When it comes to ‘high-impact’ decision-making, nothing quite compares to the daunting pressure of a real-time cricket stadium: one wrong turn, one slight miscalculation – and the game is lost to the other side.
However, with England’s surprise victory in the spotlight, many cricket enthusiasts are wondering whether there is more to this win than meets the eye: when faced the real-time pressure of meeting the target, athletes such as Ben Strokes simply do not have the mental bandwidth to recall training principles.
The fitness market in Europe (and beyond) is very healthy. This is confirmed by the 2018 edition of the annual study conducted by EuropeActive (formerly the European Health and Fitness Association - EHFA) and Deloitte.
European Health & Fitness Market Report (EHFMR) 2018 focuses on the fitness-wellness clubs of the 28 countries of the European Union, as well as those of Norway, Russia, Switzerland, Turkey, and Ukraine. Fitness and wellness are not only in fashion today, but finally many are realising the importance of physical activity and sport.
What does evolutionary biology have to do with personality psychology or organisational behaviour? Everything.
Our human ancestors repeatedly solved many problems related to their survival (avoiding threats, finding food) and reproduction (finding a mate, caring for one’s kin). This is obvious because if they hadn’t solved such problems, we wouldn’t be here to write this essay, and you wouldn’t be here to read it.
Technogym will be among the Official Suppliers of the 2019 World Rowing Cup III (12-14 July, Rotterdam). The most prestigious rowing event chooses Technogym’s SKILLROW for athlete training.
Technogym will locate inside the World Rowing Cup warm-up area 8 SKILLROW, the most innovative training product dedicated to rowing, and will support all competitors taking part in the regattas giving them the opportunity to train.
The idea that ‘men are from Mars and women are from Venus’ may make us chuckle when enjoying a 1960s movie classic. But when back in the workplace environment, the majority of HR managers would discourage such stereotypes as out-of-date – and even a barrier to team productivity.
For those who are completely unaware of the subject, it is almost natural to link the image of a regatta on a sailing boat to something extremely relaxing from a physical and mental point of view: the sound of the sea, the warmth of the sun, the breath of the wind; aspects that, indeed, are an integral part of a world that, in reality, is extremely challenging and certainly not within everyone's reach.
Travel back in time to any 1950s soccer stadium, and much would be eerily the same: the usual chatter would be heard from left to right, and eyeballs would be seen fixed to their favourite player to the slurp of some caffeinated beverage.
However, even mentioning the concept of a ‘female athlete’ is where these similarities would end.
Instinctively, we all know that theoretical tactics and repeat training only go so far: with both eyes fixed on the finish line and their opponent’s every move, athletes need a more primal motivator to kick in – and that is ego.
However, a quick walk over from the sports stadium to any nearby business centre would reveal a slightly different story.
Mentioning concepts of ‘retaining and attracting talent’ has become almost a religious practice for any sit-down interview with high-performance CEOs: it would be easy to assume that these topics are simply easier to understand, with the real strategies and systems behind the scenes just too out-of-touch for the average viewer.
When asked whether up-skilling their team members may benefit the organisation, relatively few business leaders would say no: flick through any HR manual, and ‘training refresh’ sessions will stick out as occasional tasks to add to the company calendar.
Can genetic testing help with sports training, nutrition and recovery?
Genetic testing is being used by medical practitioners more and more for health insights and optimal treatment guidelines. Research within the genetics of sporting performance has been prolific, and it’s been shown that a high percentage of the variance in athlete status is explained by additive genetic factors.
With the basketball thudding as your opponent stares at your move from every angle, that split-second moment makes all the difference: one wrong move and all might be lost to the other side.
Closer inspection of any successful sports or business leader would show an often-forgotten part of the picture: any project brief or intense training timeline is only followed as effectively as it is communicated – and this requires active intervention as well as prior tuning of team members.
Leaders with a military background recognise the difference: procedures and planning are useless without the right ‘behavioural’ conditions among team members – but this also needs to come ‘top-down’ from the project leader.
When faced with a looming project deadline, most project managers have multiple tools at the ready: task tracking, goal setting and the daily morning meeting all contribute to a project that is delivered on time – but can leadership from other domains reveal another piece to the puzzle?
“Harder” does not necessarily mean either “best” or “more effective”, even though it might have been to many before.
What every athlete needs to start asking is: what is the “right” way for me? How can I perform better and be the best athlete I can possibly be?
We have all heard the expression: ‘business is a sport – not just a science’.
But we as managers can interpret this differently: the ability to rearrange projects and respond quickly to team requests already requires key behaviours and intuition – but does this break apart when crisis strikes? For most good managers, it does.
When the average CEO thinks of any big tech firm, a culture of endless innovation, synergy and collaboration is what springs to mind.
And they would be absolutely right: tech firms lead with drastically-different work environments, work patterns and collaboration-heavy business models. But is this by chance, or careful background planning?
A young friend recently remarked that the worst boss he ever had would provide him with feedback that always consisted of “You’re doing a great job.” But they both knew it wasn’t true.
From the corporate world to the government sector, each day seems to bring another new trend to watch, unexpected news to deal with, or additional challenges to face.
