Olympic Rowing Men’s Eight Cox Recording

This is an incredible audio recording of the men’s 8 Olympic rowing race of GB’s cox Harry Brightmore OLY . A rare moment, evidencing leadership behavior when it mattered most – thrilling!

Listen to the audio published on Youtube.

Rowing in the men’s 8 at the Olympics is the ultimate physical test; you are rowing for your team and for your nation – you are rowing for lasting glory.

Harry’s job was to lead the team to victory. Performing as a leader, in the toughest race, on the biggest stage, after years of training - the pressure could not be higher.

But Harry and the team knew, they have an execution plan and they are prepared well for this moment.

Listen to the audio recording! https://youtu.be/WJW5m76cpf0?feature=shared

Here is my take on the structure of the race and Harry’s behavior.

The first 500m: Building Trust

Despite a “duff stroke on stroke one” which scared the team, Harry concentrated on building trust. He was not scared, he comments “that’s a good start”, and turns the focus on the fundamentals “legs down” and requests “trust your rhythm”. Constantly monitoring the situation - “level with the Dutch”. The underlying message of Harry to the team: our execution plan is working.

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500m – 1000m: Maintaining Trust and Inspiring

Despite launching some attacks, the British team is still only level with the Dutch team. At 750m he says to step-up, “the next 500 is going to win this race”. In a 2k row this part of the race is mentally the hardest, as you have not even made it to half or the race, but your body already screams – please quit. They launched an attack. And Harry says, “Trust it” “Trust it”, he is fully aware how brutal this move is for his team, but he knows it is necessary and they agreed on it in their plan. Approaching 1000m, he inspires the team with the message: “We are starting to move in the lead”

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1000m -1500m: Leading and Demanding Focus

The team is extending the lead, and Harry is letting the team know, but he also instantly requests “I want you to be very focused and very awake” as there is the chance of a counterattack. He also reminds them about their bigger purpose with two simple words “Now GB” – You are at the Olympics not only to row for yourself, but you are also rowing for your country, this is the message! Commit to that bigger purpose.

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1500m -2000m: We can go again

In complete sync with his team, he is steering the team very precisely now and taking ownership for the race, he is not playing safe – instead he and the team are going All-in - “we are at 40, and we can go again”. This is an absurd thing to say when you are at maximum speed, but the team follows because they trust Harry. Nobody is letting the team down – not now; everybody knows that a final sprint at the Olympics is supposed to be brutal, and they want it that way.

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The finish line: The Win

Harry is the first to jump up, and points at his team. We did it! The peak moment of joint success. The British team won Gold, only 1:08 seconds ahead of the Dutch team.

I am a big fan of rowing and seeing a rowing boat like the men’s 8 in complete sync is nothing less but beautiful.

Can we learn from that as a leader in the business world?

The leadership behavior of Harry cannot be applied to most of the leadership situations in business, as growing a company or leading a team is not “one race” but more a marathon and an enduring mission that does not end a the finishing line. Further, not many situations are performed in such an intense completion. I nevertheless think that there are elements that are worth reflecting on, even for business purposes:

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Leading a team successfully can be done in many ways and in many different styles. I am a big believer that successful leaders need to find out what works best for their concrete team. Harry’s team wanted exactly that leadership type. In an interview Harry disclosed "These guys are masochists," he said. "They like to be told - even when they're in the depths of pain - that they can put out more. It's my job to crack the whip.” That obviously cannot be applied in the business world, but it can raise a question to any leader “Do you know the leadership style your team needs and is expecting from you?”

When planning and executing projects against hard “deadlines”, I think, we also can learn from Harry’s different behavior in the four phases.

At the start, you give comfort you focus on the rhythm. You need to make sure that everybody is working properly and is helping each other. You build trust that the team is great.

More into the project, you concentrate on keeping everybody well informed and try to inspire by highlighting early success.

As the routine creeps into the project work, you demand being focused to execute on the plan professionally. You put in extra-hours with your team to get back on track, if needed.

When “deadlines” are approaching you monitor very closely and lead the team very specifically, demanding concrete actions and empowering everybody to bring the project successfully “over the line” together.

Leading high-performance teams in business in my view not only requires a certain attitude of the leaders involved, but also from all members of the team. I believe that the 8 rowers, the cox and the coach of the British rowing team are not in that Olympic team merely because they are the best in rowing technically. I think each member of the team brings the right character, i.e. embracing the responsibility that comes along with the job, wanting the team to be successfully so badly and being a fine team mate.

The statement of Morgan Bolding (one of the 8 rowers in the boat) indicates that very clearly:

Morgan said: “It was an absolute blur. Our cox was screaming at the top of his voice, we committed, put ourselves into the gold medal position as soon as we could and after that it was survival of the fittest. Everyone came with us. We held on and I think we must’ve clawed something out in the third 500m. It’s been a fantastic 10 man team with Stevie; every decision we’ve made over the past three years has been about this and no decision has been the wrong one.”

So, take a moment and reflect about what your team would be capable of achieving if acting as synced and as committed as the British men’s 10 – the 8 rowers, cox Harry and a coach with a clear plan and who is empowering everybody.

Congratulation to British Rowing ! It was a thrilling race and a brilliant display of leadership, dear Harry Brightmore OLY !

#rowing #leadership #team #olympics

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