After the disappointing series loss to Australia, it was great to see the Silver Ferns bounce back with a comprehensive win over the Diamonds in Auckland last month. What game five showed was the Kiwis have the skills to match the World Champions if and when they get it right.
Despite going on to win the first rapid fire world championship event in Manchester over the weekend, 2009 hasn’t gone according to plan. The series loss to the World 7 prior to the Diamonds arrival put the Ferns on the back foot and despite their best efforts to improve, they struggled to find form. Needless to say, the key to their recovery was always going to be determined by whether they were mentally strong enough to overcome their earlier defeats as opposed to trying to fix an apparent lack of skills.
Although Ruth Aitkin did her best to reassure the New Zealand public that everything was in place and they just had to ‘put it together’, their response to date would suggest they are not entirely clear as to what was going wrong during the opening rounds of the season and thus what they need to do to get it right in the future.
In response to public scrutiny, a number of senior players said they believed they needed to ‘toughen up’, to become a little ‘more mongrel’ or, as Casey Williams put it, to become ‘a bit brutal’. While such comments highlight the fact they are aware their inability to perform to their potential was psychological, it doesn’t mean they are any the wiser as to how they will recreate the mind-set required to outclass their competitors on a more regular basis.
For this reason, I believe the Silver Ferns need to explore whether there is sufficient understanding within the camp to enable the girls to ‘get it together’ when they need to. Unfortunately the overwhelming look of relief on the faces of all following their recent successes causes me to suspect gaps remain.
The reason I say this is because there is a significant difference between things ‘coming together’ and us being able to ‘get it together’ at will. Michael Campbell, one of New Zealand''s most naturally gifted sportsmen, knows what can happen when things ‘come together’ however his inability to ‘get it together’ via his own volition has sadly defined his career even more than his winning the US open.
Not surprisingly, we continue to hear both the Silver Ferns coaching staff and seasoned players talk about the need to ‘step up’, but what does that mean? If they think it is about ‘trying harder’ or becoming ‘more brutal’ they will miss the point entirely. Stepping up is not about forcing improvements but about understanding how to use our intellect in a more profound and appropriate way i.e. it is about knowing ‘how’ to consciously and deliberately ‘increase’ our psychological capacity to perform. In other words, stepping up necessitates a person having the ability to ‘consciously’ create a larger vision of themselves in order to access a ‘greater’ portion of their potential.
Aggression versus Assertion
Irrespective of the endeavor, it is important we understand that we will never enable a person to ‘step up’ by encouraging them to be more aggressive or belligerent for aggression is simply a by-product of fear. As such, the idea of becoming more aggressive is not only
ill-founded and unwise, it is completely inappropriate for it requires us to ‘become’ increasingly fearful or afraid in order to access the assumed benefits.
In other words, the emotional response people seek will not materialize by ‘being’ more aggressive but rather it will come about as we ‘become’ increasingly assertive. Assertion is infinitely more appropriate for people wanting to excel for it enables high levels of focus, determination and commitment to be experienced yet the state that produces such a response is appropriate for it remains ‘within’ one’s control as opposed to us being ''out'' of control.
To summarise, an appropriate high performance mind-set automatically produces highly appropriate or desirable responses as opposed to an inappropriate aggressive or fear-based state which can only ever produce primitive and uncontrolled ‘reactions’.
Summary
If you would like to equip your team with the tools to create a true high performance mind-set, call us. We will take you further.
09 528 9263, email us at info@craigsteel.co.nz or visit our website.
Working with Craig was an instrumental factor in my return to form.
Working with Craig has been outstandingly beneficial for myself and my business. Craig's skills within sport are totally transferable to business where leadership, responsibility and focus are prime requirements
Completing Craig Steel's Strategic Performance Template enabled our partnership to identify and align around a unified strategy as well as providing a mechanism to successfully communicate and implement that strategy: this process has helped us generate a real change in focus as we move towards a high performance culture.
Craig Steel's work is an essential point of difference to how our company does business.
Even though we have a lot of talented people here, Craig has helped us to be better than we would otherwise. People are a lot closer to the business, a lot more focused. We've had more than tenfold worth of benefit out of him.
Pro-Sport is the most logical and powerful mental training programme I have ever seen. The impact it has had on my top students is dramatic. I highly recommend coaches use Craig's programme to prepare their elite athletes for competition.
The two day Sales Manager programme we completed with Craig Steel was in my opinion (after twenty two years in real estate), the most thought provoking and inspiring I have attended. The wisdom, knowledge and 'know-how' is something that will affect all facets of my life. If you have a desire to succeed in sales, this programme is a must.
