Meetings in a Different League
Reboot Your Brain
By Jon Bradshaw
PICTURE THE SCENE. IT’S A BALMY SATURDAY AFTERNOON IN MID MAY 1983, and from a glorious azure North London sky, an early summer sun blazes down creating a shimmering heat haze on the soft, lush, hallowed turf of Wembley Stadium—the iconic home of football (U.S. soccer).
With just a few minutes left, underdogs Brighton & Hove Albion are drawing 2-2 with the mighty Manchester United in front of more than 90,000 fans in the final of world football’s premier domestic cup competition, the FA Cup.
What happened next is etched in the memory of every Brighton fan. The crowd, as well as countless millions worldwide, watched transfixed as Brighton swept up field and midfielder Gordon Smith found himself in front of the goal with just Manchester goalkeeper Gary Bailey to beat. “Smith must score” boomed the TV commentator, and in doing so, uttered a sound bite that has since entered footballing folklore. Smith didn’t, and defeat was snatched from the jaws of victory via a rematch five days later.
I’ve often wondered how Gordon Smith dealt with the inevitable psychological issues that come from missing such a glorious chance. Fast forward almost 26 years, however, and I knew exactly how the 2009 Brighton team were dealing with a different kind of problem—possible relegation to the third tier of English football—as, with a month of the season left, I had been invited to work with them on their mental performance. With only one scenario certain of keeping them in the division—at least two wins and a draw from the remaining three matches—the great escape was on.
By sharing the five core elements of the mental performance model I used, you may be interested to find that mind tools for enhanced performance in the world of professional sports are not as far removed from that of meeting and event professionals as you may think.
1) Objective. Know what you want to achieve. Whether in the sporting or business worlds, teams work best when a clear shared objective is worked toward, one that can be chunked down into smaller bite-sized goals if necessary. With three games to go, the fact that ours was crystal clear helped create vision and focus. Regularly clarify personal and team goals, and ask team members to collectively commit to them.
2) Motivation. Know what you want to achieve. Understanding how to push each team member’s motivational button is fundamental. Some players were purely motivated by money, others by media attention or team spirit, yet only when I knew what stimulated each individual could I help them bring the best out of themselves, and this will apply to you, too. Have you ever considered why you do what you do and what actually leads you and your team to perform at its very best?
3) Responsibility. A blame culture can easily form in underperforming teams and was evident at the football club. Criticisms starting with “he,” “she” or “they” can be unhelpful; replacing them with “I” is a powerful exercise. A team is simply a collection of individuals, and only when each member takes ownership of their responsibilities can it fully perform. Take responsibility for your actions and encourage team members to follow suit.
4) Influence vs. Outcome. Having encouraged responsibility, understanding that certain events fall outside of your sphere of influence is crucial. “Control the controllables” was a much-repeated mantra, and acting on it helped us deal with a 2-2 draw in the penultimate game. If you are in the middle of planning a meeting you may not like to hear this, but in reality, there are few situations of which you have total control, and you certainly can’t go back in time and change things that didn’t go as planned. In the short term, it’s better to proactively deal with a negative situation rather than concern yourself with how it occurred.
5) Attitude. A few days before the last game after they listened to my final session, I asked team members to stand if they believed they would avoid relegation. Slowly, each rose and looked at each other as applause and high fives broke out. I know that the belief the team had was an essential ingredient in what followed. Consider how crucial your attitude and the attitudes within your team are in delivering the event your client required.
On May 2, Brighton & Hove Albion won their last home game 1-0 and avoided relegation amid tumultuous and emotional scenes. While I can only give you an overview, I wonder if some of the techniques outlined above could prove useful. Getting curious about you and your team’s mental performance may just take your next event into a totally different league. One+
JON BRADSHAW presents and trains internationally on a variety of subjects in the field of human behavior and performance. He is also director of business development for IMEX, the European Meetings and Events Exhibition and can be can be contacted via www.equinoxmotivation.com.