teams. Whether it is an executive leadership team, sports team, or a school team, Elite Thinking is a solution-focused approach which entails identifying what creates a successful team, who the team is when they are at their best and then aiming to duplicate regularly. The leader’s role is to engage the individual’s strengths and highlight positive performances to create confidence, belief and enthusiasm and ultimately outstanding performances. A winning culture is built by focusing  predominantly on the positive, identifying the strengths of the individuals as well as magnifying best practices. 
 
References:
Dixon, M., Lee, S. & Ghaye, T. (2015) Strengths-based reflective practices for the management of change: applications from sport and positive psychology, Journal of Change Management.
Jackson, P. & Delehanty, H. (2006). Sacred Hoops: Spiritual Lessons of a Hardwood Warrior. New York: Hyperion.
Gordon, J. & Smith, M. (2015). You win in the locker room first: 7 C’s to build a winning team in sports, business and life. New Jersey: Wiley
 
Photo:
https://www.world.rugby/sevens-series/video/129148/half-time-team-talk-south-africa-v-argentina?lang=es
 
 
 
 
 
 

Elite Thinking: Coaches as strengths-based leaders and the power of questions (part 3)

 “Even on the coaching side, I was very conscious of keeping the good stuff. I would ask what else we could do or how we could do this better and again…”

Sir Clive Woodward, coach of England Rugby team when they won the Rugby World Cup in 2003

 

This is the third part of a series on Elite Thinking. The article gives clear strategies to begin to implement the Elite Thinking framework through the use of the positive pivot and the 5+2 powerful questions that create greater coach and player awareness to optimize consistently strong performance.

 

The positive pivot

I observed a field hockey coach with her team that had just lost a game. The team culture was one of focusing on the positive, building from strengths and magnifying the good. The coach had a clear understanding of the power of reflective practices in a competitive sporting environment where a “we-can’t-slow-down” mentality often prevails. In spite of the loss, the players did not dwell on the question “what went wrong?”

This is the potential of the positive pivot, where the question one asks leads the conversation down a more positively powerful path. The team began with magnifying the good and shining a light on what worked well. This was not “paint-on-positivity”. The players provided clear and specific evidence of success instead of “good job” and “way to go.” The team made sure they pivoted quickly from analyzing failure to analyzing success. They looked more holistically at the game and noted that it had in fact been lost in a ten minute session. The focus though was not on the ten minutes. The players pivoted and began to analyze the success factors of when they were on top of the opposition and playing well.

The positive pivot is where the question one asks leads the conversation down a more positively powerful path.

The 5 powerful questions

Coaches can use the powerful question technique to delve deeper into the mindset of the player to help them understand how they can be their best more often. This is classic Elite Thinking methodology. The reflection questions were, “ What was going on when we were on top? What worked well when we were under pressure? How were we feeling? What was creating our successes?” And, “How can we do more of that?” The responses were “We kept our structure and shape. Our communication was loud and clear. We stuck to our game plan of where we needed the ball to be. The energy was high. We were making the second tackles.” These questions led the analysis into the strengths of the team and set the team up for a positive future. The old adage of “you get more of what you focus on” is true. The coach had trained the players to focus on the path that would provide them the greatest opportunity for success by asking questions that led to a better future. The players were generating ideas that would be there to lean on and guide them in their training and in the next game. They had discovered exactly what led to their success and therefore were crystal clear on what they needed to do in the forthcoming games.

 

This approach should be used when winning games too. As Sir Clive Woodward says about the focus on the positive, in his book Winning! “[A] great time to do that is when you’ve won; to actually be very self-critical when you’ve won a game is great. Players are not used to that because of the tendency to overreact in the face of a loss…[W]hen things are going very well … use this information to reset the benchmarks and understand how to make further improvements. It’s about concentrating on success, not failure.” (1) The coach and players do not neglect weaknesses but redress the balance so that they are using “reflective practices which provide a more sustained focus on [the team’s] performance successes and strengths.” (2)

 They had discovered exactly what led to their success and therefore were crystal clear on what they needed to do in the forthcoming games.

2 more powerful questions

These two powerful questions are used when the coach is seeking to understand what makes the player “tick.” The coach and player work side-by-side to figure out what the recipe is for optimal performance. In sport and in life, the coach (and leader) is seeking to find out how to get their players to be their best selves more often. The coach as leader is attempting to create an awareness for the player (and the coach) of what the optimal mental conditions are for each player to succeed. The two simple but powerful questions are, “Under what conditions do I excel? When I am playing at my best, what am I doing/feeling/thinking?” Coaches that take the time to help each player uncover the answers to these powerful questions are shining a light on each player’s elite performance recipe. This is critical for the coach as they are quickly able to redirect a player’s focus, shift the conversation, and provide the environment where they will get the best out of their player. Importantly, the player’s awareness of their best “recipe for success” means that they can consciously create that state that will provide them the platform to perform more consistently at their best.

