The Peak Performance Expert

(St. Petersburg Times article.)

Coach Jon Gruden of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers explained his philosophy on losing 38-23 at Carolina on Wednesday by saying his team should essentially forget and move on. 

He said, “And I just think you’ve got to have a short-term memory. You’ve got to really live in the future. You’re never as good as you think you are, and you’re never as bad as you think you are, no matter what anybody thinks.”

Gruden further said, “This is about mental toughness, I think, too. You’ve got to continue doing what you’re doing and believe in yourselves. I think we have the character in our locker room that will allow us to do that.”

Well, I’m surely not a football coach but I still say Gruden has it half right.  A mentally tough performer doesn’t simply forget about a failure or a mistake and he or she doesn’t simply “continue doing what you’re doing” but rather, a mentally tough performer will step back and assess what went right and what went wrong and use the mistake or loss as an opportunity to learn and to improve.

So in my work with my clients (who aren’t football players but are business people), I suggest they adopt this useful phrase: “Isn’t it interesting that…”  The phrase helps in creating an attitude of healthy curiosity and also establishes a bit of distance from the negative emotional punch of the loss or mistake.

So, for example, when a client tells me she had a terrible meeting where she fumbled words,  couldn’t answer questions clearly, and seemed to lose the confidence of her team, I would encourage her to do the following:  First, take a moment to acknowledge the pain or embarrassment of the situation (you need to honor that reality).  Second, say, “Isn’t it interesting that the meeting went so terribly; I wonder what contributed to that outcome?”

This leads to a problem solving mode where we can pick apart what, if anything, went well, what went poorly and why, and what she needs to do differently in the future.  This approach builds mental toughness.

Okay, I know he’s not even on the scene right now since he’s recuperating from knee surgery but it’s such a pleasure to watch the great Tiger Woods. As you take a peek at his expertise, remember the lesson embedded in it: focus and commitment are keys to success.

A while back, after a tournament when he did not fare well, Tiger was asked what went wrong and his response was, “I just wasn’t thinking right.”  Tiger knows all too well that you become what you think!

This video shows Ray Allen demonstrating how to work on a jump shot.  But, it’s much more than that!  Anyone who thinks Ray Allen is great because he’s gifted is only half right.  Sure – he’s talented but notice how he emphasizes the necessity of creating a routine and sticking to it day after day. 

This is true for success in sports and for success in life. Allen develops a drill that refines and builds a skill and he practices it several times a day, every day.  That’s how someone succeeds.

We here in Red Sox Nation are elated that Dustin Pedroia won the Most Valuable Player award in the American League.  “Pedroia the Destroya” has been a delight to watch this past season and his playing certainly saved the day in several games. 

Much as been made of his physical stature; Pedroia is listed as being 5’9″ but many say he is more realistically around 5’7″.  That’s small for a pro baseball player, of course, but what he lacks in physical stature he makes up for in psychological stature. 

Pedroia is a perfect example of a mentally tough athlete. He has heard snide comments and criticism about his size from the beginning (including from his father who doubted he could make it to the big leagues). Fortunately his mother encouraged her son to forge ahead despite the doubters.  Dustin brushed aside the naysayers and kept working at his craft.  He could have given up and few would have questioned it but he did not.  Yes, he persevered but he demonstrated all of the qualities of a mentally tough athlete: 

1. He exhibits a championship mindset which means he eagerly seeks feedback on his work and is relentless in self assessment.  He perceives critiques as information, not accusations and uses that information to improve his performance. 
2. His concentration is superb.  He is able to tune out distractions and focus on the task at hand no matter what the circumstances. 
3. Pedroia’s composure is maturely defined.  This guy does not get rattled even in  the big games. 
4. If he makes a mistake or has a set-back, he does not dwell on the mistake but rather learns the lesson embedded in it. (Comes back from mistakes.) 
5. He is crystal clear about what motivates him and the “why” is big enough to sustain his huge efforts. 
6. Dustin is a commitment king; he works constantly to improve and refine his craft. 
7. This guy has enough confidence for the whole team and it comes from a firm belief that he has the ability and talent to get the job done. 
8. Finally, Pedroia exhibits courage in the true sense of the word – courage is derived from the French word for heart (coeur) and we have seen him play his heart out game after game after game. 

How do you rate on the 8 dimensions of mental toughness?

Looking at the sports pages, it seems that any athlete is mentally tough.  The term mental toughness is overused or misused by commentators.  Anyone who exhibits determination and who works hard is deemed mentally tough. 

But – it’s much more. There’s a difference between describing a mentally tough person and becoming a mentally tough person (athlete or not). In athletics, one becomes mentally tough through years of hard work, dedication, and commitment; through a willingness to follow the routine of practice, perform and evaluate; and most importantly by adjusting one’s thinking. 

Champions in athletics and in business maintain a fairly dispassionate perspective about their chosen area of competition.  They may love their game or their vocation but they do not fall prey to emotional over-involvement.  Their thinking is disciplined and their approach is deliberate.  Rather than frantically going for the big grand slam, they are satisfied with base hits.  It’s the steady consistency that ultimately wins.                

Our bodies come equipped with an immune system which, when fully developed, succeed in fending off unwanted viruses and bacteria to help keep us healthy. For some people (those undergoing chemotherapy or those who are HIV+, for example), the immune system is compromised and hence, the person is more susceptible to disease. 

