WEEKLY FOCUS
Making the seemingly impossible possible.
How can that be?
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Having watched last week, the incredible comeback by Liverpool FC in beating Barcelona and the comments in the press, it begged the question…
“How do you make the seemingly impossible possible”?
For those unaware, the equivalent of a sporting miracle had taken place. Liverpool fielding a weakened team due to injury had turned around a 3-0 deficit to potentially the best team in the world…Barcelona.
Clearly one of the biggest elements must be belief. In anything that we do in life, without belief, we are beaten before we start. But where does the belief come from and how long can the belief last? Several things come into play here.
While others can give us belief, we must have that belief ourselves. In the scenario of Liverpool, the Manager, Jurgen Klopp, will have given the players belief in a variety of ways. At a macro level much of the training on a day to day basis will include belief…In oneself and in the team. Nothing can be achieved in isolation. By working on tactics collectively and on skill at an individual level, enhances the abilities of all players. Once we can see our abilities improving, we develop more self-belief. This is no different to business.
A Manager is responsible for planning the work (tactics) and continually coaching the individuals (skill set).
Building trust and understanding throughout a team is a big part in building the collective belief. On the sports field knowing that in any situation, you can rely on your team mates, knowing what they are going to do next. Business is no different. The key is communication. Knowing that once your part of the job is finished that your colleagues know implicitly what to do next.
The points made so far, are a continuous process in building belief at both team and individual level. But on occasion, that final extra effort is needed. One last push…The belief systems must to be reinforced. Pulling the team together before the game, or the last days of the month in business, when targets must be hit.
The Manager reminding everyone of their abilities, collectively of the talent within the team, the reminder of the need for one final push…What is at stake…The opportunity…Team we can do this!!
The war cry is short term for occasional use…Instilling belief through good leadership is daily!
“There’s no sense in going to a tournament if you don’t believe that you can win it. And that is the belief I have always had. And that is not going to change”.
Tiger Woods