Being the assistant manager for an under 18’s team, makes the weekends fairly busy but I love being involved, especially as my Son plays. It gives me time to watch him play, see him develop as a player and grow as a man.
This weekend was not quite what we had planned – we got smashed 7-0 by a team that were well organised and determined to win.
We, however, seemed a yard off the pace and always second to the ball.
It was only 2-0 at half time so I was hoping that the half-time talk would have some impact and we could salvage a draw at least. 10 minutes into the second half we gave away a penalty and went 3-0 down.
Now the pressure was on and we saw the emergence of leaders within the team, well the captain stayed motivated and motivating, at least! What became really obvious was that all of our players responded differently. You could see some that gave up or didn’t want to put the effort in. We had others that tried, for a short time, to boost the team but then gave up too. Mediocre seemed to be ok, safe and average became the objective, and, we crumbled.
I know these guys are 16 / 17 years old but their characters were evident and it made me question what their futures would look like. If they give up that easily with a small amount of pressure, what would they be like in a business context. How would they deal with the pressure of the real world and real life?
I suppose this is how resilience is built. Small failures and set backs help to build our resolve in the future. These ‘boys’ have a lot of growing up to do, but they are only boys and this is part of their journey.
The interesting thing is that, as talented as these lads are, their lack of confidence disabled them from releasing their full potential. At half-time, when you know you are responsible for the 2 goals, it’s hard to hear the manager saying “Forget the first half!”
The same thing happens in business. How do you react to a failure or poor performance? What get’s you back on the field believing you can be better, when your head is telling you something different?
In sport, the lack of confidence can be obvious but in business it may go unnoticed. Small indicators will be visible but easy to ignore if you are busy yourself.
If performance is important to you then the ability to notice confidence slipping away, is a skill and something that leaders tend to be good at. Putting an arm around someone, giving some praise or helping someone create a vision for their future, all helps with building confidence.
How many people do you know suffering with low confidence? How can you help get them back to being top goal scorer?
It takes a bit more than “Forget the first half!”
Talent alone, is not enough.