 

Developing self-awareness

Coaches are not absolved from giving advice and remedying skill issues, but the job is no longer to give unsolicited advice. That is an outdated coaching (and leadership) model where coaches are the fount of all knowledge, seek to find faults and have all the answers. This is ineffective. Simply being told does not constitute understanding. The coach needs to model this process and before launching into offering great advice, should ask great questions. This takes time. The coach is building a strengths-based culture. 

 

There is an added benefit to this reflective approach. Elite Thinking coaches are developing thinking players. Players who can make better decisions, show greater self-awareness and who have better judgement about their own play and the game itself. When a player truly understands something, they can transfer and apply this knowledge to new and challenging situations. The coach cannot think for the players and to have a team of thinkers is a winning advantage. Furthermore, to have players who know their strengths and how to get into their elite performance zone, have more success on the field and in life.

 

Conclusion

Coaches using the Elite Thinking model have moved on from the outdated industrial age model approach to coaching. There is less telling and yelling. The Elite Thinking coaches are proficient at the positive pivot and asking powerful questions that aim to elicit answers from the players that encourage them to think deeply about the game. The opportunity for coaches to enhance players’ self-awareness and to create a different process of thought that builds momentum towards better results lies in the questions.  The positive pivot and the 5+2 powerful questions drive successful results.

 

 

References:

1) Woodward, C. (2005). Winning! London: Hodder Paperbacks.

2) Dixon, M., Lee, S. & Ghaye, T. (2015) Strengths-based reflective practices for the management of change: applications from sport and positive psychology, Journal of Change Management.

 

Dr. Peter Dry

March, 2021

peterdry@thepdlearninggroup.com

 

Peter uses his Elite Thinking methodology to unleash the potential in teams across all sectors.

 

It is a framework that emerges from positive psychology designed to build a world champion mindset. The framework is grounded in the belief that greater levels of self-awareness around the strengths of an individual builds sustainable success for players and teams. Elite Thinking is a solution-focused approach which entails identifying what creates a successful team, who the team is when they are at their best and then aiming to replicate that each game. The coach’s role is to engage the players’ strengths and highlight positive performances to create confidence, belief and enthusiasm and ultimately outstanding performances. Focusing  predominantly on the positive, the strengths of the players and magnifying or appreciating best practices and moments of the individuals and team builds a winning culture. 

 

 

Elite Thinking: Coaches as strengths-based leaders (part 2)

 

“If you want to grow – if you want to be successful in any way in your career, your relationships, your life – you’ve got to focus on strengths, and manage around your weaknesses”. (Marcus Buckingham, Founder of the strengths revolution)

There is a strengths wave that has been building momentum for some time. Whether you work in business, health, education or the sports industry, the strengths-based approach has changed the way we see ourselves, our colleagues, our children and our world. The strengths approach is at the core of my Elite Thinking methodology which teaches that you learn very little about excellence when you study weaknesses. It is simply incorrect that a deep understanding of weaknesses will amount to a deep understanding of excellence. That is why we study successful teams and not unsuccessful teams in business and sport. It is why we analyze great leaders so we can discover what made them so successful. We move in the direction of our thoughts and as we lean more to looking at success, excellence, and productivity, so we will discover the ingredients, the characteristics, the paradigms, the actions and so on that will lead us to further success. The strengths-based Elite Thinking methodology advances players and coaches to levels previously unattainable. It gives teams a competitive advantage in sports, business and life. This methodology helps coaches know their own strengths, and have them be the guide for their lives, and to help players uncover, unpack and unleash their strengths. While the focus on the methodology is on strengths, we cannot ignore weaknesses. This article looks at the challenges of focusing on weaknesses and introduces the idea of the positive pivot.

 We move in the direction of our thoughts and as we lean more to looking at success, excellence, and productivity, so we will discover the ingredients, the characteristics, the paradigms, the actions and so on that will lead us to further success.

Fixating on Weaknesses

We often hear the importance of playing to one's strengths, so why is there a deep desire to focus on weaknesses? Part of that desire comes from our upbringing and how we were led to focus on our report card flaws and improve those to become strengths. That may have arisen because our parents (and we can include teachers, coaches and managers) have two incorrect paradigms through which people are viewed. One is that we can become competent at anything if we put our minds to it. Two, each person’s greatest opportunity is in their area of weakness. Unfortunately, it is not only the report card conversation where we see evidence of this. Organizations typically fall foul of a strengths-based focus and are fixated on fixing weaknesses. Most organizations I go into have a deficit focus and have these characteristics. Performance reviews examine an employer’s weaknesses, and then designs training around how to fix them. Individual Development Plans are built around areas of weakness. Even the company-wide SWOT analysis (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats) has an area for weaknesses that is typically emphasized. And, since people operate from the paradigm that a person can be competent in almost anything, people are both hired based on competencies and potential, and promoted based on performance in their current role, not necessarily a strengths-fit for the new role. It is no wonder that the majority of employees across the globe do not feel engaged in their work and the financial, personal and health issues that result from this lack of engagement are severe.

