Paddy Upton with PR Sreejesh
Paddy Upton, a renowned mental guru and coach who had a successful run with the Indian cricket team during the 2011 ICC World Cup, believes that strategies employed in sports can be effectively applied to the corporate world.
It highlights several key lessons, including the importance of overcoming consistent mistakes, maintaining a long-term perspective, cultivating a positive culture through strong leadership and open feedback, extracting maximum effort from all team members, and being adaptable to unexpected challenges.
One of the most valuable lessons sport has taught us is the importance of taking a long-term view. Upton cites the example of the Indian hockey team, which suffered a humiliating 5-0 defeat to Australia, but beat the same team at the Olympics just a few months later. “Coach Craig Fulton deserves a lot of credit. As difficult as it was, he did not become obsessed with winning a particular series, compromising the Olympic campaign. This is a great lesson for Indian companies that compromise on the long-term view to achieve quarterly results,” he said.
Another crucial lesson is the power of leadership. A strong leader can create a positive culture that attracts and retains top talent and inspires team members to perform at their best. Upton emphasizes the importance of honest feedback and accountability in leadership, which can help identify areas for improvement and foster a more productive work environment.
He says: “Like sports teams, companies should ask themselves what pieces of the puzzle (people or systems, for example) are necessary for success, and how to best bring them together through aspects such as culture and communication to lay the best possible foundation for success.”
He adds: “One of the key elements is great leadership, because it leads to a great culture. The number one practical measure of a great culture is that it attracts the best talent. The second is that it retains that talent longer than any competitor. The third is that it gets the best out of the rest.”
Upton notes that every great team in the history of the sport typically had three or four extraordinary players. However, the importance of those who supported the star players cannot be ignored. Similarly, companies can only expect to have a handful of star players among their employees, while the majority will fall into the category of average performers. However, these employees can contribute to small but significant growth rates and profits over time.
According to Upton, one of the most important lessons businesses can learn from sports is adaptability in adverse situations. Citing the example of the Indian hockey team’s great escape against Great Britain during the quarter-finals of the Paris 2024 Olympics, he says, “We thought about and planned for some of the predictable challenges we might face, but we also knew that unexpected things could arise that couldn’t be anticipated. So, we had a clear and well-communicated plan for when it happened.” [red card] “Until then, the plan was just a theory. Now, it was about seeing if we had a team with enough commitment, resilience and courage to implement the plan for 43 minutes. This is under the highest pressure in an Olympic elimination match.”
Lastly, he mentions that the key difference between the sports world and the corporate world is that if an athlete is not happy with the team environment, he has limited options and must make the most of the opportunities that come his way. However, in corporate life, employees can choose to change organisations if they are not happy with the leadership.
Upton concludes that learning new leadership skills and replacing outdated methods will help companies evolve and encourage employees to contribute more to their own growth and that of the company.
First published: August 29, 2024 | 19:09 IS
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