Craig Steel's Strategic Performance Template is an extremely effective process while simultaneously being very straightforward to execute. It has provided us with an efficient way to connect the dots between our long term strategic vision and our short term goals, thus allowing us to clearly communicate our priorities and motivations to our team.
Craig's programme is brilliant and offers an incredible insight into the secrets of human performance.
Craig Steel's performance improvement programmes are profound as they address the very essence of human performance
Craig challenged our perceptions of what is, or could, hold back our performance. The simplicity, relevance and empowerment of the tools he gave us exceeded our expectations.
Craig Steel is the best kept secret in New Zealand business.
The potential for Craig Steel's work in the business world is enormous
The potential for Craig Steel's process to improve an organisations performance is staggering.
Working with Craig on an on-going basis provides me with the additional performance tools necessary to succeed.
Craig's programme was immensely valuable and will return us significant long term benefits.
This is without question the best leadership course I have ever come across.
As a top level coach for the past 20 years I have not worked with anyone, sports psychologist or other, who has had the effect on athletes that Craig has had.
You have created a product others in the leadership training and development arena either can't or won't attempt to enter ... immensely valuable.
Completing this programme will make a permanent change to the way I perform.
Unlike most management training programmes I have seen, Craig's process deals with the real issues that inhibit performance.
Since completing Craig's programme four months ago we have achieved the best sales results in our ten-year history. We exceeded our quarterly sales target by 407% and improved our nationwide standing from tenth position to first
The result we achieved from the two day strategic planning process Craig Steel ran for our Executive team was remarkable.
We completed Craig Steel's Strategic Performance Template under his guidance and achieved a fantastic outcome. The simplicity and clarity of his template enabled us to gain rapid alignment around a coherent strategy and goal set.
Succeeding at the highest level in sport requires more than just physical ability; athletes have to be equally as strong mentally. Craig's extraordinary insight and understanding of performance makes this process achievable.
Craig Steel is by far the most thought provoking presenter I have ever listened to. When he speaks his words resonate a depth of understanding that is instantly recognised. He not only provides the wisdom but gives you the 'how'. Craig has a presence and knowing that is rare. His message was both inspiring and exciting in its simplicity and I would recommend it to anyone who wants to excel.
Craig's coaching ability and depth of understanding allowed us to achieve the 'almost impossible'. A major culture change has occurred within our company.
Craig's process has given me an exceptional set of tools that enable me to deliver on my potential. The impact these tools have had on my performance is phenomenal
Craig's process has shown us how to think differently. The performance results we have achieved are both impressive and permanent.
Thoroughly enjoyed it - an invaluable, and life changing experience.
Exceptional - every motivated business leader should do it.
Having Craig engaged in our business has been transformational - not just for my team and business performance, but in delivering the kind of capability shift in individuals that is fundamental in today's increasingly competitive environment. His insights and tools offer profound opportunity for change.
The programme was fantastic. I take my hat off to our management team for putting us through it. I think it is the best thing they have ever done.
Craig.s performance improvement programmes have been of immense value for our people whom we recognise as the ultimate foundation and drivers of our business.
I used Craig's performance improvement process in order to further myself as an international athlete. During that time his principles enabled me to improve my mental attitude (and understanding) tremendously, while my results improved dramatically.
Of all the training tools I have ever used, Pro-Sport has had the biggest impact on my performance by far. I consider Craig to have been a key factor in my success this season.
I consider myself extremely fortunate as an elite member of the national swimming team to have had access to someone of Craig Steel's calibre while living and training in New Zealand.
Improving the performance capability of our leaders has been a key strategic driver for us in recent years. Craig's unique process and obvious ability have proven such an effective combination, we have made it our primary leadership development tool.
This is without question the best performance training programme I have ever encountered.
Over the past 8 years in real estate, I have made a conscious decision to attend as much training as possible. The two day compact programme I attended with Craig Steel was by far the best training course I have ever experienced. If you want to progress with a career in sales, attend this programme.
Craig's impact on our business has been invaluable. Our sales are at an all time high and our profitability the best it has been in years. I highly recommend any organisation seriously committed to developing the performance of their people take the time to speak with Craig.
Completing Craig Steel's performance improvement programme has definitely lifted our performance. We have tripled our historical growth rate in the past year.
Craig Steel's programmes are not for the faint hearted. They are not designed to help enthusiastic amateurs improve. These are world-class programmes designed for companies who are serious about performance become true international champions.
Craig's understanding of performance is impressive. This understanding serves him extremely well as a performance advisor for myself and my leadership team
Completing this programme has definitely given us a competitive edge. There is no doubt the programme will pay for itself over and over again as a result of the improvements we make. We certainly recommend it.