Back when there was an appetite for such things Sir Dave Brailsford offered “20 lessons in leadership” for the website of a financial services consultancy called Harrington Starr. “The one biggest bit of advice” Brailsford had to give his readership was “to make people feel valued”. This, they learned, was “absolutely critical”, “a subject area of real importance and significance” because “performance hinges on people feeling genuinely valued in an organisation”. And it is easy to do, as Brailsford explained. “When you are under pressure a smile from a colleague asking ‘are you OK and what can I do to help’ can mean as much as any significant investment.” So “one of the best marginal gains that you can give your team is a simple smile”. And the best bit is “it doesn’t cost a penny!”.
Which is fortunate because hiring Brailsford to explain all this to you costs quite a few. He has an “AA” rating on JLA, the “UK’s biggest specialist agency for keynote, motivational and after dinner speakers”, which means he has a minimum fee of £25,000. In between running British Cycling and Team Sky Brailsford has been busy peddling the lessons acquired from his life in pedaling, working the lecture circuit, pushing books about what we can all learn from the way he works. No word yet on exactly when we can expect his autobiography What It Takes: Being the Best You Can Be in Life, Sport and Work, which was supposed to be published last autumn. Brailsford promised it would reveal “principles and methods to optimise personal excellence in all walks of life”.
Continue reading...