Like millions of others I've spent the last few weeks caught up in Olympic fever (and not blog-writing!) and have watched a wide variety of sports I never knew I'd be excited about. When the ticket application process started last year each member of my family discussed the sports they'd like to see and we submitted requests for our choices. We were only successful with one application; much to my husband's and son's delight this was to see the Beach Volleyball at Horse Guards Parade. And it turned out to be a very entertaining afternoon, the culmination of which was seeing the GB Women (Zara Dampney and Shauna Mullin) beat Canada. The British pair are ranked 37th in the world but were able to compete at London 2012 as they were representing the host nation. With only 24 teams in the competition Zara and Shauna had to really punch above their weight to achieve a victory.
For a Canadian view on the match read this:
http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2012/07/29/olympic-womens-beach-volleyball-canada_n_1717011.html
or for less sporting analysis and more pictures try this!:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2180540/Olympics-Beach-volleyball-Lifes-beach-Horse-Guards-Parade-beach-volleyball-taken-Britain-storm.html
But what struck me about lots of the GB performances where the athletes performed much better than expected was the impact of the crowd; how they cheered and encouraged the competitors to give every ounce of strength they had left and which helped team GB surpass all expectations on the total number of medals won. Jessica Ennis said that the noise of the crowd gave her goosebumps and made her want to raise her game even more. And time after time when the athletes were interviewed they said how the crowd cheering them had made a big difference to their performance.
All of which made me think about the geese in Gung Ho! (a book by Ken Blanchard and Sheldon Bowles about the three things needed to motivate a team). Like flocks of geese which constantly communicate and encourage each other when they migrate in flocks, with each geese taking a turn to lead, successful people also need to be cheered on.
Watch this 3 minute clip on You-tube - Lessons from Geese. http://www.youtube.comwatch?v=UdEjL9bVcCM
It reminds us that:
"Our honking needs to be encouraging."
" Outcomes are more powerful when there is support and encouragement."
" Individual empowerment comes from quality honking"
And there are lots of British athletes who will testify to that.
