The surprising ingredient of the truly great

One of the core frustrations for those who work in the world of sport is the constant focus on “talent”. If you were to believe much of what you read and hear, talent is all that matters.

The reality is much more nuanced than that. At the top level of any sport, everyone has talent. And we know from both sport and business that a focus on talent can be detrimental. One of the key lessons from the failure of Enron in 2001 was that the company was talent-obsessed. It created a culture that worshipped talent, thereby forcing employees to look and act extraordinarily talented.

Of course, there is a huge downside to this approach: if someone is talented, they are already brilliant. That means they don’t need to worry about getting better because they’re at the top of their game already. It also means that they can’t admit to doing anything wrong (and look where that got Enron).

So, what separates the best from the rest? The thing that enables some people to consistently perform at the highest level, over a prolonged period?

Those of you who read my last column will know that motivation plays a huge part. As of course does the environment in which you are operating, and the support/coaching you are receiving.

But there’s another ingredient. One which is often not obvious. Which usually takes place behind the scenes. And that is discipline.

Alex Danson was the leading goal scorer in the Team GB women’s hockey team that won gold at the Rio Olympics in 2016. Danson (now Danson-Bennett) won 306 caps for England and Great Britain over her career. She was interviewed by another sporting great, the two-time Olympic triathlon champion Alistair Brownlee, for his book Relentless: Secrets of the Sporting Elite.

In the book, Danson-Bennett says: “I’ve always believed that the most talented people aren’t the most successful; it’s the workers, the ones who want to achieve something a little bit more than the next. In our case, the last to leave the training session or the one that’s willing to go and do the training when no one’s looking. Extraordinary people are not born – extraordinary people are made. And they’re made by doing the simple things repeatedly.”

Top athletes, those who stay the distance, develop the ability to cover the basics consistently and relentlessly, focus on the key components and push themselves on these. Even when they’re not feeling fit. In fact, those who truly excel take it one stage further, as identified by sociologist Daniel Chambliss in one of my favourite-titled pieces of research: The Mundanity of Excellence.

Based on a study of elite swimmers between 1983 and 1984, Chambliss examined what role talent plays in excellence. He found three core dimensions of difference: technique, discipline and attitude. The best swimmers were more disciplined in their approach and they cultivated better habits.

Not only this, but the aspects that the lower-quality swimmers found arduous or boring, such as “swimming back and forth over a black line for two hours” created much more positive reactions in the top-level swimmers. They actively enjoyed and looked forward to the hard practices.

So, talent might be your starting point. Motivation is incredibly relevant. As are your environment and your support. But what habits and practices are you building into your daily life to make sure you not only reach the top but stay there?

Catherine Baker is the founder and director at Sport and Beyond, and the author of Staying the Distance: The Lessons from Sport that Business Leaders Have Been Missing