Furthermore, people have so little understanding of their talents and strengths. Why? Because before the rise of positive psychology, the focus of psychology was on diagnosing and fixing issues and problems. This traditional notion of people being broken has ensured we spend most of our time fixing people when in fact we should be focusing on the potential within their strengths. The strengths wave backed by science shows us clearly that identifying what we are good at, those natural talents and gifts, and turning them into strengths is transformational. And, I would argue, a still-to-be tapped resource in the world of sports coaching. Weaknesses typically remain weaknesses, and so we spend so much of our time hiding these flaws from others. Self-confidence takes a hammering and the result is often less drive to learn, grow and improve. Stories of player burnout, addiction, mental illness, locker room fights and coach exhaustion abound.

 Identifying what we are good at, those natural talents and gifts, and turning them into strengths is transformational

Strengths focus ignites talent

Coaches are tempted to fixate on weaknesses. It seems preposterous to focus only on the strengths of a player when there is so much to work on. Let’s examine this for a moment. Imagine if Steffi Graf, the brilliant tennis star, had forgone hours of practicing her devastating forehand to focus on her backhand. Her backhand was not a weapon, but her foot work and her ability to get around her backhand to unleash the forehand was exceptional. That is what got her to be ranked world No. 1 for a record 377 weeks and win 22 Grand Slam singles titles. What would it look like if players could focus on their strengths? Studies have repeatedly shown that a person is more engaged, productive, and creative when playing to their strengths. Furthermore, individuals exhibit better judgement. In the heat of battle, a coach needs their players to be able to make the correct calls. Coaches ought to know their players and be able to coach them so that certain skills are at competency level, and the natural strengths of players are focused on so that they become the best at their game in those talent-filled areas. The key lever for any coach then is to get each person to play to their strengths and in doing so their players become better performers. When strengths are the focus of a coach, they are on their way to building a high performance team.

 

In cricket, for example, we see lower order batters spending time improving their batting skills so they don’t get too easily dismissed and contribute to the team’s score, but they don’t spend that time at the expense of improving their bowling, the very strengths that got into the team. Or soccer goalkeepers who work on their dribbling and ground passing skills to reach levels of competency that add value to their core role of goalkeeping, but not to the expense of their ability to keep the ball out the net. We move further, faster and have more fun in our areas of strength.

 

It’s a ratio game

A coach cannot ignore a player’s weak technical skills. If a player is holding the ball or bat incorrectly, the coach needs to step in and correct that. You don’t let a player flounder. But it’s a ratio game. The coach needs to ask, “How much of my interaction time is spent fixing weaknesses versus highlighting strengths?” Coaches must be aware of the traditional deficit-type questions that are obsessed with problems and aim to remove or reduce impediments to success. There are absolutely times when a direct intervention is necessary; however, a coach who relies too much on this approach is failing to tap into the strengths of the players and missing the opportunity to create thinking players.

 

A player learning a new skill (like a knuckleball) needs some direct coaching, where to place the fingers, what the release point looks like and so on. This is coaching a skill or technique. I always ask, “What does it feel like when you play the shot/bowl the ball/pitch the ball perfectly?” “Describe what you are thinking, doing, feeling when you pitch at your best?” Players themselves begin to break down their technique on their own. They start from the best shot, best pitch, best throw. They begin with a perfect model in their thoughts and work out in detail what that looks and feels like and then work to replicate that on a near-consistent basis thus creating a strength.

The strengths-based Elite Thinking methodology advances players and coaches to levels previously unattainable.

Power of the positive pivot

The Journal of Change Management has an article on sport and positive psychology that states this strengths-based approach “poses an interesting challenge for sports coaches and business leaders,  who often see themselves as problem-solvers who are expected to ‘fix what’s broken.’”(1) Yet, positivity literally changes how our minds work. By pivoting from a focus on fixing weaknesses to seeing strengths, coaches can ask positive questions that create a conversation that brings with it the opportunity for positive action, a positive environment, and the opportunity for players to play to their strengths.

 

 

Dr. Peter Dry

March, 2021

peterdry@thepdlearninggroup.com

 

Peter uses his Elite Thinking methodology to unleash the potential in teams across all sectors.

 

1. Martin Dixon, Sarah Lee & Tony Ghaye (2105): Strengths-based reflective practices for the management of change: applications from sport and positive psychology, Journal of Change Management.

Photo credit: https://100daysofa11y.com/2019/01/30/day-61-identifying-a11y-issues-for-users-who-magnify-their-screen/