The Olympic Games 2024 - Energy, Impact and Performance
The GC Index
The world's first Organimetric empowering organisations to drive performance.
The 2024 Olympics in Paris was a wonderful spectacle. Whether you’re into sports or not, it would have been hard not to be moved, at one time or another, by seeing individuals at their best when facing victory or defeat; when striving to push themselves well beyond their comfort zones.
For me, as a psychologist, there was much ‘food for thought’ watching relationships unfold within this ‘pressure cooker’ of environments: people competing against each other, yes! But also competing with themselves to remind us of what human beings are capable of.
It was also the most tangible reminder for me, right from the opening ceremony to the close, that it is human energy that fuels performance for individuals, teams and organisations.
For these talented individuals this energy comes from within and drives them as they train for long hours. It was fascinating to see how The Olympics also demonstrated the contagious nature of energy as athletes would encourage the spectators to get involved in their performance, clapping cheering, waving… and often taking performance to new heights. We know that contagious energy can have a powerful effect for good or ill as we’ve seen in the UK in recent weeks.
The constant challenge for us all, individually, and collectively, is to recognise and harness our energy so that we can feel potent, impactful in our world; to survive and, ideally, thrive.
We all know what it feels like to be frustrated in our efforts, when our energy can’t go where it wants to. Or to feel bored or agitated when we’re not sure how to direct our energy.
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When it comes to energy, human beings are ‘full of tensions’ that can lead to energy being diluted, mis-directed or dissipated. Teresa Shaw’s recent post about a young musician striving to give expression to his musical talents but feeling anxious about the conflicts that may arise from ‘standing out’, illustrate this point.
These tensions can sap our energy; drain and deplete us.
And so it is in teams. Anyone who has been part of a ‘high performing team’ will know the energy buzz that can come from collective impact: people aligned in their ambitions and channelling their energy towards the same goals. It’s an experience that often leads to a desire to replicate it.
But all too often, we see interpersonal tensions in teams that stifle or deplete this collective energy and, as a consequence, undermine impact and, ultimately the quality of performance.
A big ‘thank you’ to our talented GCologists around the world who, working as coaches for individuals and teams, help people to understand this relationship between energy, impact and performance; helping them to align and harness their energy to best effect and in ways that makes the tensions healthy ones rather than destructive ones and, as a result, helps them to new levels of performance.
Chief Polisher @TheGCIndex & @TheYoungPeopleIndex ?????????? Co-Author of Coaching Me, Coaching You - Business Ambassador for Ambitious About Autism
6 个月??????????
Results through people | Making Work Better | Culture fanatic | Founder at The Culture Business | Executive Coach | Accredited GCologist
6 个月Great article Dr John Mervyn-Smith and totally agree with Mark Clough's comment. Ref interpersonal tensions, it has been incredibly powerful to witness a conversation change shape when team tensions are explored through the lens of The GC Index. True lightbulb moments
Learning and Development @ Venture RM | Coaching, Training, Business Strategies.
6 个月Good article. Discovering a role or job that you really love & then putting your heart & soul into it for maximum performance & training in a sport you are passionate about to attain the highest levels you can have close similarities. That level of focus is achieved generally not by doing the things we are asked or have to do but doing the things we are driven internally to do that are the most powerful and lasting