About Black Sheep Sporting Club
 
Black Sheep Sporting Club creates and executes opportunities to use the experience of sport to develop employees and managers within professional organisations.
 
 
It consists of a network of individuals from the elite sporting world, including Olympic athletes and coaches, and the corporate environment, including consultants, company directors and experienced management trainers. As such, Black Sheep Sporting Club provides a unique combination of expertise across
 
 
· Elite sport
· Business & management
· Academia & consulting
 
For more information contact iain@blacksheepsportingclub.co.uk
 
Learning from elite sport
 
Black Sheep Sporting Club operates on the belief that sport can offer valuable lessons to employees and managers within all kinds of professional organisations. The following aspects give an insight into how the experience of sport can be related to a professional work environment.
 
Characteristics of sportsmen
 
The characteristics of successful sportsmen can be valuable in the professional environment, as demonstrated by the following characteristics necessary for a successful Olympian, identified by British International Rowing Organisation:
 
"The successful Olympian's personal and psychological make up will show that he has…
 
  • a single-minded motivation to win
  • a strong commitment to teamwork
  • mental toughness under pressure.
 
And that he can…
 
  • rise to the big occasion by raising his game
  • learn from his mistakes and accept criticism
  • handle stress and use it positively
  • focus on factors which bring success and eliminate distractions."
 
Management of sportsmen
 
Chief coaches of professional athletes need to be excellent man managers in order to deliver excellent performance. With training methods and equipment becoming standardised across all nations, Britain's chief rowing coach, Jurgen Grobler, likens his job to that of a cook - not all cooks create the same dish from the same recipe.
 
Learning lessons from sport
 
Participation in sport can also provide an excellent environment for developing people in professional organisations:
  • Sport is all about competition and therefore successful sportsmen and coaches are used to operating in a competitive environment. Most professional organisations face competition in some form.
  • Success in sport relies on teamwork. Not all sports are played in teams but even individual sportsmen rely on teams of support functions (such as physiotherapists, trainers, etc.) to be successful. Extensive management literature extols the benefits of teamwork and provides examples of successful teamwork in practice.
  • Success in sport requires continuous improvement, encouraging individuals to achieve their personal potential and highest possible performance. In ever changing working environments, employees and managers are expected to constantly improve their productivity. Truly innovative organisations emerge from a constant learning environment.
  • Success at major sporting events requires long term planning (such as in designing training programmes) as well as short term decision making under pressure (such as responding to a competitors moves). Decision making and planning are core activities of managers in any organisation.· Success at major sporting events requires long term planning (such as in designing training programmes) as well as short term decision making under pressure (such as responding to a competitors moves). Decision making and planning are core activities of managers in any organisation.
  • In training for a specific sporting event, sportsmen actually practise working in teams in order to evaluate progress towards the final event. In a working environment teams usually evaluate their performance only at critical stages, where other factors may distort the performance of team members. Providing a means to practise as a team can provide more meaningful feedback mechanisms to improve team dynamics.
 
Competitive sport and team building
 
To succeed in sport an individual needs
 
  • Self-motivation to constantly strive for better performance
  • Determination and perseverance to overcome disappointments
  • Commitment to meet training requirements
  • Self-awareness to develop technique
To succeed in team sports individuals also need
 
  • Communication to get the best out of the whole team
  • Trust that fellow team members will perform to their ability
  • Analysis and planning to take advantage of opportunities during play
  • Loyalty to install confidence in other team members
 
Successful leaders of teams develop these skills to a greater extent, particularly in setting a vision to motivate the teams to a common goal and taking decisions on behalf of the team.
 
Competing in team sport can develop individuals in ways that can bring benefits to the workplace. In addition to developing the above, teams are forged by
 
  • Breaking down prejudices about other colleagues
  • Learning from other colleagues and team members
  • Having to perform in a limited time frame
  • Experiencing the same sense of achievement or defeat
 
The appeal of sport
 
Sport can be an excellent means of delivering employee training and development because:
 
  • Sport is task oriented therefore people can easily understand the goal and purpose of their activities.
  • Sport is a non-threatening form of team building training which people can relate to, rather than 'macho' outdoor pursuits activities.
  • Sport encourages social inclusion and is associated with fair play.
  • Participation in sport promotes a balanced and healthy lifestyle.
 
The need to invest in sport activities
 
"It takes a team to launch a dream"
                                       - NASA
 
"Today, intellectual frontiers are advanced only by large teams of people"
 
- Alec Broers,
        Vice Chancellor,
                  University of Cambridge
 
As we move towards the 'knowledge based society' people are becoming the key factor for the success of companies. A healthy balance and a learning atmosphere are important success factors in high-performing companies, where employees are highly motivated and can deliver consistently high performance. Also employee loyalty is becoming a major issue for companies, as the competitive environment attracts qualified employees, and their knowledge, from one company to another.
 
Therefore, many organisations are now recognising the need to support their employees and the benefits of a healthy workforce. Leading companies know that investing in people is essential to their success, because they are harder to duplicate and can provide a unique and sustainable competitive advantage. In the United States and Europe there is a growing trend towards 'social' activities involving everyone within an organisation (management, employees and even customers). Such activities range from corporate day entertainment to team building learning through adventure journeys combined with professional workshops and specialist monitoring of progress.
 
The concept of organisations running their own sports clubs is not unusual. Many large organisations, such as banks and national law firms, hold 'sports days' between different sites and some have clubs, such as dragon boat teams or rowing clubs, that compete in external national events. The practice is also more common in Japan, where companies such as Mitsubishi have even been known to enter rowing crews at Henley Royal Regatta.
 
From a survey of growing companies in the Cambridge area;
 
  • All companies regarded the development of employee 'soft skills' as important
  • Only larger companies have existing programmes to develop their employees in these areas
  • All companies would consider investing in a programme to increase employee motivation, communication and loyalty
  • All companies believed that non-work related activities can help improve employee performance
  • Most larger organisations would consider investing in a programme to develop their employees through sporting activities
 
The benefits of investing in sport activities
 
"Culture is the dominant factor in the success of a company"
 
 
 - Gordon Edge,
                           Executive Chairman & Founder
       Generics Group,
Founder,
     PA Consulting
  • Create an open and competitive culture by

Breaking down prejudices and functional barriers
 

 

Reinforcing message of having to produce results under pressure & the need to monitor ongoing performance
 
 

Demonstrating investment in individuals through voluntary activity
 
 

Making lasting changes to interpersonal behaviours
 
  • Generate employee motivation & loyalty by providing benefits to employees, such as

Healthy activities open to all ages and both sexes
 

Fun activities
 

Opportunities to learn new sports/skills
 

Opportunities to develop new networks of friends
 

Create partnership opportunities by enhance the link between local sporting, academic and business communities
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