THE INNER GAME

Timothy Gallwey coined the phrase the “inner game” as far back as the 70’s when he was working with tennis players. He describes the inner game as “the opponent in one’s head is more formidable than the one on the other side of the net” and developed a simple formula for enhancing performance:

Performance =

potential – interference

What does interference mean in real terms when manging your team, or organisation and how can you improve your team’s performance?

Interference can be both extrinsic and intrinsic and as a leader we need to identify both, by asking good questions and actively listening to the individual’s answers.

Intrinsic interference can be any one of a number of factors such as a lack of self-confidence, focusing on individual weaknesses rather than strengths, bias formed from previous negative experiences. Extrinsic interference may come from the culture within the business, such as a directive management style, too many meetings without clear conclusions or specific action plans, unsuitable systems clogging up the smooth running of the business.

All of the factors above can impede the learning and development of the talent within a business and this in turn leads to lack of engagement and potential staff turnover. Today’s employees need to have a clear sense of purpose and direction and this in turn leads to more personal responsibility being taken by team members for the success of the business and increased self-esteem and co-operation between the members.

One way to improve performance and engagement within an organisation is for the management to develop a coaching style of leadership.

One of the simplest and most practical applications of this, is to ensure you have regular one-to-one meetings with all the people who report to you.

This is a simple step to take, but one which in my personal experience, is almost always transformational for an organistion, but it must be done with regularity and consistency to ensure maximum effect.

If you want to know how engaged your employees are, how better to find out than by asking them, in a safe and confidential forum. Asking good questions will elicit good answers and listening to your individual team members will only inform your understanding of their opinions and views and increase their sense of belonging to a benevolent culture. Business today has to provide a rich culture, where employees are aligned with the strategy and perhaps, more importantly, the values of the business.

Employee engagement helps change the focus from pleasing the stakeholders, to pleasing the customers and when your employees are more engaged, they tend to have more fun at work and form strong relationships with each other and their leaders. This in turn allows your people the opportunity to grow and thrive within the business, to feel as though their opinion is both listened to and important and that they have a real voice in the future direction of the organisation.

Engaged employees stick around and this accelerates performance and profit!