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The Making of a Corporate Athlete
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Rating:  - Oscillation for Recovery; Rituals to Relax, gain Strength
I am not an expert on the subject. Therefore, I submit this review for your respective analysis. This is a condensed version of their book "The Power of Full Engagement: Managing Energy, Not Time, is the Key to High Performance and Personal Renewal." The invaluable research completed by Loehr and Schwartz is remarkable!
An outrageously incredible coach will help build new skills, nourish changes, and reach goals for the corporate athlete; and remain with that person over an extended length of time to build consistency.
Loehr and Schwartz have discovered that properly distributing positive energy is more important than managing time expended on a daily basis. The top-down performance pyramid model addresses the body, the emotions, the mind, and the spirit to reach the Ideal Performance State.
In my humble opinion, to attain this level of consistency over the span of two or more decades for an executive is impossible. The research could be realistically applied for a world-class athlete since he or she has a much shorter time (and attention) span and the coach is still around.
However, I will contradict myself now and submit that maybe, just maybe, it is possible. Here is my reasoning. Recently, I met a new group of world-class athletes who are challenging traditional rules. This new breed does not comprehend the word "NO" and the positive energy, reflected in diet, exercise, and mental agility is not only healthy but contagious.
A few weeks ago, I also had the pleasure of meeting a 24-yr. Chinese-born executive who received her business training and experience in Germany. She is fluent in six languages. She owns three manufacturing plants in China, and she is the most aggressive human machine I have ever met. After rigorous negotiations and discussions, she is a powerful and wealthy woman on all levels.
I noticed that she took periods to oscillate (rebuild her energy) after stressful negotiations. She closed her eyes, relaxed her muscles and meditated. Later, she told me that she imagined the experience of skydiving, or pretended that she was the heroine in a popular American movie, or she was focused on her next business 'conquest' (her word), planning every detail.
During her normal workday, every 2 hours, I noticed that she would stop at whatever she was doing and take fifteen minute stretches, similar to the breaks taken by tennis players staring at their tennis rackets between volleys. Precise, disciplined and focused. Wow!
I quickly noticed the similarities while reading this article, demonstrated by this remarkable woman. Spiritually, she had a keen sense of awareness and purpose. She found many different ways to tap into her positive energy.
Is this 21st Century "shock-corporate/jock" material or what? This is a spectacular book for managing our "inner stage under the most difficult circumstances, and to emerge from stressful periods stronger, healthier, and eager for the next challenge."
[ADDITION TO REVIEW 12JAN06] Upon additional, admittedly amateur research, I believe this book is the beginning of a powerful movement about how people can manage energy and expand life. Please review the Abs Diet by David Zinczenko (sold by Amazon). Exercise your lifestyle with challenging "sprints," then learn to oscillate (relax).
Rating:  - Nothing new...
I expected to see some new material here. This is nothing new. For example, some of the suggestions are: do healthy things to build capacity to handle stress...eat a balanced diet, get plenty of sleep, work-out etc.
This material is dull and pat. There is nothing new here. I have seen this material in tons of other sources. I feel like I wasted my money.
Rating: - A performance pyramid for Ideal Performance State (IPS)
Jim Loehr and Tony Schwartz are respectively co-founder/CEO and executive vice president of LGE Performance Systems, an Orlando-based consulting firm that applies training principals developed in sports to business executives. Loehr has worked with athletes such tennis-star Monica Seles (9 Grand Slam titles!), Olympic skate-champion Dan Jansen, and golfer Mark O'Meara. Schwartz is author of 'What Really Matters' (1996) and co-author, with Michael Eisner, of 'Work in Progress' (1998). This article was published in the January 2001 issue of Harvard Business Review.
The authors believe that traditional management theorists have focused too much on cognitive capacity ("from the neck up"). The authors use a four-level 'performance pyramid': "... our integrated theory of performance management addresses the body, the emotions, the mind, and the spirit." Each level within the pyramid influences each other, and the ultimate goal is the Ideal Performance State (IPS). (1) The foundation of the performance pyramid is the physical capacity, or the fundamental source of energy - the body. Increasing this capacity builds endurance and promotes mental and emotional recovery. (2) "The next building block is emotional capacity - the internal climate that supports peak performance." Athletes, in fact everybody, perform best when they are calm, challenged, engaged, focused, optimistic, and confident. And the authors believe that the most powerful means for prompting positive emotions and effective recovery is close relationships. "By devoting more time to their most important relationships and setting clearer boundaries between work and home, we tell our clients, they will not derive more satisfaction but will also get the recovery that they need to perform better at work." (3) The third level is the cognitive. Most traditional training focuses on reengineering and knowledge management; "Our training aims to enhance our clients' cognitive capacities - most notably their focus, time manegement, and positive- and critical-thinking skills." This should result in better focusing physical and emotional energy on the task at hand. (4) The top-level of the pyramid addresses the spiritual level. The authors are aware that the term 'spiritual' can result in conflicts so they provide a definition: "... we simply mean the energy that is unleashed by tapping into one's deepest values and defining a strong sense of purpose." It serves as a source for motivation, focus, determination, and resilience. The authors conclude that people will perform better, with more passion, for longer, when they "feel strong and resilient - physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually." There are good examples with each level.
This is a funny article that combines the latest leadership books/articles (which focus on 'emotional intelligence'), with the traditional thinking (which focus on 'cognitive skills'), and self-help books. And just like the authors I do believe that we do perform better when we feel better, are fitter, are more focused, and do believe in the goal we are working towards. Good article for all managers, especially the ones that feel slightly burned-out. The authors use simple US-English.
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