the vital edge

“The Vital Edge”Sporting Mindsets for Business

Performance

What is “The Vital Edge”?“The Vital Edge” takes you on a fascinating journey through the minds of athletes, Olympians, tennis players and more, as you discover insights that will transform your thinking and enable you to perform at your very best.

“The Vital Edge” is available to order direct, either as a paperback or eBook at the following locations…Amazon.co.uk http://amzn.to/1jhFHpiAmazon.com http://amzn.to/1qIQEHOLulu.com http://bit.ly/1gySqlBApple iBookstore http://bit.ly/1jNPO53Barnes & Noble http://bit.ly/1jNPT8Z

Read on for a taster of what you can expect from “The Vital Edge”

Do you have what it takes?• Are you part of the new breed of corporate athlete?

• Are you equipped to face everyday challenges?

• Capable of performing in the face of adversity?

• Resilient to disappointment?

• Know you can handle any situation thrown at you?

• Prepared to step out beyond normal limits?

Part I Teams & Individuals

Winning Margins• What do you do when you have an unassailable lead?

• Choke?

• Drive home your advantage?

• Stay focused on the present?

• What did Adam Scott do?

• What did Bradley Wiggins do?

• Play in the Present• Quieten the Inner Voice• Adapt to survive and thrive • Learn from both personal experience and from the

outside

Personal Sacrifice• How do you respond when team-mates falter?

• Are you prepared to sacrifice personal glory for the sake of the team?

• Always?

• How would you define team-work?

• Personal sacrifice & the greater good• Team-work & Co-operation• Collaboration – more than compromise and

agreement

Collaboration • When have you experienced true collaboration?

• What made it different from team-work?

• What gets in the way of gaining true collaboration?

• What more can be achieved when collaboration is given full rein?

• Knowing the system• Flexibility & Adaptability• Telepathic understanding• True collaboration

Part II The Game Inside

Visualisation • How routinely do you dream?

• How vivid do you dare make your dreams?

• Does your brain know the difference between a dream and reality?

• To what uses can mental rehearsal be applied?

• What did Muhammad Ali do?

• The power of dreams• Positive visualisation• Future History• Mental rehearsal

The Inner Game • Do you find yourself dwelling on past mistakes?

• Do you find yourself getting anxious about what you will do next?

• If so, you are either thinking about the past or the future

• Best performance comes from being completely in the present

• Master the ‘inner game’• Eliminate internal interference• Focus on the present• Let it happen (without judgement)

Playing your ‘A’ Game• Do you play your ‘A’ game – day in / day out?

• What gets in the way of you doing so?

• When things go badly, what is your ‘go-to’ response?

• Do you have any rituals to help you stay focused?

• Your ‘A’ game is closer than you think• Vision as a state of mind• Quieten the inner critic• Create familiar routines to stay in the present

Optimists Win• What is your dominant style – optimism or

pessimism?

• What is your explanatory style when things go wrong?

• How do you respond to setbacks?

• What more might be possible with a more positive outlook?

• Optimism wins out over pessimism• Treat setbacks as temporary (not permanent)• Think of failures as specific (not pervasive)

Part III Motivation

Breaking Barriers• How do you look upon challenges that have not

been achieved before?

• Do you prefer to tread well-worn paths or push out into unexplored territory?

• What learning and feedback do you typically gain from setbacks and disappointments?

• How important is resilience for you, in both work and in life?

• Psychological barriers• How are barriers viewed in your experience?• Pressure and its role in performance• Importance of role-modelling• Resilience and how it can be developed

Motivation• How do businesses typically go about getting the

best out of people in your experience?

• Are traditional methods fit for today’s challenges?

• What differences exist in what motivates and drives people?

• What’s the difference between internal and external motivation?

• Internal v external motivation• Competition• Reward & reinforcement• Recognition & legacy• Peer Pressure

In the Flow• Do you recognise the feeling of ‘flow’?

• How often do you experience it?

• Do you work at a level of challenge that is above or below your current ability?

• Do you experience either anxiety or boredom on a regular basis in the work you do?

• The role of Flow• Optimal performance• Balance of ability and challenge• Chaos v Rigid banks • Mindfulness

Part IV Sporting Knights

Identifying Talent • How is talent identified in your experience?

• How is it nurtured?

• Is your organisation in danger of losing its talent to more ambitious rivals?

• Which ‘non-traditional’ areas might be a good source of new talent?

• Talent identification• ‘Teachability’ • Beware creating the ‘prima donna’ • Screen adjacent disciplines • Stretch and challenge talent

Half-time Pep Talks• What sort of leaders do you respect most?

• What do you expect of your leaders?

• How effective are the leaders in your organisation?

• How consistent is the culture in terms of integrity, values and behaviours?

• Leadership tone• Controlling the temperature• Getting on the balcony• Handing back responsibility

Marginal Gains• In what way do you strive for continuous

improvement?

• How feedback hungry is your organisation?

• How well-equipped do you feel to handle performance conversations?

• Do you settle for external commitment from people or do you strive for internal commitment?

• The winning edge• Continuous improvement• Strategy & execution• Discipline & commitment• Aggregation of marginal gains

Part V Going Beyond Limits

Riding on the Edge• What things don’t you control?

• What things have you been trying to control?

• What things could you influence more?

• What happens when you relinquish control? Have you tried?

• Riding on the edge• Taking risks• Levels of control• What can you control or influence?• Flexibility

Exploration• What new territories are you exploring?

• What is your next big ‘learning edge’?

• How does your business ensure people are challenged to find their edge?

• What qualities are most valued in your business?

• Is coaching used in your organisation to help people explore their landscape and make discoveries?

• Perseverance• Mental preparation• Exploration as a change and learning exercise• Coaching as exploration

Many thanks for taking the time to view this presentation on “The Vital Edge”

I hope you enjoyed what you saw

If you would like to purchase “The Vital Edge” it is available from the following sites as a paperback or as an eBookAmazon.co.uk http://amzn.to/1jhFHpiAmazon.com http://amzn.to/1qIQEHOLulu.com http://bit.ly/1gySqlBApple iBookstore http://bit.ly/1jNPO53Barnes & Noble http://bit.ly/1jNPT8Z

If you would like to contact me directly about any of the material, or would like to find out more about the coaching and leadership development services I offer, here are my contact details below….

Contact Gyro Consulting ServicesEmail gyrocoaching@gmail.comWeb www.gyroconsulting.comTel +44 (0) 7710 055601