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Lessons from the Tour de France

After 3 weeks of late nights watching the tremendous efforts of our Aussie, Cadel Evans, in winning the 2011 Tour de France (and the first from our country), I am sure I am not the only one who looks forward to an early night’s sleep after it all ends…the 2 am endings take their toll!

So given the amazing ride of ups and downs and demonstration of true grit, why am I writing about this in our blog?

A few themes have come from Cadel’s ride. He clearly had a plan, he had a great team around him and he never lost sight of his vision– to WIN!

So as we celebrate and reflect, ask yourself if you truly have a vision for your business and where you want it to be at any given point in time, be it 1 year, 3 or 5 years…if not, why not write it down today and spend some time to develop the vision (of course a Business Coach can help).

Once you have a vision established, develop a plan as to how you will get there. This is the classic ‘future back’ activity of looking at what you need to do to achieve the vision.

Is it a Marketing plan, a plan to evaluate and align your people, or is it a sales strategy? It may be a number of these or more!

Finally, don’t forget the power of your team. Just as Cadel Evans had his fellow BMC team mates to help in times of adversity, be it mechanical fixes, driving the chase or keeping him motivated, they were clearly aligned to the overall vision (to win) and the plan (how to do it stage by stage). Do you have your team clearly aligned and aware of your plan and vision? They are the ones who can help you get there, you cannot do it all by yourself. The first thing Evans mentioned, after his yellow jersey on Stage 20, was to say how his team gave 99.9% to 100% effort the entire race, and he couldn’t have done it without them. Can you say the same about your vision and plan and your team? It isn’t a challenging one to do, once your plan is set. Have a strategy sharing session and let your team know how they are a critical part of the end result, then give the recognition, motivation and celebration for the small wins.

As a fellow proud Aussie this weekend, have a look at Cadel’s efforts and see if you can take some of the lessons from it for your business, and maybe you can win your own personal Tour de France in 2012 and beyond.

Good luck and congratulations to Cadel Evans!

Now it’s time for some sleep.

Tony Ozanne
Small Fish Business Coaching Canberra
www.smallfish.com.au

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