Gordon Reay, Director of Sport and Active Lifestyle, had a number of leadership lessons to share with Dave and Henry when they met for coffee at The University of Chester.
For a long time Dave has been fascinated with the link between leadership in sport and leadership in business. Over the years he has been taking 'golden nuggets' of wisdom and ideas from books such as:
- Legacy, by James kerr;
- Will it make the boat go faster, by Ben Hunt-Davis;
- Score Takes Care Of Itself, by Bill Walsh;
- Winning!: The path to Rugby World Cup glory, by Clive Woodward;
- Leading: Lessons in leadership from the legendary Manchester United manager, by Alex Ferguson.
Many of the principles and behaviours discussed in these books have been adopted by Dave in the day to day running of Hybrid Search. Dave is always very interested in discussing this link between sports and business with likeminded individuals.
At a recent event held by the University of Chester, Dave and Henry were introduced to Gordon and hit it off immediately! The conversation quickly moved to Gordon’s passion and involvement in rowing and other university sports during his career.
Our plan is to run a series of blogs/interviews with business leaders who adopt leadership techniques from sport and we invited Gordon to be the first interview in the series. Gordon was more than happy to be involved. We met for a coffee to discuss Gordon’s career in sport and the lessons that he has learnt a long the way.
Gordon’s advice was concise and inspiring and is especially relevant for anyone with leadership responsibility looking to build a great team. Gordon emphasised the importance of getting the right processes in place to deliver a strategy upon and not to just focus on results. A big believer in utilising reflection, Gordon advocates the ‘plan, do, monitor and review’ approach to build a team of champions.
How do you ensure you are creating the right environment for the team?
Using the example of his passion for rowing, Gordon stressed the importance of creating an environment where people are excited about coming into and want to contribute to the end product. This starts from the very beginning of an individuals induction to a team:
“When a new individual joins a rowing club, it is important to explain the culture to them and ensure that they have the same experiences and opportunities as others. I want to ensure that they are heard, but that means I have to spend time with the individual”.
Gordon explained the process of getting a new member of the university rowing team from their first taster session to achieving a place in the senior team. This can take a couple of years; “we sell them the dream and show them what can be achieved”, “with rowing, everyone starts from scratch, but they learn that when they practice a skill each day, they build up their endurance, get into a good routine, and start to work as a team, it's a very transferable work ethic and they can get a huge amount of achieved in a day”. The process is long, but it demonstrates the commitment necessary to compete at a very high standard; “A coach is only as good as the team they have, therefore as a coach I need to build the culture I want”.
Can you talk us through how you build a team of champions?
At the University of Chester, Gordon leads the strategic vision of Sport and Active Lifestyle by managing expectations and setting realist goals. Citing examples of building winning teams in his career, such as a one which won the Women’s Irish Championship, and getting many others to qualify for the Henley Royal Regatta:
“We take calculated risks in building winning teams by fostering a professional sporting culture; we will target events where we aim to finish in a particular place, then we’ll plan to go out and win others, this helps in creating the right mindset to become a champion as we can manage expectations”.
"In this way, team members are assessed regularly to keep them engaged with their training and are used to winning which helps them look back on their achievements". Gordon highlighted the need for continuous improvement at an individual level that reflects the advancement of the team as a whole; “when the individuals start thinking as a team, everyone in the rowing boat works together, there is a good level of trust, sacrifice through the extensive training, and the camaraderie is there”.
"This targeted approach to building a winning team takes into consideration the importance of the coach in maintaining the long term motivation of the team", something that Gordon advocates business leaders can take from sporting teams.
Gordon adds that there’s no harm in learning from the best; “We look outwards and learn from others, best practice is often replicable under the right conditions”.
How can you turn disappointment into an opportunity?
"Regular early morning training sessions help with building physical strength, however, embracing disappointment helps to build resilience and mental strength". Gordon’s own path to coaching came as a result of a sports injury; “I decided then and there that I could turn my injury into an opportunity and became a coach”. Gordon manages team setbacks and falling-short of goals by utilising reflection and asking “what did all the individuals in the team learn from the experience, did we perform to our best? A passionate coach has to listen to individuals and the team as a whole and adapt the plan accordingly"
Who are your Influencers?
Gordon had inspiring words to say about the following five people:
- His father who has has a lasting impact on his life;
- Prof. Tim Wheeler the Vice Chancellor of The University of Chester;
- Adrian Lee;
- Sir Clive Woodward the former Rugby Union England team coach;
- Sir David Brailsford the former Team Sky cycling coach.