Interestingly, the immune system can be strengthened by exposure to certain viruses and bacteria which allow the body to develop antibodies to better fight off disease.  The same thing can be said for what I refer to as our psychological immune system or our resilience to adversity. Many people who have experienced severe adversity report that they emerge from it feeling stronger, happier, with greater clarity about what is important to them and with an intense commitment to achieving their chosen goal. 

This is not true for everyone, of course.  There are those who get beaten down by rough times and who never recover.  Some might say this makes sense; that life’s curve balls do have the power to ruin a person.  I would argue that perception has a role in this.  For every person who gives up there is one who turns it around and thrives. 

There are countless examples.  In the world of sports, Lance Armstrong comes to mind.  He has almost become a cliché in these kinds of discussions – how he endured intense painful treatment for cancer, including brain surgery and then how he became one of the greatest athletes in the world by winning the Tour de France 7 times.  He has stated many times that without the cancer, he never would have become the superb athlete he became. 

In the world of jazz, there are 2 tales: Ella Fitzgerald and Billie Holiday.  Both had gruesome childhoods filled with abuse, poverty, and loneliness.  Both became big jazz sensations but Billie chose to numb her pain via heroin, which ultimately killed her while Ella shunned drugs and, despite diabetes, lived a long life filled with laughter and love.  Choice has something to do with this – the choice to see the world in a particular way. 

Because so many people operate with a fear mentality, where they anticipate failure or humiliation or adversity, they never actually move forward.  It can be helpful to consider that it is often the anticipation of adversity that is far worse than the adversity itself.  (Research supports this notion.) 

Here’s what you can do to boost your psychological immune system: 

• First, write down 4 adversity experiences you have had and then consider some positive things that happened as a result.
• Second, write down 4 mistakes you have made and the lessons learned from each. 
• Third, list 4 successes you have experienced and include what motivated you, what obstacles you encountered and how you felt upon completion

One of the things that separate champions from also-rans is the reaction to mistakes. In my work as a performance coach, I have seen many people’s careers stall because of fear of making mistakes.  No risk, no gain. They are reluctant to move out of their comfort zone and so their lives remain stagnant – dead – going no-where. 

The mind-set of champions is different. Rather than avoid risk, they embrace it.  Rather than shrink from challenges, they seek them out. And when they make a mistake, they don’t dwell on the failure aspect, instead they learn from it. 

Peak performers (and I include here everyone from athletes to business professionals to performing artists) view mistakes as the opportunity to learn how to improve performance; they recognize that there is so much more to learn from a loss than a win and so they take time after a loss to conduct an honest, objective evaluation.  This self-assessment includes assessing what went right and what went wrong; what factors contributed to the failure; what could have been done differently; and what areas need strengthening in order to prepare for a future performance. 

I recommend  that such a self-assessment be done in writing for several reasons. First, putting thoughts on paper (or an electronic version although I prefer the old fashioned tactile way of holding pen and scribbling on paper – preferably a notebook dedicated to your performance record) is itself an act of commitment and allows you to organize your thoughts for future reference. Second, it allows you to keep track of your goals and your progress.  Third, that which we pay attention to improves. 

So, next time you make a mistake or experience a failure, do what peak performers do – honor the feelings of disappointment briefly then step back and evaluate the mistake in an objective, dispassionate way and highlight the lesson embedded in the mistake. 

In my last post I listed the 7 attrributes of mentally tough athletes.  (Although this applies to anyone, really.) Today I want to talk about the Championship Mindset which is the willingness – even eagerness – to get feedback about one’s performance.  A mentally tough person wants feedback in order to learn, to improve, and to perfect his or her performance.  When you compare the Olympic athletes to yourself, consider this: they have a coach.  Actually, many have several coaches.  Do you?  Do you seek out comments from others about your work? If you get feedback, do you listen to it and use it as information that can be useful to you?  Think hard about this; this is a key distinction between a champion  (in athleteics and in life) and an also-ran.  Do you want to be a winner?  Then begin asking co-workers, your boss, a mentor, friends, teachers how they perceive your performance.  Ask for tips for how to improve.  Consider what steps you need to take in order to refine your performance.  Don’t view feedback as a personal indictment; view it as valuable information that can move your performance upward and forward.

How do they do it?  This was the question a friend posed as we were watching the USA men’s gymnastics team the other night.  Indeed, their strength, their balance, their ability to fly through the air and swing themselves around with breakneck speed using one hand seems magical or super-human.  We watch, holding our breath, amazed that people can do that! “I could never do that,”  we say.

But then I thought about that statement and mused that it is just that kind of statement which immobilizes us.  It starts off as a statement and then becomes a belief that limits us.  Of course we could do that (whatever that is) if we had the desire, the motivation, the plan,  and the commitment to execute the plan – step by step.  It may sound stupidly simple to say that none of the Olympic athletes perfected their prowess overnight and yet we somehow don’t consider that when we too quickly compare ourselves to them.

What does it take to be a champion – in sports or in business?   Here’s my take on it – the 8 C’s of Mental Toughness:

1. Championship mindset – a willingness to seek out and an openness to receiving feedback about your performance.
2. Concentration – the ability to focus on what is relevant to the performance and not succumb to distractions.
3. Composure – the ability to stay calm and poised in high stakes situations.
4. Come back from mistakes – the ability to bounce back from set-backs and mistakes.
5. Clarity about Motivation – tKnowing what you want and why you want it.
6. Commitment – the desire and ability to stick to your performance plan.
7. Confidence – belief in your ability to perform well.
8. Courage -the quality of spirit that enables you to take on challenges.

I’ll be commenting on how I see these factors being played out as the Games continue.