Will Coaching Take Championship Point?

Coaching and its impact on Wimbledon 2017

Thursday, 6th July 2017

By, GBS Corporate Training

#Wimbledon #Coaching #Leadership @gbscorporate

This week sees the start of Wimbledon 2017, the oldest, and arguably the most famous tennis tournament in the world.

The success of Andy Murray had a lot to do with his choice of Coach

The appointment of Ivan Lendl as his Coach has had a dramatic impact on Murray’s success over the last 6 years. Having a top-class Coach helped to boost confidence in himself, and in his belief that he could overcome the weight of history to emulate Fred Perry’s 1936 Wimbledon win.

Within 18 months of appointing Lendl, Andy won an Olympic gold medal in 2012, the US Open, and finally his first Wimbledon in 2013. His success continued, with a second Wimbledon win and becoming the World No. 1 at the end of 2016.

However, even at the top of his game, Murray still requires help with his preparation and performance, saying in a brief interview “I got to No. 1 in the world at the end of last year and there's been some times this year where it's been difficult to keep up the motivation and set new goals.”

No doubt, Coaches Ivan Lendl and Jamie Delgado will not only be ensuring Murray’s tennis skills at world-class, but also warranting he retains his self-belief to demolish the psychological barriers that can get in their way.

Coaching makes businesses winners too

The Chartered Management Institute reports that coaching is now seen as a key ingredient in improving employee engagement in organisations. When used appropriately, coaching can be a cost-effective approach to development, focusing on specific individuals and their identified developmental needs.

In the 11th annual Executive Coaching Survey (conducted by Sherpa) Coaching in Cincinnati, Ohio USA, ‘Change Management’ and ‘Creating Growth,’ were determined as the key benefits for improving coaching skills in Business. Survey respondents also said coaching has value in ‘productivity’, ‘building trust’, and ‘succession-planning’.

Google’s Project Oxygen is the company’s rigorous, data-based analysis of what makes great Managers. Interestingly, the single most important differentiator between good and great Managers was found to “be a good coach.”

So, in the Business world, as well as in sporting competitions such as Wimbledon, the need of great coaching skills is critical to winning. It is of no surprise then that in recent research conducted by CIPD, when considering how L&D roles were evolving in Business, 43% of respondents to a survey said that they anticipated there to be greater emphasis on coaching in their roles going forward.

According to the Harvard Business Review, companies are putting more emphasis on increasing the quality and frequency of the feedback Managers provide. Coaching was found to be most valuable when it focused on reinforcing effective performance.

A recent article in CEO World Magazine discussed how the number of organisations with coaching ‘at all levels’ is on the rise. Coaching results in improved communication, teamwork, collaboration and accountability, all driving results in reaching a variety of Business goals. The benefit of coaching is outlined in a simple equation:

Positive Skills + Positive Behaviour = Positive Impact on Business (I.O.B.)

Coaching benefits the organisation and also the individual

Advocates of coaching and mentoring cite a wide range of benefits for the organisation and individuals alike. Research by the University of Aberdeen identified the benefits of coaching/mentoring for an organisation include:

Recruitment, retention and development of key employees
Increased productivity
Provision of a stabilising factor when change occurs
Help with succession planning
Improved knowledge-sharing across the organisation.

For the individual, the benefits include:

Improved individual performance
Increased motivation and morale
Encouragement to tackle difficult tasks
Help with the transition from one career level to another
Learning for themselves rather than being taught

Want to be a champion Coach? GBS can help

Whether you are looking to train to become a professional Coach or want to gain a qualification in coaching; or you simply want to learn the basic principles of managerial coaching, then GBS can help you.

GBS will work with you to put together a bespoke training programme entirely tailored to your needs. Visit our website to find out more about our coaching training.

Alternatively, Brighton School of Business and Management (BSBM), a sister company within the GBS Corporate Training Group, is an international online distance learning provider, offering a wide range of UK accredited and internationally recognised Management and Business qualifications, at both Graduate and Postgraduate levels.

Through BSBM you can study for an Award, Certificate or Diploma Level qualification in Coaching and Mentoring, accredited by the Chartered Management Institute (CMI). For more details about gaining qualifications in coaching, please visit the BSBM website.

A last word on Wimbledon

We hope that Murray and fellow British number one Johanna Konta can overcome recent injuries to win their respective championships; and wish all spectators a great tournament, enjoying some of the 320,000 glasses of Pimm’s, 110,000 pints of beer, 29,000 bottles of champagne, 86,000 ice creams, 76,000 sandwiches and 28 tons of strawberries that will be consumed this year!