Training men vs training women? Any coach in the world will tell you that it is not the same. Men are generally taller and larger and thus stronger than women. The body tissue of men and women differs. The testosterone level of men is in general higher than the one of women. Yet, no elite coach would ever base a training programme strictly on gender. At high performance level, the training plans are developed individually for each athlete, taking into account their talent, their strengths, their weaknesses, their preconditions and the circumstances in which they train and live.
In their candid discussion during the Mission Team podcast. Patrick K. Magyar and Performance Consultant Henk Kraaijenhof delved into their past as professional athletics coaches and wondered, why there is so little transfer of the elite sport and the special forces into the business world. In sports, if you want to be the best, whether as an individual or as a team, you need to focus on your strengths and you need a team of people that helps you where you have weaknesses. An injury prone athlete with physical fragility needs another team composition than a physically very robust athlete that is hyper nervous before every competition. A defender in a ball sport is probably not the best scorer of the team and the center forward is probably not the best defender.
In special forces the hierarchy is left at home the moment the mission starts. In the field, the person with the best abilities in a certain area takes over the lead, never mind the stars on the uniforms. Each individual takes over responsibility in his or her area of expertise and accepts that nobody is an expert in everything.
Elite sport and special forces missions are extreme environments. Hence, they are very often a bit more advanced and more prepared to try out “new things” than society in general. Diversity 2.0 is one of these “new things”. Elite sport was and still is for example one of the drivers of ethnical integration. Jackie Robinson, Jesse Owens, Wilma Rudolph, Tommie Smith, John Carlos, or Muhammad Ali are just a few examples of pioneers in this area. Special forces were the first military groups in which an officer would accept orders of a lower ranked, but better qualified, soldier. Diversity 2.0 goes in this direction. It is the diversity of personalities, of individuals.
While it is important that gender and ethnicity are being properly respected, world class performance comes from the respect of each individual, of his or her strengths, contribution, motivation and engagement. Business teams could learn a lot from elite sport and special forces in this respect. The digitalisation helps breaking up vertical hierarchies, but also bears the danger of creating a parallel world in which human beings lose the closeness and proximity to each other. Is an Instagram friend really a friend? Closeness and proximity are pre-conditions for trust. They can be created and fostered in a digital universe as well. But, this needs a bit more effort than in the real world and a good understanding on how important each person is, not just as a “resource”, but as a human being with an own and diverse personality.
Henk Kraaijenhof is a man of many talents. There are very few people with a more intricate knowledge on how to develop physical and psychological human performance, and resist stress. There are also very few people that dare speak out as clearly, when they believe something should change.
Patrick K. Magyar has his roots in sports and events. His passion for people and teams drew him more and more into the world of education, team building and team performance. As the creator of Mission Team Digital Teambuilding he shares his passion alongside different experts and thought leaders in the Mission Team podcast.