Which past champions disappear, slide off into the sunset, and enjoy the dreams of their past glories, and which go back to the gym, come back stronger, fitter, fresher and ready to mount another bid?
Tag Archives: business
Congratulations
A huge congratulations to the three winners of the competition to win signed copies of “The Vital Edge”.
“The Vital Edge” will be winging its way to them shortly.
All three winners nominated truly awesome sports people as the ones who had inspired them most.
Win a copy of The Vital Edge
Dip into “The Vital Edge”
Fancy a taster of what you can expect from my recently released book, “The Vital Edge”? Have a look through the attached presentation to see what topics are covered and which sports people feature. If you have already purchased the book, many thanks for doing so. I’d love to hear your thoughts and comments on the subjects raised in “The Vital Edge”, either by leaving a review or rating on the Lulu.com site or here in the comments section of this blog.
“The Vital Edge” has arrived
My book, “The Vital Edge”, can now be purchased at Lulu.com (it will be available through other distributors at a later date).
Using anecdotes and metaphors from sport, combined with psychology and behavioural models, the book provides guidance and pointers as to how business performance can be improved and how common de-railers can be overcome. It is intended to be an easy to read and entertaining journey through a variety of sports, with an intriguing dive into subject areas as diverse as motivation, optimism, ‘flow’, neuroscience, leadership, teamwork and collaboration. It will include worksheets with ponder questions at the end of each chapter allowing the book to be used individually or as part of team-building, leadership development and coaching programmes.
I recently offered sneak previews to readers.
One reviewer commented: “Being an athlete, an improving coach and a sports policy maker makes your book talk to me in a very personal way. It’s as if you have written this book just for me. I love it so much putting it down is a problem. All the elements that bind sport and business are there.”
I would love to hear what you think of the book. You can of course leave comments and feedback, as well as ratings, on the Lulu.com page, and it would be great if you did. In addition, you can send me comments directly using the Contact Us Page.
Many thanks. I hope you enjoy it.
Louis
“The Vital Edge” is coming
Make a note of the date. The week commencing 14 April 2014 will see the release of
“The Vital Edge”……. (Sporting Mindsets for Business Performance)
Using anecdotes and metaphors from sport, combined with psychology and behavioural models, the book provides guidance and pointers as to how business performance can be improved and how common de-railers can be overcome. It is intended to be an easy to read and entertaining journey through a variety of sports, with an intriguing dive into subject areas as diverse as motivation, optimism, ‘flow’, neuroscience, leadership, teamwork and collaboration. It will include worksheets with ponder questions at the end of each chapter allowing the book to be used individually or as part of team-building, leadership development and coaching programmes.
I recently offered sneak previews to readers.
One reviewer commented: “Being an athlete, an improving coach and a sports policy maker makes your book talk to me in a very personal way. Its as if you have written this book just for me. I love it so much putting it down is a problem. All the elements that bind sport and business are there.”
A number of people have requested details of how to get hold of the book on its release. I will make sure you get those details. If you would like to add your name (and contact details) to that list please provide your details using the Contact Us Page and I will get back to you personally.
Louis Collins, Leadership Development Coach
Sporting Lessons
Regular readers will know that sport features extensively in the leadership lessons & metaphors that I allude to. I’ve decided to compile these sporting examples into book format and, should there be sufficient interest, I will aim to publish.
. I would be delighted if you would care to take the time to look over either a sample chapter or, for the seriously dedicated amongst you, a draft of the entire book.
You can get a copy of a sample chapter easily by using this link.
The full draft is available at this link but you will need to drop me a request for a password to allow you to download the PDF. Just send me a request either through a comment to this post or by using the contact us page.
I hope you enjoy what you read. I have just one small request to make in return. I would love to have your feedback. All comments are welcome. Any suggestions you have for improvements, for inclusions, for removals, or any other thoughts or comments will be very much appreciated. Do you think this concept or format will have appeal? If so, to whom?
Of course, whether you choose to read just one chapter or the entire compilation, I will be happy if you enjoy it, even if only to relive some great sporting moments.
If you extract even more value than that, then I will be delighted. Do let me know.
Resist the temptation to be clever
I have often been asked by people who are unfamiliar with coaching, “How can you coach people in areas that you have no experience or knowledge of?”
I sometimes use this as an opportunity to help people obtain a clearer understanding of what coaching actually is. I spend time explaining that coaching is not the same as mentoring. That it is not about specific knowledge or skills transfer. In fact, it can actually be an advantage to ‘not know’, as it makes it easier for the coach to ask totally naive questions with no pre-judgement.
To emphasise this point, I will often allude to the possible dangers that can emerge when you are too close to an area. When the coach is carrying their own ‘baggage’ around, they can slip into expressing their own views, or ask questions loaded with judgement. This can be one of the biggest challenges facing the internal coach. I worked as a coach within a corporate environment for a number of years. It was hugely rewarding, and offered a tremendous opportunity to be part of great change within the organisation. However, I know from personal experience, that when certain issues arose during coaching sessions, where I as the coach had specific knowledge about something, it presented me with a dilemma. I could, and sometimes did, inject a piece of knowledge that would help clarify some confusion, and help move the client past a particular obstacle. Indeed, it would be wrong (and could be argued as unethical) not to. However, it is important to recognise that when you are doing that, you are no longer being a coach, and it is very important to tell the client that, so as to avoid any confusion about your role as a coach.
There is a real danger however, particularly for a new coach (as I found to my cost on occasions), that you may slip in and out of your coach role too many times, or for too long. The relationship may even morph into one that is no longer ‘coaching’, and into something else entirely. You may find yourself Continue reading
Why aren’t Business Leaders more like Athletes?
It suprprises me that our aspiring business leaders and even general managers in corporations and in public service do not dedicate more time to brain science. I liken this to the world of athletics. An athlete’s primary job is to run faster, or jump higher or throw further. Sounds simple. But it is now well-recognised that to be the very best and to achieve the nano-second advantage that might make the difference between gold & silver or even between qualification for the olympic team and staying at home, athletes need to know a lot more than ‘just’ their traditional training programme. In the course of becoming the best they can be, they become well-versed in areas of muscle physiology, nutrition, anatomy, cardio-vascular mechanics, as well as some important principles of the the way their brain works through relaxation techniques, managing and channelling emotions and positive visualisation exercises. So what do we need and expect from our leaders? Continue reading