‘Practise makes perfect’

I don’t know about you, but I was thrown that phrase endlessly as a child, as I attempted (rather badly) to play the piano. I clearly was not a natural, but nevertheless enjoyed the gradual improvement over the (many) years. My Grandmother had been a professional in the musical world and was so keen for one of her family to follow suit. It was not to be. However, in the many patient hours that she spent with me I am left with a vivid and important lesson in life, rather than just music. She made me realise that however good you are at something, you still need to practise continually in order to improve. I was fascinated by the hours and hours that she would dedicate to sitting in front of her beloved Bechstein, playing again and again a phrase of music until she was happy with it. She would head off to the recording studios just in order to record, hear and re-record tunes in order to continually improve. Her dedication was awesome from a child’s point of view!

Everyday we see this with current musicians, elite sports people, actors and comedians. I have recently been working with a national rugby team and again that ‘awesome’ amount of time into practising their skills is admirable – and what is more – they know it will make the difference between them and their competition. We all know that there are many other things that going into the hat when excelling at any skill, such as natural talent, technique etc., but there is still masses of room for practise. Why do you think Johnny Wilkinson spends many hours every day kicking for goal? Why do you think Helen Mirren spent hours practicing her vocal range as the Queen? Why do you think international rowers get up in the dark and cold to skiff up and down the Thames? All for the same reason – to continually improve towards their goal.

So, let’s equate this to the business world. As a leader in any size organisation, you have surely got to your position due to dedication as well as talent and skill. Everyday I have the joy of working with many very successful people and realise the hours that they put into their jobs in order to for the company and/or themselves to be more successful. BUT – how much do you actually practise your skills?

Working with both leaders in sports and business, there is one difference that continues to intrigue and amaze me. In simple terms, sports people practise their moves, techniques etc., before they let themselves lose on their competition. Do we do the same in business?

Let’s just think about an important meeting coming up – it may be with a key customer, supplier, an appraisal, a board meeting, the AGM. What do you practise before the event and how? In many cases, particularly if it is a conference, you may have written out and practised your speech. However, have you practised your technique in answering? What about practising your rapport building with your clients? When did you last practise running a board meeting? Have you practised ‘passing’ between your colleagues?

Last year, I was working with an interesting guy who has wanted to improve his relationship with fellow board members. He did not have a real business issue with them, but wanted to feel more natural with them, and build greater rapport. I therefore observed him conduct several meetings of different styles and then, upon his request, gave him feedback on specific areas that he had highlighted. Over the next two weeks he literally practised the techniques, with the help of his colleagues. Much to their surprise, he asked them for very specific feedback, and acted upon it through the following meetings. He admitted that it felt very strange to begin with, but was delighted with the results of a dramatically different and closer team. ‘Practising’ is a now a way of live in their board room, as they continue to reap the benefits.

So, if you want to continually improve, can you think of a specific area that you can practise? This may be you, the team, or you as an individual. If you know that you have a difficult meeting with a client coming up, don’t just talk about it, actually re-enact the meeting and practice all the techniques that you will need to get a positive outcome. Give each other very specific feedback and go through it again, until you feel that you have improved your technique. Practise building rapport with different people and see what impact it has. Practise motivating your kids at the weekend, just like you will practise your skills in golf or tennis. Give your brain a good workout, as it will respond as positively as a body workout!

One of the great learnings that we can take from the elite sports world is their ability to scrutinise everything that they do, learn from it, and practise it again, and again. In business, we tend to analyse our outcomes (revenues, costs, profit, processes etc), but we seem to shy away from scrutinising our behaviours and actions, in the same way. There is a business culture which often does not allow practise, as this almost admitting that things will go wrong. Let’s get real – things DO go wrong all the time! That is how we learn. The important lesson is to let things to go wrong when it is not critical to the business. So get practising, try things out, learn and try again. As Clive Woodward said during England’s glory days at Rugby, “Winning doesn’t happen in a straight line”.

Enjoy the art of practising and the game of winning!

Until next week,

Claire Norman is an Executive Performance Coach at www.the-x-fusion.co.uk